Array UBC REPORTS THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA | VOLUME 56 NO 02 | FEBRUARY, 3 2010 | WWW.UBC.CA What does a gold medal mean for Canada ? SH COL PAGE 8 UBC 2010 Games www.ubc.ca/2010 2010 Media Centre www.ubc.ca/201Omedia Insane Pain:Thrill of the skeleton when jeff pain describes himself as a Type A personality, he's not kidding, by glenn drexhage page 6 UBC alum Jeff Pain (above) races to discover himself. UBC develops North America's greenest build ing A rendering of CIRS, due to open on Sustainability Street in 2011. BY GLENN DREXHAGE "sustainability is about what kind OF WORLD WE WANT TO LIVE IN," Says UBC's John Robinson. If so, then the ambitious project he's leading - the development of the Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability (CIRS) - should provide some valuable inspiration. The $37-million building will be greenhouse gas- positive and a net energy producer, meaning that it will help UBC reduce the energy it uses and carbon it emits. All water will be sourced from rainwater, with wastewater treatment occurring on site. There is also more carbon sequestered in the building's wooden structure than will be emitted during its construction and eventual dismantling. Not only does the UBC-based centre aim to be among the greenest buildings in North America, it will also serve as a living laboratory for sustainability research, development and practice. For example, building processes will be continuously monitored, including heating, cooling, lighting, equipment use, water harvesting and treatment, building occupancy, inhabitant behaviour and more. People working in the facility will be able to follow the proceedings on their desktop computers and vote on their usefulness. Construction began last September, and the building is set to open in the summer of 2011 on Sustainability Street on UBC's Vancouver campus. In addition, CIRS will be in the Olympic spotlight this month, as it's featured at the BC Canada Pavilion located on the fourth floor of the Vancouver Art Gallery. "I think it's going to help contribute to the world," says Robinson, who speaks from experience. In January, he was named the new UBC Vancouver Sustainability Executive Director. He's a professor at UBC's Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability at UBC, and was one of thousands who participated in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with AI Gore, the global warming guru and former U.S. Vice President. continued on page 10 2 | UBC REPORTS | FEBRUARY 3, 20J0 FEBRUARY 3, 20J0 | UBC REPORTS | 3 uy Berkowitz & Associates Consulting Inc. Research Desigr Statistical Consulting i • Data Analysis * Survey Sampling * Statistical Education Jonathan Berkowitz, Ph.D. 4160 Staulo Crescent,Vancouver, B.C. 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T 604 822 1060 E conferences@housing.ubc.ca www.ubcconferences.com West Coast Suites Deluxe Hotel Suites, West Coast Style EVERYONE CAN STAY WITH US Contemporary, beautifully appointed, limited service deluxe hotel suite for visitors and business travelers to Vancouver. • Centrally located on campus • Fully-equipped kitchen and complimentary wireless internet • Ideal for short or long term stays • Available year round UBC W Conferences & Accommodation T 604 8221000 E reservations@housing.ubc.ca www.ubcconferences .com IN THE NEWS Highlights of UBC media coverage in January 2010. compiled by heather amos Prof. Loren Rieseberg earned media attention for his research on sunflowers. Sunflower DNA Map Could Produce Plants for Fuel The Associated Press reported that UBC botany professor Loren Rieseberg is leading a $10.5 million research project aimed at mapping the DNA sequence of sunflowers. Researchers envision crossbreeding a standard sunflower with the Silverleaf species to produce a hybrid with tasty seeds and thick stalks filled with complex sugars that can be turned into ethanol. United Press International, The Vancouver Sun and Science Daily also reported on this story. Vancouver B.C. museums offer world-class riches Vancouver's Museum of Anthropology, on UBC campus, has undergone a $55.5-million renovation and The Seattle Times reports on the new exhibit and galleries. The Globe and Mail, the CBC, The Vancouver Sun and The Province wrote about the renovations and "Border Zones: New Art Across Cultures," a contemporary show featuring artists from Malaysia, England, Sri Lanka, France, Canada, Samoa and Australia. Olympics have no impact on real estate Research by Tsur Somerville, a professor in real estate, and Jake Wetzel, PhD candidate, found that cities hosting