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4 ' --^t 2   Trek   Winter 2003 /nMr
WINTER     2003
Take Note
16   Learning at Home
Homeschooling, once the domain of social oddballs, is
becoming mainstream. By Daphne Gray-Grant
18  Swimming the College Mile
The swimming pool teaches more than backstrokes. It provides
a handy metaphor for life. By Sandra Filippelli
24  More Than Keychains
The seahorse is a vital part of the ocean ecosystem. Its decline
worldwide is a major concern. By Ellen Schwartz
22  Artistic License
Some new views of old photos. By Chris Dahl
34 Achievement Award Dinner
Another great event, with photos. Photos by Clancy Dennehy
14 Letters
30 The Arts
32 Books
8 Alumni News
40 Class Acts
43 In Memoriam
The Magazine of The University of British Columbia
Editor Christopher Petty, mfa'86
Designer Chris Dahl
Assistant Editor Vanessa Clarke
Board of Directors
Chair Jane Hungerford, BED'67
Vice Chair Martin Ertl, BSc'93
Treasurer David Elliott, BCOM'69
Members at Large '02 - '04
Darlene Marzari, msw'68
Colin Smith, BASC'65
Members at Large '03 - '05
Raquel Hirsch, ba'8o, MBA'83
Mark Mawhinney, BA'94
Doug Robinson, BCOM'71, LLB'72
Executive Director (Acting)
Leslie Konantz
Editorial Committee
Vanessa Clarke
Chris Dahl
Sid Katz
Scott Macrae, BA'71
Christopher Petty
Herbert Rosengarten
Trek (formerly the UBC Alumni Chronicle) is
published three times a year by the UBC Alumni
Association and distributed free of charge to UBC alumni
and friends. Opinions expressed in the magazine do not
necessarily reflect the views of the Alumni Association or
the university. Letters to the editor are welcome. Address
correspondence to:
Christopher Petty, Editor
UBC Alumni Association,
6251 Cecil Green Park Road,
Vancouver, BC, Canada  v6T 1Z1
or send e-mail to cpetty@ alumni.ubc.ca
Letters will be published at the editor's discretion
and may be edited for space.
For advertising rates and information, contact
the editor at 604-822-8914.
Contact Numbers at UBC
Address Changes 604-822-8921
e-mail aluminfo@alumni.ubc.ca
Alumni Association 604-822-3313
toll free 800-883-3088
604-822-8914
Trek Editor
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Volume 57, Number 1
Printed in Canada by Mitchell Press  ISSN 0824-1279
Canadian Publications Mail Product Sales Agreement # 40063528
Cover photograph: Getty Images
Winter 2003   Trek   3 CHAMPIONS
Freddie Mercury will be remembered for as long as
there are winners and losers. His Queen tune "We Are the
Champions" is an anthem familiar not only to rock fans of
all ages, but to people who wouldn't know Freddie from a
load of hay.
But a better paean to the nature of victory would be hard to
find. Rather than trumpeting success, rooster-like, at the expense
of the vanquished, the song reflects the true nature of competition:
you get knocked around, you lose some, you work hard and you
pay some very high dues. Winning isn't easy. Mercury, who died
in 1991, an early victim of aids, knew those lessons as well as
anyone.
Swimming champions, such as those profiled in Swimming the
College Mile, page 18, are typical. Being competitive in that sport
means dedicating most of your time to the effort. That UBC swimmers bring home the metal and maintain high academic
averages is enough to make most of us tired just thinking about
it, but they do, and consistently. Success, when it comes at some
expense, is sweet.
A university like UBC houses a lot of champions, and not just
of the sports variety. The list of men and women on faculty who
are at the top of their respective games - from gene manipulation and heavy materials research to literary theory and economic
model-building - goes on and on, and reads like a who's who
"We are the champions, my friends." The 1922 women's swim team, UBC
of international academia. And, again, this sort of success doesn't
come easily. If there's a world more competitive than the university
milieu, then one should wear armour when visiting it. Ask a tenured
prof. Better yet, ask one who isn't.
There's another aspect of the word "champion" that resonates in
a university environment: one who fights or argues for a cause on
behalf of another; an advocate. UBC is famous for its advocates:
Lloyd Axworthy, former director of the Liu Institute for Global
Issues, now president of the University of Manitoba, who
champions the cause of peace worldwide; Daniel Pauly, director of
UBC's Fisheries Centre, who is sounding the alarm about the decline
and foreseeable extinction of much of the world's commercial fish
stocks; William New, professor of English, whose scholarly work on
Canadian literature has helped put Canadian writers on the world
stage; and others from every department whose research or
academic work is dedicated to important causes.
It's good to reflect on such things when considering the
accomplishments of people like Amanda Vincent (More Than
Key chains, page 24). Professor Vincent's work began as an
investigation of marine ecology and the mating habits of seahorses.
She soon realized that the two were inexorably combined: the health
of the world's seahorses was a reflection of the health of the world's
oceans. So Amanda Vincent, champion of the seahorse, became a
champion researcher and Project Seahorse was born.
Another example of a UBC champion is Chuck Slonecker. Former
head of Anatomy, director of Ceremonies and Killam professor,
Chuck has embodied the spirit of UBC for more than 30 years. He's
retiring this year, and we're delighted to feature him. See page 22.
We hope you enjoy these stories and the
other features of this issue.
Speaking of champions, the Alumni
Association needs men and women interested
in serving as elected members of the Board of
Directors. We need three members-at-large and
one treasurer for 2004-5.
If you wish to nominate someone for one
of these positions, please call our offices
and we'll send you the necessary forms.
Nominations must be in by the second
Thursday in February at 4:00.
Chris Petty mfa'86 Editor
4   Trek   Winter 2003
Photograph: UBC Archives B
TAKE NOTE
Waiter! There's a robot in my soup
Science fiction writers are going to have to
try harder if they want to stay ahead of
reality. Futuristic contraptions unleashed by
the imagination are rapidly moving off comic
book pages and into everyday life. Take UBC
researchers, for example, who are exploring
the possibilities of building a cheap, insect-
sized robot that can fly by itself. And this
robot isn't just pie in the sky because many
of the tools and materials needed to realize it
already exist.
Electroactive polymers are high-tech
plastics that can mimic the characteristics of
muscle. John Madden and Joseph Yan
(electrical and computer engineers, respectively) want to investigate polymer
application in robot design. Earlier research
by Yan established that mechanical wings are
able to produce enough lift to get a robot
airborne and Californian researchers have
already managed to get a larger, bird-sized
robot into the air.
"The way we're hoping to tackle this is
to combine new materials and new actuator
technologies - that is, new methods of getting
things to move - that will give us tremendous
advantages in mechanical design and cost,"
says Madden. The robot insect would have
a microconductor for a brain, an onboard
power source, weigh less than a dime and its
development would involve approximately
$i million worth of materials. It would have
two sets of wings like a dragonfly. The electroactive polymers, which can double their
size when a voltage is applied and return to
original size when it is removed again, much
like the contraction and relaxation of muscle,
would be used in mimicking insect flight.
Madden's side of the project is to examine
the electroactive polymers that have become
available over the last few years and determine which ones are most suitable for the
task. The materials are at various stages of
Robot insects. Joseph Yan and John Madden test drive the new dragonfly.
development and not all their properties are
known. Yan will design a wing mechanism
that will work with the selected polymer.
A lot of the difficulty lies in accurately recreating the biological movements involved in
insect flight since there is limited understanding about its mechanics. "One of our biggest
challenges is trying to generate the correct
motions so that the robot will do what we
want it to," says Yan, who is using highspeed video footage and large scale models of
wings to investigate how forces act on wings.
"There have been some breakthroughs with
unsteady aerodynamics, but we're still at the
stage where simulations aren't as good as
they should be so we need to copy and measure what the biological organism is doing."
By the end of this pilot in May 2004, the
research pair hopes to have identified a
suitable polymer, but there are no swarms
of plastic dragonflies on the near horizon.
Building the robot will involve future projects
replete with more challenges, one of which
is scale. "To put it together," says Yan, "you
need to have micrometer level resolution in
the placement of the parts. A typical hair is
100 micrometres in diameter. We'd need to
be able to orient these parts and position
them on about a hundredth of the width of
a hair."
E. coli Vaccine for Cattle
DDA vaccine to combat E. coli in cattle,
developed by UBC's Brett Finlay, will be
marketed by a public company in the new
year. Finlay, professor of biochemistry,
molecular biology and microbiology, invented
the vaccine with colleagues at UBC.
E. coli is found in cow intestines, and is
sometimes transmitted to the cow's flesh.
Hamburger disease, so called because the
disease is thought to be passed on to humans
Dhotograph   Martin Dee
Winter 2003   Trek   5 TREK 2010: RENEWING THE VISION
TAKE NOTE
\
The past few months have been
important in defining UBC's direction in
the years to come. With the help of
faculty, staff, students, members of the
community and, of course, our alumni,
we have undergone an institutional
re-examination to make sure the goals we
set are ones that resonate most with our
various communities.
During my first year at UBC we
developed a vision document, Trek 2000,
that attempted to redefine the university
and provide a framework upon which to build new programs and
review existing ones to best meet the community's needs. Trek 2000
established five general priorities - the five pillars - for university
units to reference when assessing their programs and services.
The five pillars - People, Learning, Research, Community and
Internationalization - are extremely useful to us as we move UBC
toward our goal of becoming the premier research university in
Canada. Our review of Trek 2000 in its entirety was undertaken to
make sure those tools can still serve us.
The first version of the Trek 2010 discussion paper was prepared
in early November and distributed across campus and the
community in both print and web versions. Feedback on this discussion paper has now been gathered, and the process of finalizing
the Trek 2010 vision is underway.
As BC's largest post secondary educational institution and one of
the leading research universities in the country, we must constantly
assess what we do and how we do it by asking ourselves some
basic questions:
How much input should we place on workplace needs when we
set our educational goals?
Should we rebalance the relationship between our arts and
science offerings?
What are our educational priorities in terms of new
technologies?
Should UBC be local, national or international in scope? Should
we embrace all three?
Considering the problems of student access to UBC, what should
be our stance re: government financing v/s private donations?
The answers to these and many other questions will inform our
next steps in developing a long term plan for the development of
this university. In an ever-changing, increasingly complex world, it's
important that we know what our constituents think and that they
have input into the planning process.
During January and February, we will prepare the final version
of Trek 2010, and present it to the university's Senate and Board of
Governors for approval. It will be ready for circulation in March,
2004.
I appreciate your input, and look forward to your assessment of
the final product.
- Martha Piper, President, University of British Columbia
disease is thought to be passed on to humans from undercooked
meat, kills many people around the world and infects 55,000 North
Americans annually.
The vaccine will likely sell for about $2 per dose. There are more
than 100 million beef cattle in North America, about half of which
are known to be carriers of E. coli.
Fighting AIDS Dementia
QDAt least one in five people with aids will suffer from hiv dementia. The condition advances aggressively, impairing memory, movement, concentration, problem-solving and speech. But there is hope.
Researchers at UBC and the University of Calgary have found that the
dementia is caused by an HIV-induced enzyme, Metalloproteinase-2
(mmpz), which kills nerve cells in the brain by altering and rendering
toxic a molecule that is crucial for normal brain function and growth.
"We now understand how this enzyme becomes a killing
machine," says Christopher Overall, Canada Research Chair in
Metalloproteinase Biology at UBC. "This is exciting news for patients
because we think dementia can be slowed or stopped by adding
another protease blocker to the drug cocktail now used to treat hiv."
The drug they hope to use to combat MMP2 is already in clinical trials
for cancer treatment.
The research is exciting because it may have implications for the
understanding and treatment of other dementias. "The team and I are
revved up about the new avenues of potential treatment for people
with hiv and perhaps for other types of dementia, such as Alzheimer's
disease," says Christopher Power, principle co-investigator and
physician-scientist in the department of Clinical Neurosciences at the
University of Calgary.
A number of pharmaceutical companies have expressed interest in
testing anti-cancer drugs like Prinomastat as blockers for MMP2 and
negotiations are now underway, although it may be five to 10 years
before the drugs become available to patients.
Pauly's Disappearing Fish
□DA UBC scientist, famous for his outspoken criticism of global fisheries, has been named one ofthe 50 most influential scientists in the
world in the December issue of Scientific American. Daniel Pauly,
director of UBC's Fisheries Centre, is a world authority on declining
fish stocks, and how they respond to environmental pressures,
ecosystem fluctuations and commercial fishing.
After a peripatetic childhood in Germany, France and the US, Pauly
earned a phd in fisheries biology at the University of Kiel. Afterwards,
he traveled extensively in Africa, Indonesia and the Java Sea carrying
out research and growing ever-more concerned about the state of the
world's fish stocks.
Once in tropical waters, he realized that methods used to analyze
fish in temperate waters could not be applied to tropical fish. He
6   Trek   Winter 2003
Dhotograph   Paul Joseph developed original methods to collect data
on tropical fisheries, methods that did not
depend on expensive equipment. He feels
strongly that researchers in developing countries are the best ones to study their own fisheries, and that the tools must be affordable.
Pauly's research has shown that the world's
most preferred commercial fish, such as cod,
tuna, haddock, flounder and hake, are already
seriously overfished. A report written by
Pauly and other researchers in 2002 predicts
that, at current fishing rates, these and other
preferred fish will be all but extinct. The
study also showed that the catch of these fish
has declined by half in the past 50 years while
efforts to harvest them has tripled.
Pauly came to UBC in 1994 and was
named director of the Fisheries Centre in
2003. His research has resulted in the most
important global database on fish stocks,
FishBase, which contains information on
more than 28,000 fish species. The database,
which includes information on a specie's
distribution, biology, importance, population
growth rate and risk status can be accessed
at www.fishbase.org. He also developed
Ecopath, an ecosystem modeling program
that predicts how fish may respond to changes in their environment.
Most fishery scientists, says Pauly, are only
concerned with the fish stocks around their
particular geographical area. He and his colleagues have taken on the global view, and
that view isn't good. If commercial fishing
is not heavily regulated, he says, there will
be little left to harvest in the seas outside of
the lowest levels of the food chain, such as
sea cucumbers and plankton. Pauly and his
colleagues say the only solution is to reduce
global fishing drastically and to establish
zones where fishing is absolutely prohibited
so they can grow large, breed and replenish.
The public, he says, must demand wholesale
change in the way fish are harvested or lose
forever most of the species.
Press Enter
]DThe list of everyday tasks that can now be
carried out online is growing. Paying bills,
booking air flights, renewing library books,
shopping - all can be completed within sec-
Fish Expert. Daniel Pauly is one of the world's top 50 scientists
onds and without human interaction. You
can even admit yourself into university - at
least you can if the university is UBC and
you meet admission requirements.
Ours is the first university in Canada to
offer prospective students this service. The
Enrolment Services Office developed the tool
to ease the process of undergraduate
application and enrolment. Prospective students can enter grades and other high school
information to see if they meet requirements.
If they do, they can immediately register
via the web. If not, they get feedback about
where improvements are needed.
For those who balk at the idea of the
diminishing human contact in service
provision, bear in mind that the human
interaction version of university admission can be confusing, time-consuming and
patience-frazzling. Trying to get a handle
on the status of an application isn't always
straightforward, considering that for fall
2003, UBC received 30,000 applications. And
an online system means the university can
make more offers to top students earlier, cut
down on processing procedures and free up
staff time to address other student needs.
The idea is a winner, educause, an
American non-profit organization that
exists to promote the best use of informa-
Dhotograph   Bayne Stanley
Winter 2003   Trek   7 ALUMNI  RELATIONS MOVE  FORWARD
In the next few weeks, the Alumni
Association will sign an agreement with the
university to share the delivery of services to
our membership. The outline of this
agreement was provided in the Spring, 2003
issue of Trek Magazine, but I will review
it here to bring readers up to date on the
changes about to take place.
The university will create the office of
Alumni Relations under the authority of an
associate vice president of alumni affairs.
This office will be
responsible for alumni reunions, events for grads in branches around
the world, young alumni programs such as mentoring and
networking and faculty-based alumni programs.
The Alumni Association will be responsible for developing a pool
of advocates to promote higher education to government at all levels,
selection of alumni candidates for Chancellor, the university Senate
and Board of Governors, alumni scholarships and bursaries,
volunteer leadership, affinity partnerships and member benefits,
alumni awards and the production of this magazine.
The new AVP, Alumni Affairs, will oversee the operations of
both units, and will report jointly to the VP, Students, and to the
Association's Board of Directors.
Anyone who has been involved with the Alumni Association
recently knows that this agreement has been in the works for many
years, and is the result of much hard work by successive Association
boards and staff. As President of the Alumni Association, I feel this
agreement represents the best method for achieving our mandate of
keeping you informed about and involved in your alma mater. It also
gives us an opportunity to be advocates for UBC in the community.
Our traditional role has been outward: we develop programs so
you can maintain a relationship with your university and with the
men and women who shared this significant experience with you.
Now we have an opportunity to make our voices heard in an
organized way beyond the university. Government and business at
all levels need to understand the importance of UBC in our
community, both as an economic and a cultural engine. As alumni,
we have a unique perspective and a vested interest in keeping our
university strong.
This new relationship with the university will help us, as an
association of graduates, focus our energies on doing what we can
in the community to support UBC. As part of the Vice President,
Students office, the Alumni Relations office will deliver service-
oriented programs designed to encourage your participation in UBC
affairs, and to inform you about the exciting work being done here.
The Association will, of course, oversee these programs and aid in
their development.
The Board of Directors and the staff of the Alumni Association
are excited about the changes coming to our program delivery and to
our organization. At the same time, we want to ensure that you, our
members, are informed and up to date about those changes. Please
feel free to contact us with your ideas and opinions.
- Jane Hungerford, BED'67, Chair, UBC Alumni Association
TAKE NOTE
nology in higher education, has just awarded UBC an Award of
Excellence in Administrative Information Systems.
Currently available to BC students only, the self-admission system will
eventually be made available to high school students across Canada.
March, 2003 was the deadline for 2003/4 applications. More than
10,000 high school students submitted applications over the web and
more than 2,000 admitted themselves.
Back at Work
]DThe Occupational Health and Safety Agency for Healthcare was set
up in 1998 to study, design, and assess health and safety interventions
in the health-care workplace. Jointly governed by health-care bosses
and union leaders, ohsah includes UBC researchers from a range of
faculties and is headed by Annalee Yassi, director of the university's
Institute for Health Promotion Research and Canada Research Chair in
Transdisciplinary Health Promotion. The organization has just
completed a five year mandate culminating in a report claiming more
than $50 million in savings over two years for provincial healthcare
employers. The savings lie in a 28 per cent reduction in injury rates since
1998 and 38 per cent less time lost from injury since 1999.
Interventions collaborated on and monitored by the organization
include alternatives to the manual lifting of patients. Pilot studies at four
sites suggest that an initial investment of $21 million made in 2001 to
introduce ceiling lifts has led to an 80 per cent reduction on lifting-
related injury in health-care staff. The lifting systems are now being
introduced province-wide, ohsah is also looking into how to reduce
violence in the workplace, and increase safety in kitchens and bagless
laundry systems.
The group hopes for further funding to carry out its work. Its main
supporters have been the BC Ministry of Health Services, the Canadian
Institutes of Health Research, the Canadian Health Services Research
Foundation, the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research and the
WCB Research Foundation, www.ohsah.bc.ca
Perfect Misery
QDMajor adjustments in life, whether positive or negative, can often give
rise to high levels of stress and anxiety. Retirement is a life transition
that some may find easier to adjust to than others. For some, it is a
challenge that can lead to serious depression and even suicide.
Personality traits play a role in how much difficulty is experienced and
psychology professor and clinical psychologist Paul Hewitt thinks a
determining factor could be perfectionism. "For individuals
characterized by high levels of self-oriented perfectionism, who derive
their self-esteem from their work and base their identity around work,
productivity and achievement, it can be particularly difficult," he says.
Serious depression in the face of retirement is more prevalent in men
than women, and those sufferers over 65 years old are especially likely
to consider, plan or attempt suicide. Hewitt has recently launched a
Trek   Winter 2003 Designing Software. New engineering software and hardware part of $240 million gift.
one-year study that will attempt to understand
the link between self-oriented perfectionism
(demanding perfection of the self) and these
suicidal behaviours. It will involve 130 men
who will be given two questionnaires to
complete, one of them five months prior to
retiring, and the other five months after retiring. Hewitt hope the results can be used to
spot those vulnerable to severe depression to
enable more timely intervention. Its broader
application may be to throw light on how
personality traits can make people prone to
maladaptive behaviours. The study is funded
through a UBC Humanities and Social Sciences
grant.
In-kind Gift Good for Geers, Annoys
Protesters
]DThe largest 'in-kind' gift in UBC's history
was recently received by the faculty of Applied
Science. General Motors, EDS Canada and
Sun Microsystems gave $240 million worth
of computer-aided design, manufacturing and
engineering software, hardware and training.
The software and hardware is considered
some of the best in the world for its intended
application. An industry spokesperson said
the gifts are a good investment because students who train on them will be at the cutting
edge of technology when they graduate.
The companies have made similar
donations to universities in the US, Mexico,
Germany and Sweden under the banner
of pace, Partners for the Advancement of
Collaborative Engineering Education.
Some UBC students, however, were not
impressed. They staged a protest at the Asian
Centre, where the presentation was made. A
student spokesperson said the gift
represented increased privatization and
corporatization of the university, and warned
that such gifts always have strings attached,
committing the university to adhering to a
corporate agenda in its development.
Dean of Applied Science, Michael Isaacson,
agreed that universities must be vigilant about
gifts given with conditions, but stated that the
pace gift had "no strings attached."
Studies in Schizophrenia
DD Schizophrenia affects approximately one
in 100 people. One in 12 hospital beds in
Canada is filled by someone suffering the
affects of the disease. More than four in 10
people who have the disease will attempt to
kill themselves. At least one of them will succeed.
Commonly misunderstood as a split
personality, schizophrenia (though still not
definitively understood by researchers) is a
biochemical disorder of the brain that can
give rise to varying symptoms, such as lack of
clarity in thought processes, delusional
thinking, auditory and visual hallucinations
and emotional and behavioural changes.
Medication is used to regulate the disease,
but often isn't able to alleviate all symptoms
and can also give rise to serious side effects.
"Schizophrenia is a tragic illness for both
patients and their families, and treatment
hasn't changed much in 50 years," says
psychiatry professor Bill Honer.
But recent research carried out by Honer is
providing hope. In the brain, billions of nerve
Winter 2003   Trek   9 TAKE NOTE
providing hope. In the brain, billions of nerve
cells transmit messages to one another via
chemical neurotransmitters, a process which
is compromised in schizophrenic patients.
Each nerve cell is surrounded by a substance
called myelin, which plays a role in this communication process. Honer has discovered
that people with schizophrenia show a loss of
myelin, particularly around the frontal lobe
area of the brain. The findings support recent
discoveries in gene studies.
His research used magnetic resonance
imaging (mri) technology devised by UBC
multiple sclerosis (ms) researchers to
conduct brain scans on 30 schizophrenia
sufferers. The scans showed a 12 per cent
reduction in myelin - enough to impair brain
functioning and cause symptoms such as
hallucinations.
Although the cause of the myelin loss is
not known, further research by Honer (using
post-mortem tissue samples, this time, rather
than live subjects) discovered that of the two
proteins found in myelin-producing cells, one
was present in quantities approximately one
third lower than normal in tissue samples
from schizophrenia sufferers.
CanUBCcreateyOUr legacy?
Roy Davy thinks so. "Education is the foundation of our society, and knowledge
allows us to do great things—like save lives." In 1993, the former construction worker and property manager was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness.
Surgery saved his life, and the doctors who cured him were trained at UBC.
So Roy put UBC in his will to support deserving medical students so they could
learn to save others.
You can create a legacy that helps change the world. Ask for a free information
kit at 604.822.5373 or e-mail us at heritage.circle@ubc.ca and UBC Gift & Estate
Planning staff will help you get started.
THE   UNIVERSITY   OF   BRITISH   COLUMBIA   |   VANCOUVER
UBC
Researchers don't yet know how to
reverse loss of myelin, but drugs are currently under development for the treatment
of MS, which also involves reduced levels of
myelin, that might prove beneficial when
applied to the treatment of schizophrenia.
Bill Honer holds the Jack Bell Chair
in Schizophrenia and is a member of
the Vancouver Coastal Health Research
Institute. In future research he hopes to gain
insight into how nerve cells communicate
with myelin-producing cells, how myelin
loss affects brain function and genetic
variations in myelin.
Sick Kids' Opinions Count
DDParents may routinely ask their kids for
an opinion on what to have for lunch or
where to go for entertainment on a Sunday
afternoon, but when it comes to matters of
life and death, a child's input on decisionmaking might be considered less
appropriate. Would it still be considered
inappropriate if the life in question
happened to be the child's?
Pediatric nurse and phd student Gladys
McPherson believes kids suffering from
chronic illnesses could be involved in
deciding between treatment options a lot
more than is typically the case. "Kids' voices
often get lost in the dialogue between parents and healthcare professionals," she says.
"Especially in our highly technological
medical environment, a child's opinion may
be the last thing considered. We have an
ethical commitment, however, to make sure
that children's perspectives are considered in
all matters that affect them." Some may feel
an adult's and a child's perspectives would
be incompatible, a clash between the child's
immediate wants and the parent's perspectives on what's best for their child's
longer-term health. But McPherson thinks
childrens' involvement in their own treatment choices could take many forms. "It
may be something as simple as being able
to say 'I'll take my medicine in 10 minutes
- not right now,'" she says.
McPherson is to conduct a study which
will involve interviewing 40 kids, aged
from seven to n and from various cul-
10   Trek   Winter 2003 tural backgrounds, with conditions such as
diabetes, epilepsy, asthma and rheumatoid
arthritis. She wants to grasp how the kids
perceive their own role in decision-making
on matters that profoundly affect them. She
will also interview their parents to find out
their opinions on a child's participation in
such processes. The study will consider the
impact both of the nature of illness and the
type of decision being made.
With her findings, she hopes to improve
health care for kids by addressing the dearth
of advice for health care professionals on
understanding and assessing the needs and
wants of chronically ill children.
New Dean for Medicine
QDGavin Stuart, a specialist in gynecological cancers, has been named new dean of
Medicine. Stuart, former head of oncology at the University of Calgary, VP of the
Alberta Cancer Board and director of the
Tom Baker Cancer Centre, will take on the
expansion of UBC's medical school under
the new 'distributed education' model.
Plans to expand medical training in
British Columbia to other universities in the
province have been in the works for the past
few years. Starting in 2004, medical students
will be trained at the University of Northern
BC and the University of Victoria, under the
auspices ofthe UBC school. By 2010, British
Columbia will graduate 256 medical
students, twice the current number, all with
degrees from UBC. The model is being
developed in Ontario and Quebec as well,
but BC's will be in place first.
Stuart will also be responsible for the new
Life Sciences Centre currently under
construction on campus. The $110 million
facility will integrate life sciences education
- from neuroscience to social work - in one
area of the campus, and will encourage more
interdisciplinary research in the life
sciences.
As well as building the school's education
program, Stuart is eager to develop more
research opportunities in all aspects of the
health sciences at UBC. Trek Magazine will
provide an in-depth look at changes in the
delivery of medical training in a future issue.
Gavin Stuart: UBC's new Dean of medicine
Hip Fractures
DDSpecialists spanning many disciplines are
collaborating on a research project that
seeks to tackle the high incidence of hip
fracture around the world, a health problem
that scientists describe as epidemic. The
project was spawned from an international
workshop this June at UBC's Peter Wall
Institute for Advanced Studies, an organization which fosters innovative interdisciplinary research.
UBC assistant professor of Family
Practice and Human Kinetics Karim Khan
is spearheading the project, which involves
researchers at home and abroad in disciplines that include law, psychology, and
bioengineering. Tackling hip fracture from
a prevention standpoint, the researchers
hope to impact the alarming statistics that
accompany the condition: a 20 per cent
mortality rate in the first year and a $650
million health bill per annum in Canada
alone. The problem is projected to worsen as
baby boomers age, but an ageing population
alone cannot account for a rapid global rise
in average individual risk. "If the trend continues," warns Khan, "it will choke health
systems the world over."
Already established is that a high proportion of hip fractures is associated with the
bone-thinning disease osteoporosis. Other
factors associated with ageing, such as poor
vision and weak muscles, also increase the
risk of falling and fracturing a hip. The
researchers plan to explore aspects such
as poor nutrition and sedentary lifestyles,
which contribute to decreasing bone mass.
They will also look at lesser explored possible risk factors such as level of education
and legal safety standards. The international
research project is part of a larger proposal
to establish a new Centre for Hip Health,
Cover photograph: Photonics
Winter 2003   Trek   11 TAKE NOTE
be led by Canada Research Chair Tom
Oxland, a biomedical engineering professor.
As well as promoting international collaboration in research, the centre will focus on
early detection of osteoarthritis, aspects that
influence its progression, and genetic risk
factors. It will also seek to improve surgical
interventions for hip problems.
Domestic Violence Affects Fetus
Domestic violence encountered during
pregnancy can lead to abnormally slow
fetal growth, severe bleeding and premature birth. And the babies of women who
suffered such abuse are eight times more
likely to die than those whose mothers did
not. These startling facts were uncovered
over the course of a two-year research
project that surveyed 4,700 pregnant
woman attending two Vancouver hospitals, the largest such study ever published.
Co-investigators Patricia Janssen (assistant
professor, department of Health Care and
Epidemiology) and Angela Henderson
(associate professor, school of Nursing)
also found the incidence of abuse increased
threefold with pregnant teenagers, and that
single motherhood, First Nations origins
and low income were common factors in
abusive situations.
"This research confirms common beliefs
and gives us the scientific evidence we need
to leverage practice and policy change in the
area of pre-natal care," says Janssen, who
would like to see assessments of domestic violence included in pre-natal exams.
"Doctors and other health care providers
don't ask about violence when taking histories from pregnant women. We're missing an opportunity to intervene early and
refer women to appropriate sources." The
research also involved colleagues at the
University of Washington and was recently
published in the American Journal of
Obstetrics and Gynecology.
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Adult Stem Cells to the Rescue
DD As the human fetus develops, certain
cells, called stem cells, are used to shape
the various parts of the body. These
extraordinary cells combine to become
organs, muscle fibre and blood, adapting
to the needs of the developing body. Once
the body is formed, stem cells seem to lose
this versatility. So-called adult stem cells
have been thought to be only effective in
renewing the tissue from which they originate, such as blood cells, and don't appear
in many parts of the body, such as the
heart or spinal cord.
Early experiments with stem cells drawn
from aborted or miscarried fetuses showed
that these cells could be used to repair
a variety of damaged tissues in adults.
Ethical concerns around using these cells,
and in producing them artificially, have
slowed down their utilization in experimentation and in easing human suffering.
Fabio Rossi, Canada Research Chair in
Regenerative Medicine, has discovered that
adult stem cells produced in bone marrow
to renew the blood may be used to repair
damaged tissue in areas where stem cells
are no longer naturally produced. Rossi
extracted individual blood-forming cells
from bone marrow and introduced the
cells into blood. He found that these cells,
as they reproduced, not only produced
blood, but repaired damaged muscle tissue
as well.
Rossi, who is an assistant professor of
Medical Genetics and a member of UBC's
Biomedical Research Centre, says the discovery may lead to therapies for repairing
scar tissue that results after a heart attack.
He cautions, however, that such therapies are at least 10 years away, and that
the discovery should not be used by opponents of research on embryonic stem cells
for political purposes.
Slice of Wood Life
DDOne of the stalwarts of the Point Grey
campus is a huge slice of Western Red
Cedar, lovingly dubbed Stumpy, which has
been in a display case in the Biological
Sciences building for many years. A rare
12   Trek   Winter 2003 specimen, Stumpy is thought to have hailed
from a 775-year-old tree felled in the old-
growth rainforest of BC sometime in the 50s.
It is a near perfect example of a cedar, with
no evidence of rot, decay, pest or fire damage. The future of this unwieldy two-metre
wide, 585 kg cross section (probably used
initially as a teaching aid) came under threat
recently when plans arose to renovate the
Biological Sciences building.
Led by Associate Professor Gary Bradfield
(Botany), Stumpy's saviours decided to scale
down the size of the problem by creating a
thinner cross-section from the original. The
task was carried out by Les Joza, a Sopron
forester, wielding a 1.4-metre chainsaw. The
new slice is now on display.
Take Note thanks UBC Reports and UBC
Public Affairs for allowing liberal adaptations of news articles and media releases.
Stumpy Returns. A slice of a 775 year-old tree is on display at Bio Sciences building
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Cover photograph: Photonics
Winter 2003   Trek   13 LETTERS
Dear Editor
I welcomed the expression of opinion in a
letter from Joseph Jones, one of our retired
librarians, on the construction of the Irving
K. Barber Learning Centre around the
heritage core of Main Library (Library
Redux, Fall 2003). I would like to clarify a
few points in his letter, particularly for
readers who may not have the opportunity
to view construction of the Centre now in
progress.