the Olympics experience neither boom nor bust in real estate prices, United Press International reported this month. Toronto Star, The Vancouver Sun and Metro were among the media outlets that picked up on the study that analyzed house prices and construction employment in the years leading up to and after the Olympics in Australian, Canadian and U.S. cities. "We do not find support for the argument of host city backers that the Olympics delivers positive economic benefits, nor of the arguments made by opponents that there is some post-Olympic bust," said Somerville. Olympic secrets revealed Maclean's, The Vancouver Sun, GlobalTVand the CBC reported on Savvas Hatzikiriakos' and Sheldon Green's Own The Podium research. Hatzikiriakos' team developed friction-reducing metal and plastic surfaces for skates, skis and snowboards that are expected to boost Canada's medal count at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. "Canada in the previous Olympic Games won a lot of fourth places," said Hatzikiriakos, a chemical and biological engineering professor at UBC. "We thought that slightly improving the times we could push them to the podium positions." Light shed on fish gill mystery Research by UBC's Clarice Fu suggests that fish evolved gills for the purpose of regulating the chemicals in their bodies and not for breathing, BBC News reported this month. The study found that as rainbow trout larvae matured, fish gills regulated the chemicals in their blood before they took in oxygen. "We found that ion uptake shifted from the skin to the gills earlier than oxygen uptake. This led us to propose that the gills are needed for ion regulation earlier than they are needed for oxygen uptake," said Fu. The Telegraph, ScienceNOW, and Siiddeutschen reported versions of this story. ■ UBC RE PORTS Executive Director SCOTT MACRAE scott.macrae@ubc.ca Editor RANDY SCHMIDT randy.schmidt@ubc.ca Guest Editor BASIL WAUGH basil.waugh@ubc.ca Design Manager ARLENE COTTER arlene.cotter@ubc.ca Designers PING Kl CHAN ping.chan@ubc.ca ANN GONCALVES ann.goncalves@ubc.ca Photographer MARTIN DEE martin.dee@ubc.ca Web Designer MICHAEL KO michael.ko@ubc.ca Contributors HEATHER AMOS heather.amos@ubc.ca LORRAINE CHAN lorraine.chan@ubc.ca GLENN DREXHAGE glenn.drexhage@ubc.ca jody Jacob jody.jacob@ubc.ca BRIAN LIN brian.Iin@ubc.ca BUD MORTENSON bud.mortenson@ubc.ca PEARLIE DAVISON pearlie.davison@ubc.ca ubc reports is published monthly by: UBC Public Affairs Office 310 - 6251 Cecil Green Park Road Vancouver BC Canada V6T 1Z1 Advertising Publisher NEXT ISSUE: MARCH 4, 2010 UBC REPORTS WELCOMES SUBMISSIONS. For upcoming UBC Reports submission guidelines: www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/ubcreports/about.html. Opinions and advertising published in UBC Reports do not necessarily reflect official university policy. Material may be reprinted in whole or in part with appropriate credit to UBC Reports. Letters (300 words or less) must be signed and include an address and phone number for verification. SUBMIT LETTERS TO: The Editor, UBC Reports mail to UBC Public Affairs Office (address above) Fax to 604.822.2684; E-mail to randy.schmidt@ubc.ca Call 604.UBC.NEWS (604.822.6397) Building a podium fit for Olympians BY HEATHER AMOS EVERY ATHLETE DREAMS of standing on an Olympic podium. And a group of UBC students has been scrambling to make that dream come true. Students and staff in UBC's Centre for Advanced Wood Processing (CAWP) were given the task of creating all 23 Olympic and Paralympic wooden medal podia and the 100 wooden medal trays for the 2010 Winter Games. "The podia are very striking," says lain Macdonald, managing director of CAWP. Each one comes with a different story. The design is intended to symbolize the importance of our forests to B.C. The provincial Ministry of Forests and VANOC approached UBC about the podium project in September. "At first we were skeptical because the time frames were so tight," said Macdonald. "At the time when we started to talk to them about this project, much of the wood was still standing trees." Twenty-three community forests from around the province donated the B.C.