Mr. Jones writes, "We are on the
verge of using prime campus real
estate for a large, impenetrable stor
age box that should be
situated elsewhere." In fact, the
Centre will occupy essentially the
same footprint as the previous north
and south wings of Main Library.
In other words, very little new "real   ^
estate" will be taken up by the
project.
As to impenetrability, the original
article in Trek points out that traffic into Main Library has increased
tenfold since completion in 2001 of
the Chapman Learning Commons in I
the Main Library concourse. The Learning
Commons helped set the stage for the
Learning Centre, which will adjoin the
Commons on three sides. Given the
facilities and services the Centre will offer, as
well as an architectural design that places
priority on natural light, airiness and visibility, it seems reasonable to assume Main
Library will continue as a welcoming and
popular gathering space.
Referring to the new Centre as a "storage
box" also seems a limited description;
whatever one's view of the merits of smart
classrooms, wireless technology, social space,
computer labs, lecture halls and new homes
for Arts One, Science One, Integrated Science
and the School of Library, Archival and
Information Studies, they are bound to teem
with the energy of lively minds that defy
storage in any sort of box.
And as to whether the Centre "should be
situated elsewhere," in a very real way it is.
Thanks to its focus on on-line resources and
support services, the Centre will be situated
on keyboards and screens across our province
and around the world, wherever you can plug
in a computer. I can point to the words of Dr.
Barber, whose vision for this gift to the people
of BC was of "a centre without walls,
accessible from anywhere, at anytime."
I am thankful to everyone who has taken
the time to share their comments as we have
moved forward in developing the Irving K.
Barber Learning Centre. And I look forward to
inviting alumni and friends of all eras to visit
this wonderful enhancement to the UBC
Can you see what's missing? The north wing
of Main Library is no more. Work on the Irving K.
Barber Learning Centre will begin in the spring
campus when completed in early 2006.
Catherine Quinlan
University Librarian
Dear Editor:
The Spring 2003 Trek carried an article
honouring Nestor Korchinsky for his
dedication to Intramural Athletics at UBC.
From the description, he deserves all honours.
However, there was one error in the article,
and one possible oversight.
The article cites Maury Van Vliet as a
graduate of UBC. Maury is a graduate of the
University of Oregon. His first job was
athletic director at UBC. When he left UBC he
was succeeded by Bob Osborne.
The article suggested that Nestor was
inspired by his experience in the "outstanding
athletic program" created at the University
of Alberta by Maury. Maury had done much
the same thing at UBC during the war years,
1942-1945. At that time UBC had a very
active and successful intramural athletic
program.
I recognize that the statement may be a
little self-serving since I was the assistant
director under Maury for that program.
Nevertheless, there is a record of it in the
1944 Totie, a wartime, abridged versions, of
|the Totem. The record indicates that
teams (down from 22 the previous
ear) participated in eleven sports.
|Not bad when total enrolment was
ess than 4000, and enlistments had
shrunk the talent pool.
I    There, no doubt that Maury ran
a very successful athletics program
at the University of Alberta. What is
,iess well remembered is that he was
p  till '
un  [equally successful at UBC, as is shown
„ not only by the active intramural program but also by the record for team
championships
during his tenure.
eter McGeer, BA'44, MA'46
Dear Editor:
I have been receiving alumni newsletters/magazines for years, and I just wanted to let you
know how much I enjoy Trek. The magazine
is informative, entertaining and well written.
It is far superior to previous newsletters and I
look forward to the arrival of each issue.
I left Vancouver in 1998 and currently reside
in Florida where I am pursuing a phd in
marketing at the University of Florida. Trek
keeps me linked to Vancouver and to the UBC
community, one which I hope to return to
someday.
Thanks and keep up the good work.
JoAndrea Hoegg, BA'91, BED'94
14   Trek   Winter 2003
Dhotograph: Vanessa Clarke GOING
GOING
GONE
In October, the north wing of Main Library came
down to make way for The Irving K. Barber Learning
Centre.
Main Library and Chapman Commons were just as
busy as they were last year, says Catherine Quinlan, in
spite of the noise.
But with jack-hammers, heavy machinery and dump
trucks breaking the academic quiet of the library, students bothered by the noise picked up free ear plugs at
service desks to restore the quiet.
The wing was built in 1947 with reinforced concrete, and moulded into the existing building, built in
1925, to maintain the classic lines and window design.
The south wing, built in 1960, is scheduled to be
taken down next year.
Dhotographs   Vanessa Clarke
Winter 2003   Trek   15 BY DAPHNE GRAY-GRANT
LEARNING  AT  HOME
When Rachel Klippenstein was io
years old she discovered an English book on
the family shelves. Enthralled to see it contained text in Old, Middle and contemporary
English, she spent hours deconstructing the
passages, meticulously examining and comparing them.
Now a 4tn year honours student in linguistics who has been invited to apply for
a Rhodes Scholarship, her academic path
might seem unsurprising, predictable even,
except for one thing. Until she went to UBC,
Klippenstein had never attended school.
Instead, she learned at home in a largely
unstructured, permissive way, where she was
free to explore her own interests.
Like many famous homeschoolers (including Albert Einstein, Irving Berlin, Thomas
Edison and Agatha Christie), she has
excelled. But likewise she's sometimes been
considered part of a fringe activity most often
associated with the religious right.
educators Frank Smith and John Holt. "They
argue that you learn in context of the things
that interest you. What's that expression?
'Drill and kill.' A lot of school exercises just
kill your interest in learning."
Now an engineer with Creo Industries
based in Belgium, John taught in UBC's math
department for four years and believes that
homeschoolers also make the best university
students. "They're more engaged students,"
he says. "Faculty will enjoy having them
in class. They're self-motivated and have
learned to study on their own."
His views are shared by 20-year-old
Karsten Hammond, Bsc'03, who graduated
in honours biochemistry after homeschool-
ing in Nelson, B.C., from grades 1 to 11.
"Homeschooling taught me to learn on
my own," he says. "I had direction from
my mom but I had to do it myself. That
was incredible preparation for me. I feel as
though I'm ahead of the game." After gradu-
That perception is changing, while still not common,       Homeschooling, Rhodes Scholarships and the
homeschooling is being viewed
as more acceptable. The number of homeschooled children started increasing in North America in the 1990s and
today's best estimates put figures at about
one per cent in Canada (more than 100,000
children annually) and about two per cent in
the US.
Rachel's father, John Klippenstein, BSc'79,
laughs when he recalls his daughter's first
venture into Old English. "Kids tackle these
projects that would be so boring to us," he
says. Still, he was absolutely determined to
give her educational freedom.
"We didn't like the way school was
homogenizing people," he says of his family's
decision to go against the educational grain.
He remembers being inspired by the books of
ating from UBC and weighing competing
cross-country academic offers, Hammond is
now happily ensconced in medical school at
the University of Alberta.
Still, mention the word homeschooling and
it raises alarm bells for some. Many people
focus immediately on socialization: "Do
homeschooled children have enough contact
with their peers ?" they worry.
For Charles Ungerleider, a UBC professor
of Educational Studies, the concern is even
more precise. "No matter how solicitous and
caring and able I may be as a teacher and a
parent, I do my youngsters a disservice by
being their teacher," he says. "Part of what
it means to go to school is to lead a person
out of the narrow confines of a previous
experience. If they don't learn to connect with
people whose values are different from theirs,
I've done them a disservice."
A passionate supporter of the public school
system, Ungerleider believes that education
should not be a private enterprise, but rather
a chance to bring together kids from different
strata of society so they can interact and learn
from each other.
Gary Knowles, who is a professor at the
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
doesn't disagree. He just argues that home-
schooled kids are exposed to that kind of
diversity. As someone who has studied home-
schooling for more than 20 years, he says
that kids who learn at home are often better
socialized than their schooled counterparts.
After all, school children spend all day in
classrooms filled with other children exactly
the same age and usually from the same socioeconomic group. Their exposure to adults is
limited to a few teachers and their exposure to
seniors and other-aged
love of learning.    klds 1S often virtually
ml.
"Home-educated
kids make all kinds of contact with people in
our communities based on vertical groupings
rather than horizontal ones," Knowles says.
He adds: "School doesn't guarantee healthy
perspectives. Often we see balkanization of
different groups in schools. When kids can be
engaged one-on-one there's a greater opportunity for acceptance."
His views are echoed by Jan Maynard-
Nicol, phd'oi, a former classroom teacher
who is now a curriculum consultant.
Maynard-Nicol wrote her master's thesis on
homeschooling, after hearing a radio program
on the topic. "I was driving to a workshop
and heard this documentary," she recalls. "At
first I thought it sounded pretty flakey, but
then I became interested." After speaking to
16   Trek   Winter 2003 other teachers and parents, she decided to
learn more. "As a classroom teacher, I began
to realize how much time I spent on discipline and collecting milk money."
Maynard-Nicol then spent six months following around a group of Vancouver-based
homelearners and learning about their lives.
"In my experience, very few parents home-
school in isolation," she says. "Most belong
to various organizations, such as gymnastics
or youth groups. Many belong to support
groups and they do things together regularly.
They might hire people to teach the children
things like African drumming or French. It's
just not sitting at the kitchen table the whole
time."
Besides worrying about socialization,
Maynard-Nicol says that the general public
often frets about whether homeschoolers can
get a decent education without the discipline
of textbooks, testing and trained teachers.
She says research has shown the parent's level
of education is actually irrelevant when it
comes to successful homeschooling. "Some
jurisdictions think the parents should be
teachers. In fact, the main criterion is that the
parents themselves have to be really curious
people. That is contagious."
So, without the stick of tests to drive them,
homeschoolers tend to follow the carrot of
their own interests and this results in intense
self-motivation. Maynard-Nicols recalls one
young history buff who was already acting
as a docent at the Vancouver Museum at the
age of 12. As well, she says, many homeschoolers have an entrepreneurial bent and
ultimately go into business for themselves.
But for those who follow the path of
higher education, perhaps the biggest seal of
approval is that universities such as Harvard
and Stanford have developed homeschooler
admission policies so that absence of a grade
point average is no barrier to enrollment.
Otherwise, homeschoolers must usually do
a couple of years at a community college
before gaining university admission.
Still, Maynard-Nicol admits that home-
schooling is not for everyone. "For some
people it certainly works. But not every parent can handle having their child beside them
for 24 hours, seven days a week."
Count Rachel Klippenstein among the
grateful ones. She says that homeschooling
gave her the chance to focus on her true
interests and to take pleasure in learning. "I
think everyone has a natural curiosity," she
says. "If you look at any 4-year-old, they ask
'why' about everything. Being homeschooled
helps encourage that natural curiosity."
Currently writing her honours linguistics
thesis on the "Canadian rising," a pronunciation oddity that causes Canucks, unlike
other English speakers, to pronounce words
like "eyes" and "ice" distinctly, she says she
finally has the chance to research something
that has interested her for years.
Her comment would warm any professor's — and homeschooling parent's
— heart: "I learn the things in my courses
because I care about them and like them not
because I have a test coming up," she says.
For more information about homeschooling
in B.C., visit <www.bchla.be.ca/>.
Daphne Gray-Grant is a Vancouver writer.
ustration   Getty Images
Winter 2003   Trek   17 n*
-**
*
EH
09V
m Competition, dedication and the "Three Tenets" define success in more than just the swimming pool.
UJ
It is a sunny spring afternoon on UBC
campus. Inside the Aquatic Centre, home
of the UBC Varsity Swim Team and the
UBC National Swim Centre, the international group swimmers stroke up and down
the pool with the grace and ease of highly
trained athletes. In the far left lane, world
record holder Brian Johns, Mark Johnston
and Brent Hayden, members of the fastest
swim club 4 x 200 metre freestyle relay in
the world this year, good-naturedly pace
each other. Not far behind them, in the next
lanes, Jessica Deglau, varsity team women's
co-captain Kelly Stefanyshyn and Kelly
Doody, also national team members, cut
through the water, their techniques seamless.
On the pool deck, head coach Tom
Johnson and his two senior assistant
coaches, Steve Price and varsity head coach
Derrick Schoof, look on, stopwatches in
hand. The team has recently returned from
the Canadian Intercollegiate Championships
(cis) at the Saanich Commonwealth Games
Pool in Victoria where they won their sixth
consecutive team overall as well as men's
and women's titles, a feat unprecedented in
CIS history. Even more unprecedented was
Brian Johns' world record swim in the 400
metre individual medley.
The majority of the swimmers who train
in the elite group rank belong to the UBC
Dolphins Swim Club. Canadian National
Team members are affiliated with the UBC
National Swim Centre under the organizational umbrella of the main funding body,
Pacific Sport. Many of them also belong to
the UBC Thunderbirds Swim Team. They
train six days a week year round while ^J
attending classes in a variety of degree N
programs. They are expected to keep
up with their studies and commit to ■"■
regular workouts, among the most ^^
strenuous of any swimming program ^_
in Canada. While the average person
might find such a rigorous schedule IH
daunting, these athletes relish the ^^
thought of devoting their time and
energy to their sport. In fact, they find ^™
that their high intensity swimming ^™
actually enhances their academic life ^^
and teaches them valuable life skills.
Coach Johnson takes pride in a ^^
program that is both highly competi- *^
tive and also integrative. "We put ^O
academics and swimming at the same
level. We don't want
people to come here      ° '     SANDRA    Fl
and struggle," he
says. "We're trying turn out not just good
athletes but good people, future leaders. The
lessons, values, and life philosophies they
develop in this setting are powerful for later
on in their lives."
The swimmers, who maintain a mature
attitude at pool side, train under the "Three
Tenets" introduced to the team by American
sports psychologist, Dr. Keith Bell: no grief,
no complaining, and no excuses. The joy
of swimming lies in the challenges posed by
the pursuit of success in the pool and in the
classroom.
"So many people feel that training and
studying are mutually exclusive. It requires
time management," says Jason Strelzow,
who maintains an 80.5 per cent average
in a pre-med double major program in
microbiology and cell biology. With a top
three ranking in Canada in the 50 metre
freestyle, Strelzow trains with the sprinters. "After I finish my workout, I do some
stretching while I read my textbook. I set
up checklists and envision where I want to
be and what steps to follow to attain my
goal. It gives me a great sense of concentration and a goal-oriented lifestyle. I get
less done when I'm not swimming."
Strelzow, who aspires to be a surgeon,
firmly believes that swimming will help
him in his future work. "You develop a
lot of discipline coming to the pool every
day bearing your goal in mind. There are
probably fifteen different ways to reach
your goal and you have
L I P P E L L I to be able to see a way.
It's like that in surgery
where the outcome becomes so important."
Varsity women's team co-captain Caroline
Clapham agrees. A first-year student in the
part-time law program, Clapham thrives on
combining the athletic and academic
challenges. "I've learned how to balance what
I'm doing so taking three law courses is not
so demanding. I like the fact that I can be in
a beautiful city with a great law school and
one of the best swim centres in the country,"
she says. She heads for the Pan American
Games in the Dominican Republic and the
fisu Games in South Korea with a positive
feeling. "Pm enjoying myself now and I can
go faster."
Clapham points out that, since varsity
Brian Johns, world record holder for the 400 metre individual medley
Dhotograph   Paul Josephs
Winter 2003   Trek   19 In the swim: UBC Womens' Swim Club circa 2003;  (opposite) 1924 UBC Womens' Swimming Club:  80 years later the style is different but the spirit is the same
swimming is team-oriented, it is important for each person to take responsibility.
"You develop your own independence
while working in a group." Double
Olympian and varsity team veteran Jessica
Deglau has a similar feeling. "The team's
behind you so much and you want to help
out. You think less about yourself and
more about stepping up to the conditions
you're under so you can win points." One
of the pillars of the team, Deglau is the
winner of some 29 medals in CIS
competitions from 1998-2003 and four
gold and two silver at the 1999 Pan
American Games as well as countless
other international accolades. She has
kept up with her busy training and competition schedule while maintaining an
average of over 80 per cent in the last two
years as a double major in speech sciences
and psychology. "It's taught me a lot of
life skills like how to manage my time,
pursue goals, work with a team and
persevere."
Clapham's varsity co-captain Kelly
Stefanyshyn, a third year major in Human
Kinetics Sport Management and former
Olympian, says that as the leader appointed
by the team, it is important to set an
example for everyone to follow. This year
the women's team lost the western title
to Calgary in spite of the fact that UBC
won 11 gold to Calgary's four. It got a bit
tense going into the CIS Championships.
"Everyone was watching me to see how
I would react. I had to decide as long as
everyone did their part, we could do it." She
took team psychologist Dr. Dana Sinclair's
advice and let the other women on the team
know she believed. "Even when it's not
looking good, you have to pretend it's going
to work out. You can't show fear," she says.
The women's team went on to their sixth
consecutive win at the CIS Championships.
Swimming at international competitions
has given Stefanyshyn invaluable insight,
which has greatly enhanced her studies
in Human Kinetics Sport Management.
"You get to meet people in the area you
want to work in like Swim Canada and
the Canadian Olympic Association. I
can relate a lot of material we cover in
my courses to my personal life in sport,"
she says. She wrote a paper about the
Commonwealth Games right after she
returned from the competition fresh with
an athlete's perspective.
Former Olympian and double
Commonwealth Games gold medallist
in the 100 and 200 metres backstroke,
Mark Versfeld, an eight year veteran of
the Canadian National Swim Team, also
stresses the impact that training at UBC
has had on his life. He left the prestigious
National Sports Centre in Calgary in 1996
to train at the UBC National Swim Centre
20   Trek   Winter 2003
Dhotograph: Paul Joseph while he pursued a degree in Economics.
"I came here from a program with only
five swimmers for the strong training environment in backstroke with Greg Hamm
and Dustin Hersee." Versfeld's teammate
Greg Hamm took bronze in the 200
metres backstroke race he won at the 1998
Commonwealth Games. Their predecessor
Kevin Draxinger, now a physician, was
a silver medallist in the 200 metre backstroke in the 1994 Commonwealth Games
in Victoria.
"It was fun to be part of a big team
atmosphere," Versfeld says of swimming
at UBC. "Everyone builds the excitement
together. Tom has proven himself and the
team has refined itself to be oriented to
high performance. It's an affluent club and
the coaches can decide what you need."
However, he points out that UBC does
not operate like an American school. "It
takes time for a sports centre to pursue
sport to the highest level. The time you
invest in it detracts from the pursuit of
education at the same level," he says. "The
onus is on the athlete to arrange with
his or her professors to make up missed
exams and assignments. Some professors
here don't want to make concessions,
whereas in the States they have to make
allowances for athletes to go away to
attend competitions."
Versfeld does not believe this detracts
quality athletes from coming to UBC.
"UBC has academic integrity. That's an
attraction for swimmers to stay in Canada.
They can come to a top notch school with
a high level sports program, but they have
to be ready for competition in the pool as
well as in school."
After graduation in 2002, Versfeld
retired from swimming and found himself
in a transition stage. Gone were the trips
to international competitions and the endless workouts. Like any other athlete, the
time had come to transfer the life skills
he had learned in sports to the workaday
world. "I needed to adjust my lifestyle,
routine and goals," he says. "When I realized that swimming was developmental, it
was easy for me to make the decision to
retire."
Varsity swimmers who are part of the
UBC National Swim Centre can take
advantage of Pacific Sport's program to
help retired athletes integrate into the real
world. Versfeld is currently channeling
high energy into house construction while
he prepares for a possible career in real
estate. "Now I have a mentor, a swimmer
from the '80s, because I don't know what I
want to do careerwise," he says. This year,
he explored life further while backpacking
around Southeast Asia.
Versfeld is elated with Brian Johns'
world record and hopes it will inspire others to pursue excellence at the same level.
"The resources are here. We want to be
thinking of going there, whatever it takes,"
he says. ♦
Sandra Filippelli is a Vancouver writer MAGIC MOMENTS
Chuck Slonecker is one of those guys who
always seems to be happy. The rain can be
driving under the door and the dog can be lost
in the storm, but Chuck will still wish a merry,
"Hey! How ya doin'" to passersby.
He whistles. A lot. When he had an office
here at Cecil Green Park (my old office,
actually: see the view on page 29), you always
knew when Chuck was in the building. He'd
stick his head in an office and say, "Great new
Trek Magazine. Congratulations," or, "That
event last night was fantastic," then proceed
down the hall to his office, whistling a tune.
For months he whistled the same tune: the
intro to some annoyingly familiar song I
couldn't quite place. I'd hum it over and over
to myself trying to remember the next tune line
until I was nearly mad. Then, one day, I got it:
Magic Moments. That old Perry Como song
from the '50s. Perfect.
Magic moments are what Chuck produced
for nearly 40 years. He started in 1968 as
an assistant professor of Dentistry (where he
taught anatomy), becoming a full professor in
1976. He won the Master Teacher award that
year, the Killam Teaching Prize in 1996 and
served as head of the Anatomy department.
He also published a textbook and 19 other
publications, as well as abstracts, reviews and
papers.
While students in Anatomy will remember
Chuck as a spectacular teacher, anyone who
graduated from UBC in the past 12 years will
remember him as the upbeat guy with the grey
hair who ran the graduation show. Director of
Ceremonies since 1991, Chuck was responsible
for every convocation ceremony, every
presidential function, every VIP party that took
place on campus. Over the years, he's been
responsible for thousands of magic moments.
Chuck Slonecker retires this year. As one of
the people who have defined UBC's rhythm and
identity, he'll be missed.       - Chris Petty
Faaaaantastic! This page, top left, clockwise
The happy couple, Jan and Chuck, freshly
married, 1961. Note the Elvis cut; Chuck in
his lab, mid '70s; Convocation master, thumbs
up, with Richard Vedan, First Nations House
of Learning; United Way batter boy - Chuck
prepares pancake breakfast for the campaign. Chuck was a major force behind the
extremely successful annual campus United
Way Campaign
22   Trek   Winter 2003 Dhotograph (bottom right): Martin Dee
Winter 2003   Trek   23 MORE THAN  KEYCHAINS
Amanda Vincent is casting a wide net to save seahorses.
BY ELLEN
The store was large, spacious, brightly
lit, occupying a busy corner in Vancouver's
Chinatown. Glass-topped display cases filled
the middle aisles; along the walls, shelves
were lined to the ceiling with jars, trays and
cabinets of herbs, roots, leaves, animal parts,
fungi, teas, soups, powders and insects.
Knobby lumps of ginseng. Crinkled dark
green leaves of seaweed. Twisted, misshapen
mushrooms in shades from cream to charcoal.
I approached the gentleman behind the
counter. "Do you have any dried seahorses?" I asked.
"Yes, certainly," he said, leading me to a
display case holding trays of
dessicated creatures. There,
on the top row, were two
trays of seahorses, lying on their sides as if
asleep, each with one tiny black eye gazing
skyward, their curving bellies and tails forming graceful question marks, even in death.
The specimens in one tray were grayish-
brown, old-looking; those in the other were
ivory-white, pristine.
"What's the difference?" I asked.
"Skin on, skin off," the man said, pointing to each tray in turn. "Otherwise the
same. All good."
"What do you do with them?"
"Boil into soup or tea, then drink."
"What do they do for you?"
"Good for people who need iodine. Good
for kidneys."
"How much?"
"Twenty-eight dollars an ounce."
The fact that you can walk into a Chinese
herbal shop and buy dried seahorses is not in
itself a cause for alarm for Amanda Vincent,
UBC's newly arrived Canada Research Chair
in Marine Conservation. After all, she says,
it's perfectly legal, and traditional Chinese
medicine is widely respected and often effective. It's only when the demand for ingredients outstrips the supply that concerns arise.
Unfortunately for seahorses, there is plenty
of cause for alarm. In addition being harvested for the traditional Chinese pharmacopoeia, many species are sold live for
display in public aquariums and as pets in
home aquariums ("Easy to raise!" boast the
ads - a claim that is denied
by Vincent and other marine
scientists, who point out
that the animals are notoriously finicky and
usually die within a few months). Through
the curio trade, dried seahorses are offered
dangling from keychains, fashioned into jewelry, glued to
picture frames, suspended in paperweights
and even embedded in plastic toilet seats.
They are caught directly in small fisheries
- often by some of the world's poorest fishers - and accidentally in larger fisheries. In
shrimp trawling, for example, typically only
about five per cent of the catch is actually
shrimp; the other 95 per cent, called "by-
catch," often includes seahorses and is either
sold or thrown back into the sea - alive, in
varying states of health, or dead.
Add up all these pressures, and you arrive
at a grim total: each year, 25 million sea
horses are traded by 80 countries. Weigh that
fact, and you reach the conclusion that the
demand-supply balance is tipping dangerously in the direction of unsustainability.
Which is exactly what Amanda Vincent did
- and what led her to dedicate her career to
the conservation and sustainable use of these
amazing fishes.
And it's not just seahorses she's aiming to
preserve. Project Seahorse, the international
initiative Vincent co-founded seven years
ago, takes as its central mandate "advancing
marine conservation"; the seahorse is a
symbol of a wider problem, of a broader
approach to finding solutions.
"Saving seahorses means saving the seas,"
Vincent says, fixing me with her direct,
brown-eyed gaze, "and saving the seas means
saving seahorses. To do both, we need to
learn a lot more about these fishes and their
environments. That's what Project Seahorse is
all about - research in service of the oceans."
When Amanda Vincent accepted a
position at UBC in fall 2002, after six years
at McGill University in Montreal, she came
full circle. Born in Vancouver, she had a
peripatetic childhood in South America,
following the path of parents who "had had
enough of the rat race"; her father, a public
relations official with Alcan, crafted a new
career as a lecturer on Latin America, her
mother, as a photographer. Family legend
holds that Vincent was camping by the age
of six weeks - "and I've continued to do
outdoor things ever since. I constantly had
24   Trek   Winter 2003
Dhotograph: Photonics •*• my nose under stumps and into hedges. I was
interested in the way the world worked - and
not just nature, but people, too. From an
early age, I grew up with the determination
to help make the world a better place."
Vincent's fascination with seahorses came
about as a result of combining two of her
great loves: science and oceans. Surprisingly,
for someone who would later gain worldwide
renown as a marine biologist, she never took
a science course in high school, preferring to
focus on history, politics and math - until a
grade 13 biology course sparked her interest
in science. "It was so invigorating," she says,
"I decided to major in biology."
Her interest in the oceans was more a
biding. "I've always had an affinity for the
ocean, its vast horizons, its moods. To me,
mountains don't communicate as well as the
ocean does," she asserts, then adds hastily,
"but luckily here in Vancouver we don't have
to choose!"
After completing an undergraduate degree
in zoology at the University of Western
Ontario, Vincent grabbed her bike and
traveled around the world, stopping to work
to nine hours, then mate again.
"Seahorses are every woman's dream,"
Vincent says with a grin, "and every man's
nightmare."
Their sexual habits notwithstanding,
seahorses fascinate for other reasons, most
notably their unfishlike appearance. Their
Latin name, Hippocampus, comes from the
Greek hippos meaning horse and campus
meaning sea monster. Observing an animal
that had a horse-like head, a monkey-like,
grasping tail and a kangaroo-like pouch for
the young, it's no wonder that our forebears
were confused; early scientists classified them
as aquatic insects, and the ancient Greeks
conjured a mythical creature, half-horse and
half-fish, on which sea gods rode through
the waves, bearing mermaids or pulling
Neptune's chariot.
In reality, seahorses are bony fishes belonging to the family Syngnathidae, which also
includes pipefishes, pipehorses and sea dragons. They range in size from 1.3 to 300 millimetres and are found in most of the world's
temperate and tropical coastal waters, living
in shallow seabeds among sea grasses, man-
of what would become a growing sense of
alarm about the survival of seahorses worldwide. As well as being a popular dive location, Florida is home to a sizeable trawling
fleet that fishes for shrimp as live bait for
anglers. There, Vincent saw large quantities
of seahorses brought up as incidental catch
and sold to aquariums.
That was only the first warning. Soon
after, commissioned to write a National
Geographic article on seahorses, she traveled
widely and saw baskets of dried seahorses
in Asian markets, seahorse curios for sale as
tourist souvenirs in coastal towns, an
electronic billboard in Germany advertising
seahorses as being "good for men with weak
tails."
"I began to get frightened about what I
perceived to be a really big trade in these
animals," Vincent says. She launched a
worldwide investigation into their trade. The
more she dug, the more she perceived a
serious threat not just to seahorses but also
to their habitats, to other marine species, to
the oceans themselves. Her painstaking surveys soon indicated that exploited seahorse
SHE LAUNCHED A WORLDWIDE INVESTIGATION INTO THEIR TRADE. THE MORE SHE DUG, THE
THREAT NOT JUST TO SEAHORSES BUT ALSO TO THEIR HABITATS, TO OTHER MARINE SPECIES,
when she needed money. Her travels included
work stints at a ski resort and grape harvests
in France, a pub in Ireland and a sheep farm
in Australia. Two and a half years later,
ready to return to her studies, she decided to
pursue a doctorate at Cambridge University.
"I was interested in the evolution of sex differences in fishes - and if that's your interest,
there's no better creature to study than the
seahorse."
Consider: Seahorse pairs bond for life.
Every day, each pair performs a ritual mating dance for about 10 minutes. Only the
males get pregnant; at mating time, the
female deposits her eggs in the male's brood
pouch, where they're fertilized. The male
incubates the eggs, supplying oxygen, nutrition and protection, for 10 days to six weeks,
depending on the species, before giving birth.
Immediately afterward, the pair dance for up
groves, coral reefs and estuaries.
It was in shallow waters off the Florida
Keys that Amanda Vincent made her first
dives to observe seahorses in the wild, after
several years of watching them in tanks.
Those early dives, she says with a laugh,
were a flop. "I simply couldn't find any
seahorses! They're extraordinarily cryptic;
they have excellent camouflage abilities. They
can change colour to blend in with their surroundings, grow barnacles, attach themselves
to rocks. I made a name for myself as the
seahorse biologist who couldn't find seahorses! I began to understand why nobody
studied them underwater." She laughs again.
"Finally, at the end of one dive, I spotted
some among some mangrove roots. One was
greeny, another reddish-purple." She sighs.
"It was love at first sight."
It was also, Vincent recalls, the beginning
populations had dropped by an estimated 15
to 50 per cent over five years. Those numbers spurred her to action. In 1996, with Dr.
Heather Hall, Senior Curator, Aquarium, for
the Zoological Society of London, she founded Project Seahorse, an international consortium dedicated to marine conservation.
Project Seahorse has about 40 scientists,
community organizers and support staff,
plus village research assistants, working in Canada, the United Kingdom, the
Philippines, Hong Kong, Australia, Portugal
and the United States. It has forged partnerships with UBC, the Zoological Society of
London, Chicago's John G. Shedd Aquarium,
the University of Tasmania, marine conservation organizations and TRAFFIC East Asia, a
joint agency of the World Wildlife Fund and
the IUCN - World Conservation Union.
"Project Seahorse works with a wide array
26   Trek   Winter 2003 of constituents - people and systems - that
are involved with marine issues: fish, fishers,
ecosystems, traders, consumers, policy
makers and the public," Vincent says. "We
don't have the luxury of tackling one problem at a time. We take a multi-faceted,
integrated approach to ensure that solutions
will work on many levels: at the village level,
at the policy level, at the ecosystem level.
And we're not just focused on the seahorse.
Because they're well-recognized and well-
loved, seahorses make an ideal emblem, an
icon that people can identify with, but the
project is really much more diverse. Seahorses
are ambassadors for a broad range of marine
conservation issues."
The initiative has five main streams, or
foci: undertaking research, managing marine
populations and fisheries, monitoring and
adjusting consumption of marine life, developing conservation policy and promoting
awareness.
What this means, on a practical level, is
that team members are working on dozens
of different projects at any given time: conducting fundamental research on species and
MORE SHE PERCEIVED A SERIOUS
TO THE OCEANS THEMSELVES.
habitats, working with fishers and villagers to
manage fisheries in a way that respects
people's need to earn a living while conserving the fishes, consulting with international
agencies and governments to establish marine
protected areas, and more.
One of Project Seahorse's major accomplishments was the decision, in fall 2002,
by CITES, the Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora
and Fauna, to place all species of seahorses
on its list of regulated species, following a
years-long effort spearheaded by Vincent.
The ruling means that when any of the 164
signatory nations exports seahorses, it must
do so in a sustainable manner that does not
threaten the survival of the animals in their
wild environment. The provision comes into
effect in May 2004.