-grown trees for the project. Each podium is made from a unique piece of wood, including one batch of lumber harvested from a submerged forest from the Cheslatta First Nation community forest. "It is really interesting; it's really pushing the edge to see a new, interesting design out of local wood species," says Andrew Pershin, a graduate from UBC's Wood Products Processing (WPP) program. Pershin, a Vernon native, was asked to come back to UBC to help with this project. He's an expert with the Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machinery needed to turn podium drawings into solid structures. As a thesis project in his last year at UBC, 2008-2009, Pershin worked with First Nations artists to see how the technology at CAWP could be used in the northwest coast sculpture market. He developed computer programs to produce sculptures that now hang in the halls ofthe CAWP building. But the Olympic podia project has Andrew Pershin, a graduate of UBC's Wood Products Processing program, crafts an Olympic podium made from B.C. wood. presented new excitement to the grad as he gets to see a project go from start to finish. "We've worked with the same something the WPP program prides itself on. The students learn everything from wood science to marketing and how to set up and run science, engineering and business." The program started in 1995 and until the recent economic downturn, 100 per cent of the students found Each podium is made from a unique piece of wood, including one batch of lumber harvested from a submerged forest from the Cheslatta First Nation community forest. machinery in the lab that we used for school, and we've seen it utilized for the full industrial process," he says. The full industrial process is a manufacturing facility. "It really is a true interdisciplinary program," says Simon Ellis, program director for WPP. "It's a fusion of jobs straight after graduation. In a 2005 UBC survey, grads two years out of the WPP undergraduate program had some of the highest salaries of any UBC undergraduates. The degree program promotes project-based learning. Students get full run of a lab packed with a couple of million dollars worth of equipment and they get to experience real world scenarios. In one project students use the lab machines to produce a piece of furniture; then they develop a business model for it and decide how they would run and set up a manufacturing facility. "The podium project is a great example of authentic learning because our students are making something that they'll see on the world stage this month," says Macdonald. ■ Coca-Cola challenge: Build the perfect chair to sip fair trade coffee BY HEATHER AMOS coca-cola enlisted the help of UBC's Wood Products Processing program to help create a lounge environment for its new drink - coffee. To promote its new hot beverage line, Far Coast, Coca-Cola is setting up outdoor lounges in Whistler and Vancouver at the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. The wooden furniture for these outdoor "warming zones" was designed and created by a team of UBC and Emily Carr students. Pine wood from B.C.'s mountain pine beetle-ravaged forests was used for the project. A little plaque on the armrest of each chair tells the story of climate change and the resulting mountain pine beetle infestation in B.C. "They've had to go through the whole process of designing what the furniture would look like and then actually transferring that to something that could be built efficiently," said lain Macdonald, managing director of the Centre for Advanced Wood Processing at UBC. About 70 tables and 80 chairs were produced to capture the lounge feel and the sustainability image Coca-Cola is presenting with its Far Coast drinks, which are all fair trade. "There was a real world design brief presented to the students by Coca-Cola. The students went through the design process and a jury came in from Coca-Cola and selected one ofthe designs," says Macdonald. "Now this furniture is built and going to the Games." ■ > 40775044 | Return unde 310-6251 Cecil Gre BC Canada V6T IZI | Em 4 | UBC REPORTS | FEBRUARY 3, 20J0 FEBRUARY 3, 20J0 | UBC REPORTS | 5 A fully licensed restaurant with an upscale casual dining atmosphere is NOW OPEN on the south side of campus. io:ooam - n:oopm (Mon-Thur) | io:ooam - 11:30pm (Fri / Sat) 10:00am -10:00pm (Sun) 10:00am - 2:00pm (Sunday Brunch) % *-* ni Located at 2205 Lower Mall, Marine Drive Residence, Building #4 \_J For hours of operation visit www.food.ubc.ca services PETER WALL INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED STUDIES MAY 14, 2010 DEADLINE 2011 Distinguished Scholars in Residence Up to six senior, tenure-track UBC faculty members with distinguished research records and commitment to interdisciplinarity will be chosen as Distinguished Scholars in Residence. Appointments run April 1 until March 31. For more information, please visit our website at www.pwias.ubc.ca or call us at (604) 822-4782. IN MEMORIAM DR. PATRICIA MARCHAK Friend and Author McGILL QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY PRESS