"We deliberately asked for a long defer-
AMANDA VINCENT
One of Project Seahorse's
major accomplishments was
the decision, in fall 2002,
by CITES, the Convention
on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild
Flora and Fauna, to place al
species of seahorses on
its list of regulated species,
following a year-long effort
spearheaded by Vincent
Dhotograph   Bayne Stanley
Winter 2003   Trek   27 ral before the ruling comes into effect," says
Vincent, who was recently re-appointed
as chair of the working group for CITES,
"because seahorses are the first commercially
important marine fish species to be regulated
under CITES, and it's important that we make
it work. In the meantime, we're developing
simple fishing protocols to advise governments
on how to regulate their exports in seahorses,
and working with fishers to find ways to conserve seahorse populations."
One of these grassroots projects is taking place in the Philippines, where Project
Seahorse has established nine "no-take"
marine conservation areas. In what Vincent
calls "one of the poorest villages in a poor
municipality in a poor province of a very poor
country," where people rely heavily on income
from seahorse fishing, it's perhaps surprising
that the villagers would be receptive to no-
fishing zones. On the contrary, Vincent says,
local people have taken the lead.
"We find that villagers usually can identify
the problems at least as quickly as we can.
When we discuss ways forward with the fishers, they're full of suggestions and very happy
to evaluate our suggestions and then try the
ones that we mutually feel are possible. The
villagers set up a marine sanctuary for all species, not just seahorses. And it's been strictly
their baby. They've policed it, they've enforced
it, and they're very proud of the rapid recovery of the fish. The fishing around the reserve
appears to have gone up, and other villages
are now asking us to help them set up their
own sanctuaries because they've heard from
their friends and seen with their own eyes how
much difference it makes."
Yet another initiative is taking place
in Hong Kong, where Project Seahorse is
attempting to increase awareness of conservation concerns in the traditional Chinese
medicine community - but with a decidedly
respectful approach. "We pass no judgment on
the validity of traditional medicine," Vincent
insists. "After all, it has been codified for two
thousand years, it's recognized by the World
Health Organization and it's still a significant part of health care for a maj ority of the
world's population. Our only wish is that
seahorse exploitation be done in a sustainable
fashion."
To that end, Project Seahorse, in conjunction with TRAFFIC, is working with traditional medicine practitioners to set minimum
size limits for the seahorse catch, so that
juveniles have a chance to grow to maturity
and reproduce, and to identify and encourage
the medical use of alternative species that are
not at risk.
All of these initiatives require Vincent
to work with a wide array of stakeholders in
a variety of disciplines that take her far from
her marine biology roots - and the opportunity to do that was one of the things that
drew her to UBC. "Anyone who thinks that
conservation is primarily about biology is
wrong; it's first and foremost about changing
human behaviour," she says. "So I need to
work with others who have an understanding
of how humans tick. I look forward to
working with colleagues in the social sciences, anthropology, law, politics, oceanography,
resource management, even the Centre for
Applied Ethics - and that is something that
UBC encourages and supports."
UBC's reputation for interdisciplinarity
wasn't the only draw. Vincent was also lured
by the chance to work with world-class
colleagues in the fisheries Centre, where
Project Seahorse is housed (the Centre
will move to the new Aquatic Ecosystems
Research Laboratory when it is built), and
by the tradition of support for marine biology and conservation on the Pacific coast.
She was impressed by the fact that UBC, like
McGill, was open to approaches to evaluating a faculty member's scholarly performance
that reach beyond primary publication, such
as one's contribution to policy change and
the engagement of the community. Then, too,
she already had a base of family and personal
ties in Vancouver. But perhaps most important was the factor that causes her to break
into a grin: "UBC is on the ocean!"
Certainly, UBC snared a "prize catch" in
Amanda Vincent. In 1999, TIME Canada
proclaimed her a Leader for the 21st Century,
and La Presse named her Personality of the
Year for Humanities and Social Sciences,
Science and Technology. The following
year, she was awarded the world's pre-eminent award in marine conservation - a Pew
Fellowship - for her work in non-food fisheries. She was also the first Canadian
winner of the much-coveted Rolex Award for
Enterprise.
Vincent doesn't dwell on her honours; she's
too busy fulfilling all her roles as a scholar,
research scientist, professor, administrator
and advocate. When she's not occupied with
running Project Seahorse - "I coordinate and
integrate the research, make sure all of the
elements of the program are working together, communicate findings, raise funds and
talk to stakeholders, the public, policy makers and colleagues" - she teaches a graduate
level course on science and politics in aquatic
management and is developing a new undergraduate conservation course. She enjoys
teaching: "It forces me to read more broadly
and to challenge my own assumptions." And
she gets out to field sites whenever she can,
to dive and observe her beloved seahorses.
Although Vincent says that she left McGill
with considerable regret, she's pleased with
her new academic home. "UBC is very generous in its embrace of a broader vision - I've
been delighted with my time here so far."
As I leave Amanda Vincent's office, I
pass a bookcase in the Fisheries Centre hallway that displays a dozen or so exotic items.
Unlike the shelves in the Chinatown store,
however, these contain raffia products. The
intricately woven purses, wallets, wall hangings, belts and baskets, in natural and dyed
hues of tan, red and green, are the fruit of yet
another Project Seahorse initiative, samples of
the work of a village-based crafts cooperative
that offers a way for fishers' families to earn
money without fishing. The project
represents one more strategy, one more
solution that just might help to keep those
little "horse-sea monsters" alive. Like the
seahorse, these handcrafted weavings are a
thing of beauty - and a symbol of hope.D
Ellen Schwartz is a Vancouver writer
Trek   Winter 2003 i*:z\T-
?V^:.
The University of British Columbia Alumni News       Winter 2003
i-
■  ■     ■
-"■■I'
■   At
*v:  .
■i i
fe
\jPt      m ^1
■ 3      S*1
.   *   ' THE  ARTS
FREDERIC WOOD THEATRE
K. Franz Kafka, written by Martin
Tulinius
January 15-24, 2004 7:30pm
Song of This Place, by Joy Coghill
February 19-28, 2004 7:30 pm
The Lady from the Sea, by Henrik Ibsen
adapted by Bryan Wade (UBC Creative
Writing Program)
TELUS Studio Theatre
March 18- 27, 2004 7:30pm
Frederic Wood box office open during
the day from 10:00 am until 4:00 pm.
Reservation line: 604-822-2678
website: www.theatre.ubc.ca
THE CHAN CENTRE FOR THE
PERFORMING ARTS
For more information on events, please call
604-822-2697.
Kate Clinton (political comedian)
Jan 10, 8:00 pm
Svetlana Ponomareva (piano)
Jan 11, 3:00 pm
Bach &c Beyond, Concert Three
Jan 16 & 17, 8:00 pm
(Vancouver Symphony Orchestra with
Tania Miller, conductor)
Philip Glass (piano)
Jan 18, 7:30 pm
UBC Symphony Orchestra
Jan 23 & 24, noon (Free)
Anne Sofie Von Otter (mezzo-soprano)
Jan 25, 8:00 pm
UBC Chamber Strings
Jan 30, 8:00 pm (Free)
Violins of the World
(Angele Dubeau and her all-female
chamber orchestra, La Pieta)
Jan 31, 8:00 pm
University Singers
Feb 5 & 6, noon (Free)
UBC Symphonic Wind Ensemble
Feb 12 & 13, noon (Free)
Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg/Sergio &c
Odair Assad
Feb 14, 8:00 pm
Radu Lupu (piano)
Feb 16, 8:00 pm
Manon (by Jules Massenet)
UBC School of Music and Theatre at
UBC 2003-2004.
Mar 4/5/6, 8:00 pm March 7, 3:00 pm
Bach &c Beyond, Concert Four
Vancouver Symphony Orchestra with
Martin Fischer-Dieskau, conductor Ian
Parker, piano
Friday March 12 & 13, 8:00 pm
UBC Symphonic Wind Ensemble
Mar 25, noon, Mar 26, 8:00 pm (Free)
UBC Symphony Orchestra
(Featuring Dominic Florence, piano
Works by Liszt and Prokofiev)
Apr 1, noon, Apr 2, 8:00 pm (Free)
University Singers & UBC Choral
Union
Apr 8, 8:00 pm (Free)
Adrian Brendel (cello) and Alfred
Blendel (piano)
Apr 13, 8:00 pm
Bach &c Beyond, Concert Five
(Vancouver Symphony Orchestra with
Bramwell Tovey, conductor
Kathleen Brett, soprano)
Apr 16 & 17, 8:00 pm
BELKIN ART GALLERY
For information on exhibits, please contact
the Belkin at 604-822-2759 / http://www.
belkin-gallery.ubc.ca or the Belkin Satellite
at 604-687-3174 / www.belkin-gallery.ubc.
ca/satellite/index.html
Thrown Influences and Intentions of West
Coast Ceramics, Jan 16 - Mar 14
Ceramics influenced by the studio pottery
movement of Bernard Leach and Shoji
Hamada.
Online
.th
Zero Hour
A program to mark the io"1 anniversary
of the fall of the Berlin Wall www.ies.ubc.
ca/berlin99/
Most Sincerely (Ray Johnson)
An exhibition of works of the New York
Correspondance School www.belkin-gal-
lery.ubc.ca/rayjohnson/main.html
Quartet for the Year 4698 or 5760
A multi-media gallery installation
www.belkin-gallery.ubc.ca/laiwan/default.
htm
Twenty Questions
Recent acquisitions to the painting and
drawing collections
www.belkin-gallery.ubc.ca/webpage/
online/twenty.html
Sheila and Wilfred Watson Collection
Canadian writers, Sheila and Wilfred
Watson collected many works of Jack
Shadbolt. The collection also includes
works by Molly Lamb Bobak, Emily
Carr, Wyndham Lewis, Henry Moore and
Norman Yates.
www.belkin-gallery.ubc.ca/webpage/
online/watson.html
BELKIN SATELLITE
Re-reading the 80s: Feminisms as a
Process in Vancouver
Feb 27 - Mar 21 (Opening Thursday 26
February 2004 from 8:00-10:00 pm)
A look at the practices of artists engaged
with diverse feminisms in Vancouver
through book works, printed matter and
art journal interventions produced in the
1980s.
Manufacturing Mod: Metal Tunics to
30   Trek   Winter 2003 Paper Dresses
Apr 3-25 (Opening April 2, 8:00-
10:00 pm)
During the mid to late 1960s, mass
manufacturing and new technology
effected radical changes on the production, conceptualization and accessibility of modern apparel. Curator
Jamila Dunn examines the use of non-
traditional materials such as paper,
plastic and metal, and other experimental forms. Innovative garments by
Paco Rabanne, Pierre Cardin, Andre
Courreges and others.
MUSEUM OF ANTHROPOLOGY
Pasifika: Island Journeys
An Exhibition of The Frank Burnett
Collection of Pacific Arts donated to
UBC in 1927. With historic and contemporary photographs
accompanied by commentary.
Celadon: Beyond the Glaze
The Anthropology of Public
Representation. An examination of celadon (greenish ceramic glazes) through the
eyes of the potter, the art historian, the
anthropologist and the geologist.
Ceramics from the Victor Shaw Donation:
Ancient Arts from the lst-14th centuries
In 2000, Victor Shaw donated 388 pieces
of ancient Chinese art to moa. This single-
case show features bowls, vases, dishes,
a small cosmetic box and painted human
and animal figures ranging from the ist-
14th c.
Weavers at Musqueam
An installation of weavings by Musqueam
Artists Roberta Louis (1945-2001),
Margaret Pointe (1951 - 1996) and Krista
Point.
To Wash Away the Tears: A Memorial
Potlatch Exhibit
Based on a memorial for Maggie Pointe of
the Musqueam Nation, the exhibit includes
a contemporary 14-foot West Coast style
canoe and its contents donated by Shane
Pointe and Gina Grant.
Dempsey Bob: The Art Goes Back to the
Paco Rabanne, Aluminium chain mail dress c.1968
Courtesy of Costume Museum of Canada
From the Belkin exhibit, Manufacturing Mod:
Metal Tunics to Paper Dresses
Stories
Consisting of 14 panels of text and photographs, this exhibit also features three of
this world-renowned Tahltan artist's most
recent bronze sculptures.
SCHOOL OF MUSIC
For tickets and event details, please contact 604-822-5574 / concerts@interchange.
ubc.ca
Wednesday Noon Hour Concerts
Recital Hall, $4
Jan 14: Late French baroque harpsichord
Jan 21: Eric Wilson (cello), Patricia Hoy
(piano)
Jan 28: David Harding (viola), Robert
Silverman (piano)
Feb 4: Kendra Colton (soprano), Rena
Sharon (piano)
Feb 11: Ken Broadway (piano)
Feb 25: Joe Trio (violin, cello, piano)
Mar 3: Early works for alto saxophone,
Elise Hall
Mar 10: Beth Orson (English Horn), Rita
Costanzi (harp)
Mar 17: Miranda Wong (piano)
|Mar 24: Alan Matheson Nonet
(jazz)
|Mar 31: Ad Mare Wind Quintet
Borealis String Quartet
Recital Hall, $2o/$io, Jan 22 &
|Mar 11, 8:00 pm
Scholarship Winners Concert (UBC
IStudents)
Recital Hall, $2o/$io, Jan 31, 8:00
Ipm
Music @ Main
Main Library, R111502 (Dodson)
an 16, noon: Celebration of
[Canadian Music Centre's 45     anniversary (free)
Feb 6, noon: Collegium
Musicum (free)
Mar 5, noon: Student Highlights
Opera Tea
UBC@Robson Square, $i7/$i2, Feb 1,
2:00 pm
Masterclasses
Recital Hall
Feb 5-7, 7:00 pm: Dang Thai Son (piano)
Feb 14 & 15, 7:00 pm: William Bennett
(flute)
Free Events at the Recital Hall
Jan 30, noon: West Coast Student
Composers Symposium
Feb 9, noon: UBC Chamber Strings
Mar 8 & 22, Apr 5, noon: UBC Student
Composers
Mar 11, noon & Mar 26, 8:00 pm:
Contemporary Players
Mar 12, noon: UBC Chamber Strings
Mar 15, noon: String Chamber Ensemble
Mar 18, noon: Chamber Choirs of UBC
Mar 29, noon: UBC Percussion Ensemble
Mar 18, 8:00 pm & Apr 2, noon: Jazz
Ensemble
Mar 25, noon & Mar 26, 8:00 pm: UBC
Symphonic Wind Ensemble
Feb 12, noon & Apr 3, 8:00 pm:
Collegium Musicum Ensemble
Apr 7, noon: UBC Gamelan Ensemble ->
Winter 2003   Trek   31 BOOKS
Hie Dt&tmliftffjf Bndg«
ROBERT STRANDQU:
The Dreamlife of Bridges
Robert Strandquist, mfa'86 Anvil Press $18
QDLeo is a loser. At least, that's how he
sees himself in a world both hostile and
incomprehensible. How can a universe work
where his only son, bright, logical and
seemingly untroubled, has killed himself?
The novel begins with Leo holding on
precariously to his job and some semblance
of a normal life. Soon, though, he's unable
to stay connected to the things that make life
bearable: work, home, friends. He begins a
journey downward wherein all the
comfortable things he knows disappear.
One of the many strengths of Dreamlife of
Bridges is Strandquist's ability to turn images
on their heads and surprise us with new
understandings of obvious, sometimes banal
human travails:
He brings out a photo of his son he
normally keeps hidden in the back of
a drawer . . . Benson was his mother's
choice, the name. Leo would have called
him David, as a tactile link to ancestors, a
soldier uncle whose picture stood on Leo's
mother's dresser, carried like code over
the centuries, by men who were shaped by
stone, who knew sacrifice, strong
medicine. A name from a book severs
something, weakens the immune system.
Leo meets June, another troubled soul
struggling to make some sense of a world
gone sideways. Their trials are familiar,
but the strength of the writing brings new
insights into a world we would all rather
read about than live in. This is Strandquist's
first novel, and it's a doozy.
Morganthaler: A Difficult Hero
Catherine Dunphy, Wiley $28.95
DDLove him or hate him, Henry
Morganthaler has had a huge impact on the
Canadian social and medical landscape with
his passionate fight to establish a woman's
right to legal and safe abortions. This book
tells of his early life in Auschwitz, and his
sometimes troubled relationships with family,
friends and lovers, and exposes the complexi
ties of a man who is seen as a saviour and
man of compassion by some, and the devil
incarnate by others. The book also deals with
the tumultuous history of the right-to-choice
movement, and its difficult relationship with
Morganthaler. An essential read for those on
both sides of the debate.
Niki Goldschmidt: A life in Canadian music
Gwenlyn Setterfield, University of Toronto
Press $50
DDNiki Goldschmidt was an unstoppable
force on the Canadian music scene. Born in
1908 near Brno in what was then the Austro-
Hungarian empire, he left Europe in 1937 to
escape the coming war and to establish
himself in the new world. Already an
accomplished conductor and musician, he
eventually came to Canada and began his
career as an organizer of festivals and
competitions across the country. He is directly responsible for starting the Vancouver
International Music Festival, the Bach
International Piano Competition and the
32   Trek   Winter 2003 Guelph Spring Festival, among others, and
for bringing such international notables as
Axel Shoitz, Bruno Walter, Jon Vickers and
Yehudi Menuhin to Canada. This biography
traces his life from his early years to his
accomplishments as a teacher, conductor and
artistic director.
Vancouver's Glory Years: Public Transit 1890-
1915
Heather Conn, ba'8i, and Henry Ewert,
BA'58 Whitecap $45
DDThe forests, farmland and waterways of
Vancouver were imposing obstacles to
transportation 100 years ago. Stagecoaches,
steamships and rails got passengers and
goods around the area as best they could, but
the task of joining the region fell to the builders of the electric streetcars and interurban
lines, beginning in the 1890s. This
fascinating book documents the beginnings
of public transit in Vancouver with more
than 150 photographs from the era. These
rail lines defined the settlement patterns of
the growing community, and account for
much of the early prosperity of the Lower
Mainland. Looking at the photos and reading about the political, social and economic
wrangling that took place during the
building of the transit system, makes one
wonder why the system was ever abandoned.
But that's another story. This is a great book
for those interested in Vancouver's early history.
The Cedar Surf: An informal history of
surfing in BC
Grant Shilling, New Star $16
DDThe water temperature in coastal British
Columbia waters never gets above 11
degrees Celsius. But as anyone who has
been to the west coast of Vancouver Island
knows, the surf can be pretty spectacular.
Imagine being one of the odd breed who
lives to slide along the tops of huge, curling
waves, and think about what you have to do
to surf that water and stay alive. This book
traces the development of surfing along the
stretch of coast between Tofino and Ucluelet
and Port Renfrew and Jordan River. It's an
absorbing read, full of wild characters and
events, written with the same verve and
energy one would need to wade into the frigid
surf in the first place.
My Dad the Rum Runner
Jim Stone, BA'48, MA'50
Here is a book that pulls no punches. It's
about west coast rum running, concentrating
on the exploits of the author's father, Stuart
Stone, who was one of the most important
captains of mother ships delivering good
whiskey to thirsty Americans from 1930 to
1933. Based on the personal recollection of
the author and on personal experiences of
the rum runner's second wife, who served on
board the five-masted schooner, Malahat, the
book provides a fascinating look at day-today life on a ship that had to deliver precious
cargo, all the while being chased by American
Coast Guard boats. A great read, guaranteed
to send you off looking for a tot of rum. ♦
Winter 2003   Trek   33 ILLUMINATING
ACHIEVEMENT
Awards Dinner "A great party"
The 9th annual Alumni Association
Achievement Awards Dinner held on
November 20 came off without a hitch.
Award recipients were properly feted,
guests got to hear some inspiring words
from president Martha Piper, and raffle
balloon purchasers got to bet a few
dollars on winning some great prizes. Oh,
and the food was pretty good, too.
A highlight of the evening was the
presentation of the first Placer Dome
scholarship to Adam Millar, a 2nd year
mining engineering student who had the
highest entrance marks in the entire
faculty of Applied Science. Presented by
Jennifer Gordon, VP Human Resources for
Placer Dome, the scholarship
represents that company's commitment to
training, and hiring, the best and
brightest.
The raffle was also a big success.
Balloons quickly sold out, raising about
$4,000 for student scholarships and
bursaries. This year's prizes ranged from
trips to Newfoundland (with a cruise
around 'the rock') and Orlando, Florida,
to evenings on the town in Vancouver and
Victoria, golf packages, getaways, specialty
chocolates and even some electric toothbrushes. Thanks to our generous donors.
The dinner was a sellout, with more
than 400 satisfied guests. The dinner also
raised more than $10,000 for student
programs.
9TH Annual Alumni
Achievement Awards Winners
Stewart Blusson bsc'6o, Dsc'99
Lifetime Achievement Award
Maurice Copithorne QC, BA'54, LLB'54,
LLD'02 Alumni Award of Distinction
George Hungerford, oc, BA'65, llb'68
Alumni Award of Distinction
Michael Phelps occ, BA, LLB, LLD, LLM
Honorary Alumnus
Alice Mui, bsc'86, PHD'92
Outstanding Young Alumna
Martin Schechter, MA'75, phd, md, msc
Alumni Award for Research
Romayne Gallagher BSc'79, MD'84, ccfp
Faculty Citation
Nadine Caron bsc, MD'97, MPH, FRCSc'03
Outstanding Student Award
Erfan Kazemi Bsc'03
Outstanding
Nominate UBC's Best and Brightest! Do you know a member of the UBC family who is deserving
of special recognition? You can nominate that person (or persons) to be considered for next
year's awards. Call our offices for details, or visit our website,
http://www.alumni.ubc.ca/programs/awards/ and download a nomination form.
34   Trek   Winter 2003
Dhotographs: Clancy Dennehy Winter 2003   Trek   35 ILLUMINATING   ACHIEVEMENT
PLATINUM
PL*Cffi DOME INC
LEAD SPONSOR Placer Dome came
on board early with a $10,000 sponsorship. During the dinner, Placer Dome Vice
President, Human Resources Jennifer Gordon
presented a $5,000 scholarship to Adam
Millar, a second-year Applied Science student
in the mining department. Adam received
the scholarship because he had the highest
entrance marks in the department, averaging
over 85 per cent for 37 credits. Adam's parents Alice and Don Millar, both UBC grads,
were on hand to watch.
SPONSORS
The 9th Annual Alumni Achievement Awards Dinner
GOLD
BG hydro
E3
Meloche Mannex
JH\ Manulife Financial
SILVER
A
CIBC
ALCAN '''
HSBC<»
The world's local bank
-KIND   SUPPLIERS
Business in Vancouver Media Group
Data-Core/Benwell Atkins
Forge Marketing
Myron, Balagno & Associates Ltd.
Oral B
Sharp's Audio Video
Significant Impact/Leader Frames
SUPPORTERS
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP
Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP
Ledcor Construction
PricewaterhouseCooper
36   Trek   Winter 2003 UBC The Benefits of
Membership
Frame Yourself!
Whet her you're a recent grad or an old hard, showcase your
UBC diploma in a custom frame. Choose from beautifully craft-
ad mahogany orelegant cpkl satin. The frames have swivel
clip; on the back so you can easily mount the diploma yourself without any tools. Buy online at
ww wdegreef ra me;.conV o r ca 11 ou r offices.
A port on of each purchase is donated back to the UBC Alumni
tesoc bt o n to su pport so ur f u rd ina serv £&$ a nd p rogra rrc.
The benefits begin with graduation
UBC grad; organized the Alumni Associaton in 1917 as a way to stay in touch with
friend; and with the university we've developed many progra ms and servfce; over the
years to help the process, and we're proud of what we (to. Because we have nearly
200,000 members, we can offer group discounts on servfce; and save you money. At
the sa me ti ire, yo if II be su pport i ng prog ra rrc off eied by you r Al umn i Assoc iation.
Alumni A"* partners offer you more value
The Akjnni4*"lf» per year fpht viSTl
UBC comimnity Borrower Library Card
Wjur Ar**entitle; you to a UBC community borrower
li bra iy card at no additional cost,
working downtown? The A-* is new available at the
libraiyat Itobson Square.
The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts
4"* hokleis receive 20% off adult single tickets (max 2) for individual events when the
card is presented at the Chan tfcketofffce. The Chan's new season starts in October.
Call 604622,269? or vbit wwwxhancentrexomfor program details.
Vancouver Symphony orchestra
A** ho tiers leceive the 15% subscribers' discount for the2003/04 season (September -
June), ^eluding special concerts, when card is presented at the VSO box office.
More great benefits. .
!^JMe;T!!I^,n^.rance.,imiDd^in9^ndfd D Manulife Financial
Health and Dental protect on f la a and newcrrtcal      ^^
illness Plan,
nreNA: The MasterCard that keeps on giving. Attractive interest rates
and great feature;*
Meloche Mormeic hOmeandauto insurance with pre'
ferred group rate; and feature; d&g ned for our grads.
Travel and mi: ro-enterprise insurance also available.
for more Mo about services and benefits,
or to purchase an Alumni Amd, please contact our offices
Phone: 604.8223*1^ or 800880.3086
E-mai I: a kimnfg iakirmi *ubc*ca
www.alumni. ubc.ca
2003/4 Alumni Travel
Education, exploration and adven
New Zealand &dv€*mire
An J5-re6. 7,20Cti
Explore Mew Zealand^ North 6s
So uth fc b neb a boa id the lux urfo \z
12$ paaK nger Cl ipper Odyssey
Coriona, In ttomantlc Tusony
Apri I 7-15,2CC4
The exc it ing progre m take? you to
Cortona, nestkdinthe heartof
Ita (y*s Tusca ny region
Province, AW-en-Provence
April 27-May 5,2004
Spriojtirre in Fiance; art architec*
ture, history food and wine.
Newfoundland and Lsbndcr
A//K 4-12,2CC4
Set o ut aboard the 10$*gucst Or&n
to ex ptore La breoo ra nd The Roc k
on x he un usua I voyage.
Hdland and Germany
jbty5-16,2X>4
Continental patzge, enjfees the
Rhiffft. Mceelk, Mairt MairrDanube
Cana I a nd Da nube wate tways.lwo
week? of the hbtoiy and beauty of
Europe.
h^and, Ennfe
jbty 20-2$, 2004
Alumni Ca rrp us Abroad; Exc ursfonSi
lectures and 'rreet the people'
exchanges. Architecture! treasures
and astoundi ng nature I bea uty.
For rrore informatfo n ca II
6048223629
toll free 600.663 J060
vuw vf j I uni n I u bt xa r
■
ALUMNI NEWS
TODAY'S STUDENTS NEED YOUR HELP
Remember what it was like looking for that
first job after graduation? Ever wish you
knew then what you know now?
We are looking for alumni who graduated in
Arts subjects to come and speak to current
students about their career paths and help
them see what can be achieved with an .Arts
degree. Beyond the BA and Arts Career Expo
are two events that attract nearly 500 Arts
students and they are eager to hear what you
have to say about the world of work. We
have events for other faculties throughout the
year as well. If you are interested in participating, please call Dianna at 604-822-8917
or email yamentor@alumni.ubc.ca.
YOUNG ALUMNI NETWORK
EVENT REPORTS
The past three months have been exciting and busy for the UBC Young Alumni
Network. YA held its second annual BBQ at
Locarno Beach in August. October's Career
Seminar was sold out, with young alumni
coming out to listen to Marlene Delanghe
from UBC Career Services giving tips and
techniques to help with networking and dis-
REUNIONS 2004
Learning to Ride Members
of the Education class of '78
met in Victoria and celebrated
their their 25th anniversary
reunion at the Grand Pacific
Hotel, October 24-26. A hardy
group donned helmets and
took to the bikepaths, mak-
ng sure each other behaved
appropriately. No detentions
were necessary
covering the hidden job market. November
saw the long-awaited follow-up to the May
Networking Night at Opus Bar in Yaletown.
More than 45 alumni came out to meet some
new people and connect with old friends in
this trendy spot.
UPCOMING EVENTS
January 16: Alumni Night at the Vancouver
Ravens. Join UBC, SFU and BCIT alumni at
this Lacrosse game at GM Place. Tickets are
only $15 (regular $24) and include a chance
to win some really great prizes.
February: For the Love of Money workshop.
This year, Reunion Weekend will be held from October 1-3. We are currently seeking
class reps from '54, '79 and '94 to help organize reunions and events.
DETAILS
Harrison Hot Springs Resort
Harrison Hot Springs Resort
RVYC (TBC)
On campus for convocation, then to Manteo
Resort, Kelowna, BC
Friday Lunch at CGP, Sat Kick-Off followed by
reception & tours of Engineering Bldgs
REUNION
DATE
Pharm '84
Oct 1-3
Law '74
Oct 22-24
Law '59
May 8
Med '54
June 1-4
BASC 54
Oct  1-2
The following reunions are in the planning stages:
Pharmacy '94, Medicine '94, Micro Biology '93<"94, Nursing '89, Medicine '84, Law
'84, Mechanical '84, Forestry '84, Law '79, Science '74, Home Ec '69, Chemical
'69, Medicine '64, Pharmacy '64, Civil '64, Home Ec '64, Law '54, Mechanical '54,
BASC'64, BASC'74, Mech'74. Please contact Jane Merling at 604.822.8918 or
merling@alumni.ubc.ca for mor information or to help with reunion planning.
i&s&hsE;
Come out and learn tax tips and investment
advice that all young alumni should know. We
will also have a speaker to cover what you need
to know about insurance. $15 - check website
for details and to RSVP (www.alumni.ubc.ca/
youngalumni).
There are many more events yet to be confirmed. Please keep checking our website for
updates and details. And while you're there,
why not sign up for our bi-monthly e-newsletter?
REGIONAL NETWORKS
Relocating? If you're moving to a new city or
have already landed and are now looking to
settle in, be sure to connect with the regional
UBC alumni network in your region. Alumni
coordinate regular social and business networking events as well as speaker series and outings
to sporting events. Visit the Alumni Association
website at www.alumni.ubc.ca or contact Tanya
Walker at twalker@alumni.ubc.ca for a list of
regional contacts. If you don't see a contact for
your area and are interested in getting involved,
she'll be pleased to hear from you. Many of the
existing networks could also use your help and
ideas.
Our networks are expanding! We're pleased
to welcome four new networks in the USA and
Europe:
Gothenburg, Sweden
Jacqueline Relova, BSc'9 8
Email: anne-jaqueline.relova@medkem.gu.se
Phone: 46705877612
Scottsdale, Arizona
38   Trek   Winter 2003 Hallowe'en in Hong Kong Grads from UBC, Simon Fraser and UVic scared
each other silly at Hallowe'en Happy Hour on October 29, 2003, at Ruums.
Peggy Wai bcom'97 (the woman in the middle with the short-sleeved blue
blouse) was social convenor for the event.
Andrew Rooker
Email: trooker@cox.net
Phone: 480-513-9705 or 480-
,1-2445
Minneapolis/Twin Cities, Minnesota
Mike Peplinski
E-mail: mikepep@comcast.net
Phone: 651-733-2340 or 651-260
Bowling Green, Ohio
Tlell Elviss
Email: telviss@bgnet.bgsu.edu
Phone: 419-352-3351
Reports from Regional Networks:
President Martha Piper and VP Research
Dr. Indira Samarasekera have both been out
on the road meeting UBC alumni. Dr. Piper
began her road trip in Singapore and later
in the fall she met with alumni in Victoria
and Calgary. Dr. Samarasekera provided a
snapshot of research initiatives at this year's
annual reception in Toronto. (Did you know
that UBC researchers were the first in the
world to describe the genome sequence
of the sars Corona Virus?) Our regional
networks have also been busy organizing
festive gatherings, monthly brunches, and
pub nights as well as getting involved at education fairs and with other groups such as
Club Canada in Beijing, Canadians Abroad
in Los Angeles, the Canadian Society in New
York and the Canadian Alumni Network in
Shanghai.
Upcoming Regional Network Events
Here's a list of just a few upcoming regional
events. Visit www.alumni.ubc.ca for a complete calendar of events, regularly updated.
Hockey Night in LA
Friday, January 9
All BC Universities (UBC, SFU and uvic)
Pre-game dinner at JT Schmid's and then
watch the Vancouver Canucks barbeque the
Anaheim Mighty Ducks
5:30 pm dinner
London, UK Pub Night
Thursday, January 22
Maple Leaf Pub
6:30 pm onwards
Toronto Sunday Brunch
Sunday, January 26
Korean Grill House
Noon
Phoenix Fiesta
Thursday, February 5
All-Canadian Alumni Social Gathering hosted
by Queen's Sonora Brewhouse
6:00 - 8:00 pm
Toronto Sunday Brunch
Sunday, February 29
Dhaba
Noon
Martha Piper in Ottawa
Pub Night in Tokyo It's 'thumbs up' and 'peace,
man' from Paddy Foley's Pub in Tokyo. Grads gather
often for news from home, networking and a couple
of pints.
Graduating Again At each Fall convocation the
class celebrating its 60th anniversary gets to do it
all over again. They gown up, cross the stage, get
tapped on the head by the Chancellor and get their
name announced. This year, the class of '43 got its
turn. Above Later, at the party at Cecil Green Park,
Joy (Walker) Huntley, bsa'43, left, and Mary (Mulvin)
Dennis, bsa'43, msa'52, look over the wartime version
of the Totem yearbook, and shared some memories
February Wednesday, February 8
Alumni and friends reception with President
Martha Piper
Visit the website for more details
New York Reception
February/March TBC
Alumni and friends reception with Martin
Glynn (President hsbc Bank usa) and greetings from Consul General Pamela Wallin.
Visit the website for more details.
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS
The UBC Alumni Association will elect 3
members-at-large for the 2004-06 term.
Please call our offices to obtain nomination
forms 604.822.3313. ♦
Winter 2003   Trek   39 CLASS ACTS
Class Acts are submitted by UBC
alumni of all years who want to stay
in touch with former classmates. Send
your info to vanessacOalumni.ubc.ca
or mail it to our offices (see page 2 for
the address). Include photos if you can,
and remember, we'll edit for space
40S
Roger Bibace BA'49 's a professor
in the department of Psychology at
Clark University in Massachusetts.
His research focus is on health psy-       I
chology (clinical and developmental). He has also been appointed
as faculty in the departments of
Family Medicine and Community
Health (1976-present); Obstetrics
and Gynecology (1989-99) at
the University of Massachusetts
Medical School; and the department
of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the
New England Medical Center/Tufts
University Medical School (1999-
present) ... Garde Gardom QC, BA'49, LLB'49,
LLD'02 received an honorary Doctor of Laws
degree from uvic at Spring Convocation ... Dr.
Colin B. Mackay LLB'49, wul receive an honorary degree from the University of Kenya. He
is a former president of the University of New
Brunswick.
60S
50S
Lois Carley BA'57 has two daughters, both of
whom are members of faculty at UBC: Dr. Susan
Cadell teaches in the school of Social Work and
Meryn Cadell teaches Lyrics and Libretto, a new
course in the creative writing department ...
Peter Miller basc(chem)'52 and Naomi Miller
(Allsebrook) BSN'51 had a busy summer celebrating their fiftieth wedding anniversary in Wasa,
BC, on May 27, 2003, and again with visits from
the families of daughters Verle bsc(pharm)'78,
Heather BSc'77, Barbara ba'8o, Joy, and Ruth,
and son Murray basc(geol)'86 ... M. Roma
Miss World Canada Crowned in Toronto earlier
this year, Nazanin Afshin-Jam BA'02 has set
nternational journalism as her career goal. She
placed second in Miss World competition in China
in December
Ranaghan Rowlands bsc(pharm)'56 spent 10
days this spring in Guatemala as a member of a
volunteer medical team of Docare International
NFP, a medical outreach organization. The
group flew to Poptun in northern Guatemala
and provided basic medical and pharmaceutical care to the native Mayan Indians. A trip
highlight was a visit to the excavated ruins of
Tikal, which in 200 AD was a centre of culture
and trade. Roma and husband Bob (BASc'59)
live in Madison, Wisconsin. Bob is a professor
of Mechanical Engineering at the University of
Wisconsin and Roma, now retired, has been a
homemaker and part-time pharmacist and, for
the past 10 years, the pharmacist consultant for
the Division of Health Care Financing, State of
Wisconsin Medicaid program.
James Archibald BSc'67 and wife
Patricia Archibald (Beairsto) BA'67,
BED'92 have just purchased the
Seniors Choice News Magazine,
distributed in the Okanagan and
Thompson valleys in BC (www.
seniorschoice.com) ... Robert
Amedee Cantin ba'6i has retired
after 40 years of service as an engineer and scientist in the southern
California aerospace industry. He
plans to volunteer at local Los
Angeles private schools, teaching computer classes for students
and seniors. (While working for
his UBC degree, Rob taught science and math at four Manitoba
high schools.) He lives with wife
Judi in the Los Angeles area, five
miles from the Pacific Ocean, LA
International Airport, Marina Del
Rey, Hollywood and Beverly Hills
... A few years ago, C. Elaine
McAndrew BHE'62, MBA'74 moved
to Salt Spring Island to care for
her ailing father for the last five
years of his life. She continued
with her condominium consulting/
arbitration, property management
business with a combination of telecommuting and regular trips to the mainland. She
was instrumental in establishing a Salt Spring
Island branch of the Canadian Federation of
University Women. Elaine is now a grandmother and semi-retired. She enjoys painting,
fabric design, duplicate bridge, gardening, and
looks after a small herd of Chihuahuas. She
is a member of the Chihuahua Rescue group
and helps place dogs that have been abandoned or rescued from puppy mills. Elaine was
alumni rep to the UBC Senate for six years and
enjoyed participating in university activities.
Her first chihuahua, Pepper, used to accompany her to senate meetings.
70S
Larry Beasley MA'76 has recently been
appointed chairperson of the advisory committee on Planning, Design and Realty for
Ottawa's National Capital Commission ... Ben
40   Trek   Winter 2003 Lucas bsc (forestry)'70, vice president and
general manager for the Western Region of
Stella-Jones Inc., and Joyce Lucas (Howarth)
BED'72 are thrilled to announce the marriage of their son Anthony Lucas BSF'99 to
KimVersfeld Bsc'99 on July 27, 2003 at the
Brock House Restaurant in Vancouver, BC
Tony and Kim reside in Toronto, Ontario.
Tony is employed with Upper Canada Forest
Products and Kim is a sales rep for Stem Cell
Technologies Inc. ... Daniel David Moses
MFA'77, prominent First Nations poet, playwright, editor and dramaturge, author of
award-winning plays The Dreaming Beauty
and The Indian Medicine Shows and co-editor of Oxford University Press' An Anthology
of Native Canadian Literature in English
(third edition due in 2004), has joined the
department of Drama at Queen's as a Queen's
National Scholar and assistant professor ...
Santo Sandhu BED'78 has a new position after
more than 16 years with the same firm. He is
now an investment advisor with Wolverton
Securities in Vancouver ... Mark Satin BA'72
is a journalist and attorney. His book, The
Radical Middle, is about to be published by
Westview Press/Perseus Books Group ... Ron
Willson BA'71 has been selected for an award
from the Professional Association of Foreign
Service Officers. The selection was based on
the strength of his exceptional career achievement over 27 years in the Foreign Service and
more particularly for his outstanding work
in extremely challenging circumstances in
Zimbabwe from 1999 to 2002.
8O:
David Greer bsc'8o and Karalee Greer (Craig)
BSR'82 took a two-year break with their
three children and cruised the Mediterranean.
You can read about their travels at www.
davidgreer.ca/cruise/news ... Lucy J. Harrison
mls'88 spent 12 years working as a librarian
in Los Angeles - work punctuated by earthquakes, riots, floods, the OJ. Simpson trial,
and, of course, fire. She returned to Canada
imagining that she would grow old gracefully in beautiful British Columbia. However,
retirement was a miserable experience, and
she soon took up a position at Kai Nan
University in Taiwan as an English teacher.
"I love teaching English," says Lucy. "All my
students are a joy to work with and, as with
any intercultural experience, sometimes it feels
they are teaching me a great deal more than I
am teaching them. They are even teaching me
how to ride a motor scooter. Sure beats retirement!"   ... Michael Glenister BED'89 married
Yvonne Grot-Glowcynski on August 10, 2003
... John C. Johnson bsf'8i has left Timberline
Forest Inventory Consultants, where he was
employed as an inventory forester and more
recently as manager of Forest Ecology. He has
moved from Prince George, BC, to Winnipeg,
Manitoba, to study for an MA in Counselling
and Psychology at Providence College and
Seminary. He is also proud to announce the
arrival of Rowena and William, a sister and
brother for Emily, Pat and Meg ... Kathleen
Laird BA'89 's living in Victoria with her two
sons, Cole and Quinn. She started a small business called Therapeutic Horticulture, which
focuses on offering specialized horticultural
programs to seniors, hospitals, children and
the disabled, as well as private garden restorations.
90S
Craig Holzschuh MFA'99 and Amy Davison
ba'oo, LLB'03, were married on August 2, 2003,
in Surrey, BC Craig is currently working as the
artistic and managing director of Theatre la
Seizieme in Vancouver as well as teaching in the
UBC Theatre department. Amy is clerking at
the bc Supreme Court until September 20o4,
when she will complete her articles at Borden
Ladner Gervais ... Shane P. Garbutt BCOM'97
joined Deloitte Touche in 2002. His focus is
on casino gaming, educational institutions and
other private entities. He was recently promoted
from senior accountant to the position of manager in the Louisiana practice ... Jimmy Liu
BASc'91 wants to inform his classmates that,
for the past five years, he has been working in
the US for Western Family Foods as a Windows
system administrator ... Andrea Lister BA'94
married Darren Durupt on September 13,2003.
The couple lives in Vancouver where Andrea
Convocation day at the University of Waterloo in June, 2003, saw the Hon. Mr. Justice Frank lacobucci of the
Supreme Court of Canada presented with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. For three other UBC alumni
at Waterloo, who gathered to celebrate both convocation and the conferment of the honoris causa, it was
also a day of fond West Coast memories. Proud in their alma mater robes are (l-r) Amit Chakma phd'87,
vp Academic and Provost, Mr. Justice lacobucci lld'89, Gabriel Niccoli phd'83, chair of French and Italian
Studies, and Sheila Ager phd'89, associate dean of Arts for Undergraduate Studies
Winter 2003   Trek  41 CLASS ACTS
as a communications manager for the software firm, ADP Dataphile ... Dan Massey
MBA'93, along with wife Donna Massey
(Savard) BSN'91 and five-year-old son Nicolas,
is leaving Hong Kong for the Channel Islands.
Dan is an international manager with the
hsbc Group and will be taking on the position of senior manager, Global Funds and
Insurance in Jersey. He was first posted to
Hong Kong in 1996, was moved to Seoul for
a couple of years, then back to Hong Kong in
2001 ... After graduation John E. McClelland
BCOM'92 worked for a few years in a human
resources capacity with a large grocery
retailer, then worked with the family general
construction business until 2001 when he
joined Wal-Mart Canada. He has worked as
an assistant manager in three locations, most
recently in Courtenay, BC John got married
in 1996 to Nalan Uluorta and they now have
two great girls (Erin, six, and Hannan, five)
and a strapping boy (Isaac, two) ... Michael
Nyberg BCOM'90 lives in the US and has had
an interesting career, primarily in the oil and
gas sector. He began as an intern at Westcoast
Energy (now Duke Energy) in Vancouver,
then joined the British Columbia Petroleum
Corporation as a natural gas analyst. After
that crown corporation was amalgamated
into the Ministry of Energy, he transferred to
Victoria and continued to work within the
Ministry as an energy analyst. He met his
wife while visiting Sacramento, California.
After their marriage in 1995 he took up residence there and worked as a contractor at
McClellan Air Force Base until landing his
current position as an Energy Specialist with
the California Energy Commission. He has
two sons, Spencer and Liam ... Roger Rizzo
BCOM'90, a corporate and commercial solicitor,  has joined Bernard & Partners ... Trang
Vo BCOM'99 has been awarded a Juris Doctor
degree by the Thomas Jefferson School of
Law in San Diego.
OOs
Are we having fun yet? Andrea Lister BA'94
and Darren Durupt can't believe their good fortune.
They were married in September, 2003
Motor Madness! Lucy Harrison MLS'88, left
retirement to teach English in Taiwan
basc(meng)'oo and flower girl Sandy Noble
PHD'99 preceded the Murphy's three bridesmaids and three groomsmen ... Trevor
Franklin ba'oo is studying for his MBA at the
Atkinson Graduate School of Management
at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon
with the help of a J. Armand Bombardier
fellowship ... Jordana Heaton MLls'02 and
Jean Clermont ma'00 were married on June
28, 2003. The couple relocated to Ottawa in
2002 and began careers in the federal public
service ... Last spring, Darren Lund PHD'02
won an Outstanding Dissertation Award
from the American Educational Research
Association for his PHD dissertation, Social
Justice Pedagogy and Teacher-Student
Activism: A Collaborative Study of School-
Based Projects. His work explored anti-racist
activities by high school students and teachers
in Alberta. He found that community activism among young people to address social
problems was higher than media coverage,
that typically focuses on youth crime, would
suggest.  He hopes to publish his findings in
a book and expand his research into a pilot
project that includes the development of an
electronic anti-racism resource kit for teachers and students ... Phil Schafran mba'o i
is beginning a two-year Mennonite Central
Committee (mcc) assignment as director
of resource development in mcc British
Columbia. He attends Northview Community
Church in Abbotsford, BC ♦
Jeanette Bardsley bed'oo married Gerard
Murphy on July 6, 2002. She was escorted
down the aisle by her father, Bob Bardsley
Msc'71. Ring bearer Jaimie Bardsley
Conference? What conference? During an Administrative Sciences Association of Canada conference in
Halifax this June, a number of UBC alumni met up for their own mini-conference, (l-r) Mallika Das mba'79,
professor of marketing, Mt. St. Vincent University; Moragh Kusy; Vernon Jones mba'70, phd'75, associate
dean of Commerce, U. of Calgary, Hermann Schwind phd'79, Professor  Emeritus, Saint Mary's U; Baba
Vishvanath phd'80, dean of Commerce, McMaster; Martin Kusy phd'78, dean of Commerce, Brock; Ruth
Schwind ba'76; Hari Das msc'76, phd'79, professor, department of Management, Saint Mary's.
42   Trek   Winter 2003 IN MEMORIAM
In Memoriam listings can be sent by post (see
masthead), or email to vanessac@alumni.ubc.ca.
If sending photographs electronically, please scan at
133 dpi.
Edward Marzocco basc'47 on December 15,
2002, in Nanaimo ... Michael Omelaniec
BCOM'59 on June 2, 2003 ... Ruth Mary
Webb (Brandon) BA'37, born February 8,
1915, died  April 13, 2003, from complications resulting from a fall ...
John Collison bsc'69
John and two companions were killed
when his plane crashed 14 km northeast of
Penticton, August 29, 2003. He was president
of Madison Publishing, which owned community papers in Whistler, Squamish, Lillooet,
Powell River and the Sunshine Coast. Prior
to that, he was president of Lower Mainland
Publishing, overseeing more than 800 employees. "He was one of those people who had
tremendous intellect but who gave people who
worked with him the opportunity to flourish.
Most of the people who worked closely with
him are intensely loyal to him," says colleague
Sam Grippo. Though very hard working
John also had a playful, adventurous side and
enjoyed scuba diving, riding his Harley, and
flying. He was part-owner of a flying school.
His dream was to live on a boat that could
accommodate his plane. "He didn't live to
see that dream fulfilled, but he did live long
enough to enjoy the fruits of many years' hard
work. He died doing what he loved," says
colleague Peter Ladner.
Charles J. Connaghan BA'59, ma'6o
Chuck was born on
February 14, 1932
on the Island of
Arranmore, off the
coast of Donegal,
Ireland. He died on
October 25, 2003.
His association
with UBC went far
beyond studying.
Among many other
Y3&
Charles Connaghan
involvements, he
was president of the Alma Mater
Society ('58-'59) during which
time he was involved in setting
the groundwork for establishing
the Student Union Building. In
1984, he was the recipient of the
annual Great Trekker Award,
joining the likes of John Turner
and Pierre Burton. He was vice
president of Administrative
Services at UBC ('75 - '80), a
member of the UBC Senate ('70-
'75), a member of the university's
board of governors ('72~'75)> and he sat on
the Alumni Association's board of directors
('6o-'6i). He also met his wife on campus and
all three of his children were educated at UBC.
His career off campus also shone and was
rewarded with much public recognition,
including the Order of Canada in 2000 and
the Queen's Jubilee Medal. "From the cradle,
it was instilled in me that my purpose was
to serve, not be served, and to help wherever I can in the community," he said at the
time. Organizations he has served include
the Canada-Japan Society of Vancouver, the
Canadian Club, the Council for Canadian
Unity, the Business Council of BC, St. Vincent
and St. Paul's hospitals, the BC Round Table
on the Environment and the Economy, and
the World Wildlife Fund. He was an honorary
member of the Boys and Girls Club of Canada
and a director of the Duke of Edinburgh
Award. Chuck was a respected indus
trial relations consultant and held
many senior management positions during his career.
Margaret Winton Creelman
BA'31
Margaret was born in Calgary,
Alberta, on March 17, 1910
and died on July 19, 2003, in
Vancouver. During the war she
served in the wrns as a librarian. After UBC, she attended
McGill then Columbia. She
spent her working life as a
librarian with the Vancouver Public Library.
Norman Gareth Dent BA'56, LLB'57
Norman went home to be with the Lord
peacefully on Monday, May 19, 2003,
£1
J7k
Norman Dent
after a brief illness. He was born
in Limerick, Saskatchewan, on
February 15, 1929, but spent most
of his adult life in Vancouver and
Prince George. Norman is survived
by his wife of 46 years, Madeline
(DeLuca), son Daniel (Georgia),
and two grandsons Josh and
Andrew. During his years at UBC
he appeared in the Musical Society
Productions The Student Prince ('52)
and later in Bonanza ('55) under his
stage name of Rick Conway. He was
also involved in founding the United Nations
Club. The UBC motto Tuum Est was a living
motto for him and in later years he
would often recite it to his
sons and grandson when
they needed inspiration.
«j7
Reid Fordyce
Margaret Creelman
Dr. Reid George
Fordyce BASc'35,
MASC'36
Reid Fordyce of Gig
Harbor, Washington,
passed away on July 4,
aged 89, following a mercifully brief battle with
liver cancer. He had
fond memories of his
time at UBC and his
youth in Vancouver. Although he had lived in
the US for more than 60 years, Vancouver was
always home to him.
After receiving his phd from McGill
in 1939, he joined the Monsanto
Company, working in technical and
administrative posts in several locations throughout the US. He and
wife Alice retired to Gig Harbor in
1981, where gardening, sailing and
golf replaced organic chemical engineering as his primary interests.
He is survived by Alice, his brother
David, children Duncan, Meredith,
Alastair, Wendy Kyle, grandchildren
Abigail Francis, Alexandra Flowers,
Alexander and Sion, and great-
grandson Ethan Flowers.
Dr. Michael William Gardner, bsc, Msc'93,
PHD'OO
Dr. Gardner was born in the Royal Columbian
Winter 2003   Trek  43 IN MEMORIAM
Michael Gardner
540-9770.
Hospital in New Westminster,
BC, on April 15, 1961. He
died on September 14, 2003,
in London, England, aged 41.
He had moved to London to
pursue his career as a doctor
of physics. He was a talented
man with a great sense of
humour and was popular
with colleagues. He will be
sadly missed by his parents
William and Eveline Gardner.
They can be
contacted at 604-
Dr. Todd Garrett BASc'58,
MASC'60
Todd died in the early hours of
September 12, 2003, as a result of
a severe stroke and brain embolism. He was surrounded by his
family in his passing and will be
dearly missed. He cherished his
time at UBC and his association
Todd Garret
with the university.
William Osborne Hudson bem, BED'38,
BA'52
Born July 12, 1912, Bill passed this life
peacefully on November 5, 2003 aged 91
years. Bill is survived by his loving wife of
57 years, Kate Hudson; son Donald and
wife Frances; grandchildren, David, Erin,
Sean; and son David (BASc'73, Electrical)
and wife Anne.
Bill graduated from high school in
New Westminster in 1927 and from UBC
Normal School with Distinction in 1932.
He served the New Westminster School
system as Teacher, Vice Principal
and Principal from 1933 to 1976.
Bill received his BA in 1938 and
bed in 1952, both from UBC.
Bill played the violin and was a
member of the New Westminster
Symphony Orchestra.
Bill was a Mason and a member
of the bpoe New Westminster.
He served his country in the RCAF
from 1940 to 1945 and was
awarded the British Empire Medal
(Military Division) in 1945, pre-
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PUBLIC   AFFAIRS
sented in Winnipeg by the Earl of Athlone.
Educator, musician, builder, artist, poet,
fisherman, pilot, writer, raconteur, chessplayer, husband, father, friend - the world is
a richer place for his having lived. Bill will be
sadly missed by his family and friends.
James August Moore BA'32, BED'34 MA'39
Jim passed away on June 22, 2003, in his
ninety-second year, from the complications of
Parkinson's Disease with which he was
challenged and lived courageously for over
20 years. He is survived by his devoted wife,
Donna-Mae, who wishes to thank the many
friends and health care professionals who
helped throughout the years.
Jim will be remembered professionally
for his commitment to education in British
Columbia, including his contribution to
developing and implementing the community
college concept provincially in the 1960s.
He was appointed chair of Mathematics and
Sciences at Langara campus, where he retired
in 1974.
A memorial service was
held at 2:00 pm on July,
2003, in the Chapel of Purdy
Extended Care Pavilion, UBC
Hospital. In lieu of other
tributes, donations would
be appreciated by the charity of your choice, or by The
Vancouver Foundation for
the James A. and Donna-
Mae Moore Endowment
for Humanity. The Moore
Endowment is dedicated to the relief of suffering through its support of international
humanitarian work and biomedical research
conducted into Parkinson's Disease and related neurodegenerative and movement disorders. (Vancouver Foundation: 604-688-2204)
Nadine Diane Pelland (Sheehan) BED'73,
MED'91
Nadine was born in Prince Rupert on March
10, 1946, and passed away peacefully at her
home in Tsawwassen on June 27, 2003. She
is survived by her husband Raymond (BA'56,
MED'77) and their children Renee (BA'99),
Nicole and Michael, her mother, Yolande,
brother Danny and many aunts, uncles and
cousins throughout Canada and Australia.
James Moore and Gypsy
44   Trek   Winter 2003 Nadine taught in Delta,
Vancouver and Surrey for more
than 30 years. She worked with
the Ministry of Education on
resource materials, co-authored a
book on education, taught courses
for UBC and delivered workshops
throughout the Lower Mainland
and in Ontario and the US.
She was an extraordinary
educator in the public school
system. She was an inspirational
teacher, beloved by the children
she taught, and respected and supported
by her peers and her students' parents. She
was an administrator in Surrey for the last
13 years and was regarded as a creative and
inspirational leader. Her work with "whole
language" was innovative and the programs
that she piloted were inspiring. Nadine had
a holistic approach to education that helped
change the direction of education wherever
she went. She was kind, compassionate and
an eloquent speaker who brought out the
skills and talents in the teachers with whom
she worked. Nadine loved to dance, garden,
ski and was a hostess par excellence. Nadine
and Raymond were married for 29 years and
Raymond will miss his beloved Nadine more
than words can express. Nadine was totally
dedicated and devoted to her children and
will be sorely missed by them. Through her
ordeal with cancer, she had provided a strong
example of courage and strength in the face of
adversity to all who knew her. On the occasion of her passing, and in recognition of her
significant contribution to education, the flag
above UBC's Rose Garden was lowered to
half-mast on July 10, 2003.
William Hodgetts (Buzz) Tisdall BASc'51
Born 1917, died 2003. Buzz Tisdall was
a Vancouver son born at the family
home on Georgia Street. He attended
Vancouver schools, graduating from Prince of Wales. After
high school he worked for the
Canadian Bank of Commerce in
Vernon and in Victoria for four
years and was a member of the
Vancouver Rowing Club. He signed
with the Seaforths of Canada
as a private for the duration of
hostilities in September, 1939.
Nadine Pelland
Buzz Tisdall
He fought in Italy and Holland as
a line soldier and ended the war
unwounded as a lieutenant. He
attended UBC from 1948 until
19 51 on his war credits and various
jobs, and graduated with a degree
in Geological Engineering. He
moved to Calgary and worked for
Sun Oil and subsidiaries Cordera
Mining and Great Canadian Oil
Sands in both conventional and
nonconventional oil exploration. In
1972 be became a contract engineer
as WH Tisdall Resources in Calgary. He was
working on his 2003 summer drilling program when he died after a short illness.
He was a cub scout leader for 10 years,
president of the local PTA for ten years,
a member of the Legion, a Mason and a
photographer. He greeted everyone with an
inviting smile and was genuinely interested
in people and was always prepared to help
in any way. Curious about a wide range
of subjects he never threw a book away,
but his primary interest was military history. He attended three celebrations for the
liberation of Amsterdam as a guest of the
Dutch government and never realized until
that time what a contribution the Canadian
troops had made. He climbed the mountains
around Calgary every weekend and took up
roller blading when he was 79 years old. The
week before his death he could do the same
number of situps as his age, 86. He leaves
his wife, Phyllis (Milligan) BA'43, at tne family home; sister Frances Ruth Ford, BA'35,
Vancouver; a daughter, Barbara Groves, RN
of Calgary; and two sons, Dr. Phillip Tisdall
of New Hampshire and Dr. Robbie Tisdall
of Bellingham, WA, seven grandsons and two
grand daughters.
Anne Barbara Underhill BA'42, MA'44,
PHD, DSC(HON)'92
Dr. Anne Underhill died on July 3,
2003. In 1992, UBC recognized her
achievements during her 40-year
career as a research scientist in the
field of Astronomy by awarding
her an Honorary Doctor of Science
degree. The citation noted her international renown and copious
amounts of published research. It
recognized her role in our understanding of
hot, blue stars: "Among the newest objects
discovered in the universe, these stars not
only fascinate astronomers but their analysis
and interpretation require an understanding
of a wide range of theoretical physics. Anne
Underhill has pioneered many of the very
sophisticated techniques now used in the
analysis of these stars."
Positions she held include physicist with
the National Research Council of Canada,
professor of Astrophysics at the State
University of Utrecht (Netherlands), and
chief, then senior scientist, of the Laboratory
for Optical Astronomy. Other honours
bestowed on Anne include a
National Research Council
Fellowship and Fellowship of
the Royal Society of Canada.
Peter Vajda
Peter slipped away peacefully in his sleep on Sunday,
August 10, 2003, in Sidney,
BC. He is predeceased by first
wife Frances (1993) and survived by second wife Bettie; Anne Underbill
children Andree (Bill), Chris
(Jody) and Stephen (Joni);
grandchildren Britt, Shane, Michael, Danna,
Stephanie, Lexi and Adam; sister Eva; and
Bettie's loving family.
Born in Budapest on March 10, 1913,
Peter's early classical Jesuit schooling contrasted with his later training as a mechanical
engineer in Zurich. Peter came to America as
a member of the Swiss University Ski Team
in 1937. During that trip, he adventured to
Banff to ski the Canadian Rockies. There in
western Canada, he fell in love and stayed.
Peter spent his early days in the Rockies as a
mountain guide and ski instructor. He may
be remembered from that period as a poster
boy for alpine skiing in Banff. After working
in Whitehorse and Ocean Falls, he settled
in Vancouver and took a position at UBC
as an instructor in Mechanical Engineering.
He coached the university ski team and
met many lasting friends. His career led to
Columbia Engineering, where he helped
develop technologies used in engineered
wood products. He will be remembered as
one ofthe "grandfathers of particle board,"
also as the designer of the original chairlifts
Winter 2003   Trek  45 IN MEMORIAM
also as the designer of the original
chairlifts on Grouse Mountain and for his
professional guidance at Lake Louise, Silver
Star and Whistler Mountain.
He will also be remembered as a friend,
a teacher, a father and an adventurer.
Godspeed on his next adventure. Many
thanks for the outstanding and loving care
at the Sidney Care Home. Donations in his
memory can be made to Saanich Peninsula
Hospital Foundation, 2166 Mount Newton
Xroad, Saanich, BC, v8m 2B2
Dr. Bessie Virdi bsc (agr)'69, Msc'71
Dr. Bessie Virdi was born in Rangoon,
Burma, in 1945 and moved with her family
to Brunei on the island of Borneo in 1950.
She came to Canada to attend UBC in 1965.
Bessie went to Tanzania as a cuso
volunteer, and taught biometrics and
horticulture at the University of Morogoro
from 1972-76. Back in Canada, she
obtained her phd in Plant Breeding at the
University of Manitoba in 1982. Bessie
returned to Africa with CIDA to head the
Crop Production Department and manage the university farm at the University of
Swaziland from 1983-86.
Her intense compassion for the less
fortunate in developing countries led her
to Carlton University in Ottawa, where
she completed her MA in Development
Administration in 1988. She then consulted
with CIDA and various ngos in the area of
gender awareness and women's participation in agriculture. She continued this process in Bangladesh, working in Canadian
and British aid projects from 1990-99.
Bessie became a Canadian citizen in
1979, was married in 1992 and retired
with her husband to Canada in 1999. She
passed away on September 1, 2003, after a
brief battle with cancer. Her strength, determination, kindness and quiet insight have
touched many and will be long remembered.
William John ZoeUner BA'48, BED'56
After a long and full life, Bill ZoeUner died
in Kelowna on February 20, 2003, leaving
his wife, Dorothy Jean, sons Garnet (Daryl)
and Reay (Debbi), nine grandchildren and
a great grandson.
Born in 1923 in Prince Albert, SK,
Bill grew up in Vancouver and was an
RCAF officer during wwn. By 1948, Bill
had completed his studies at UBC and
began his 18-year teaching career in
Grand Forks, using his lively musical
and dramatic style in widespread and
creative ways. To his great joy, he met
and fell in love with a fellow
teacher, Dorothy Jean Whitham.
Bill and Dorothy Jean were married in 1953 and sons Garnet
and Reay were born in the early
years of their marriage. Bill later
became principal of Grand Forks
Secondary School, followed by
a distinguished 17-year career as
superintendent of three school
districts: Northern Vancouver
Island-Ocean Falls, Nelson and
Kelowna (Central Okanagan).
He retired from education in
1983 as director of examinations, BC
Ministry of Education.
Following retirement, Bill began a third
career as a community volunteer, serving with Crisis Line, welcoming patients
at the Cancer Lodge, and helping out
at Kelowna General Hospital in the
Emergency department and the cancer
clinic. Bill was fond of golf fairways in
the warmer months and curling during
the winter.
His grandchildren are thankful for the
joyful memories of many summers spent
at Opa and Oma's lake, and the family
gives thanks to God for Bill's life and
the enduring influence he has upon us.
Donations may be made to the Southern
Interior Cancer Lodge, 2251
Abbott St., Kelowna, BC viy
IE2.
»*
Brahm Wiesman
Brahm Wiesman, former head
of the School of Community
and Regional Planning (scarp),
passed away peacefully on July
20, 2003, aged 77. He was one of
the first professional city planners
in Canada, renowned not only
Brahm Wiesman
for his positive influence on the practice of
planning but also for creating other generations of insightful planners through his
teaching.
His undergraduate degree (McGill) was
in Architecture, at a time when urban planning was not a subject choice. He was,
however, able to take a masters in Planning
- the first time McGill had offered it.
He never forgot that cities are a human
context and his planning
philosophy evolved accordingly. The profession was a
fledgling one but he developed
an impressive career path for
himself, strengthening and
giving credence to the profession as he went. He became
assistant director of Planning
in Edmonton (where he met
his wife, Madge) and some of
the ingenuities he introduced
to planning practice there still
influence the way things are
done today. He went on to the position
of director of Planning in Victoria, before
moving to Vancouver. After working on
the city's new planning board, he joined
scarp at UBC in 1967. His interests broadened to include the study of human settlements around the world. He and his wife
loved to travel.
"He was soft-spoken, gentle, courageous, inclusive and a very sensible, practical guy who instinctively taught, because
he knew what he was talking about," said
colleague Peter Oberlander. "He engaged
his students and they all truly responded.
He was a natural teacher; that's why I
asked him to join us."
Another colleague, Peter Boothroyd,
remembers his lucidity: "He
was a very clear thinker, and
an equally clear speaker. He
had an economy of words. He
did not speak at length on any
topic, but what he said was
always straight to the point
and very persuasive and forceful." After retiring, Brahm
continued to share his expertise in teaching and planning,
especially with universities and
cities in
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E^^:l^t^i-Sii:nE*it WHY A UNIVERSITY TOWN?
K
You care about your child's future. So do we.
It's why we're building University Town, for future
UBC students, faculty and staff who will need more
from a university campus than just a destination with
classrooms.
University Town will consist of eight neighbourhoods
to enrich campus life with a mix of housing, shops,
parks and other amenities that will make the campus
as vital in the evening as it is during the day.
While half of the new housing is earmarked for
campus members, our vision is to make University
Town a true community that allows others to enjoy
the breathtaking surroundings and live closer to
attractions such as the Museum of Anthropology and
the world-class Chan Centre for the Performing Arts.
Plans are proceeding carefully with widespread
public consultation to create an environment that is as
sustainable as it is vibrant, while preserving the most
beautiful university campus in Canada.
UBC's innovative U-Pass transit discount for students
has already dramatically reduced car traffic to campus.
By building housing where students, faculty and staff
can live where they work and study, traffic will be
reduced even further.
Revenues from University Town will be used to create
endowments to ensure that UBC remains affordable
and accessible with leading-edge teaching and research,
placing B.C.'s largest post-secondary institution in the
forefront of Canadian universities.
University Town. Preparing for the future.
UNIVERSITY TOWN
For more information visit www.universitytown.ubc.ca or call 604.822.6400