Happiness under a microscope: UBC helps lead a new scholarly focus on wellbeing BY LORRAINE CHAN WITH THE WORLD GATHERED to admire those faster, better and stronger, many of us would assume that "richer" tops that list of desired traits. New evidence from leading UBC happiness scholars, however, cautions against equating more money with more happiness. If anything, the truth may be closer to the sentiments ofthe late Notorious BIG in his hit rap song "Mo Money Mo Problems." WEALTH CAN LIMIT ABILITY TO SAVOUR LIFE In the first study of its kind, UBC psychology researcher Elizabeth Dunn discovered that wealth and even thinking about wealth robs a person of the ability to stay in the moment and reap enjoyment from life's daily pleasures. The paper, "Money Giveth, Money Taketh Away: The Dual Effect of Wealth," will appear in a forthcoming issue of the journal Psychological Science. "While wealth opens doors to great experiences, it appears to undercut people's ability to savour," says Dunn, an assistant professor in the UBC Dept. of Psychology. "We found that wealthier individuals reported lower ability to savour," says lead author Jordi Quoidbach, a visiting PhD student from Belgium's University of Liege working in Dunn's lab. In addition to Dunn, study co-investigators are Dino Petrides, University College London, England, and Moira Mikolajczak, with the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium The researchers recruited more than 350 working adults to answer questions about their ability to savour life in six different situations, among them finishing an important task or spending a romantic weekend away. Respondents were also asked about their level of happiness, desire for future wealth and current wealth. The study primed a number of participants' thoughts toward money by displaying a photo of a large stack of bills in the questionnaire. Participants in the control group received a questionnaire with the same photo of money, but blurred beyond recognition. In a related experiment on money and people's savouring ability, the researchers timed how long respondents took to enjoy a piece of chocolate. Participants were told they were part of a taste test and given a questionnaire in a binder that primed their thoughts with a photo of money. Participants who received these binders with the money photo spent less time eating the chocolate. They showed lower levels of enjoyment than the control group whose binder contained no such photo. MONEY MISLEADS A joint UBC and Harvard Business School study further illustrates how people overestimate the impact of income on life satisfaction. The researchers looked at nationally representative data from Americans across the income spectrum. UBC assistant professor Elizabeth Dunn explores the dynamics of money. Economics emeritus professor John Helliwell's work measures the effect of trust on well-being. Participants were asked to report their own happiness and to predict the happiness of others and themselves at 10 different income levels, from US$5,000 to US$1 million. They reported their predictions using a 0-10 scale where 0 equals the worst possible life overall and 10 equals the best possible life overall. The researchers then compared the participants' predictions to existing data on happiness and income levels. The study shows that participants accurately predicted happiness levels - approaching 7 and 8 - for people with household incomes of US$90,000 and above. However, participants were wide off the mark when it came to lower-income households. For example, they predicted a happiness rating of 4 for people with household incomes of US$25,000 when existing data suggest it is closer 6. "There is a real but modest relationship between money and happiness," says lead author Lara Aknin, a UBC PhD student working with Dunn, whose findings were published in the November 2009 issueoftheJournalof Positive Psychology. "But our studies show that adult Americans erroneously believe that earning less than the median household income is associated with severely diminished happiness." Aknin says such a false belief may lead many people to chase opportunities for increased wealth or forgo a reduction in income for increased free time to spend on themselves, family or other worthwhile endeavours. On occasion money does buy happiness - when you share your wealth with others. In a study that appeared in Science last year, Dunn and her colleagues gave people $5 or $20 in the morning and asked them to spend it on themselves or other people by the end ofthe day. People who were asked to spend the money on others were happier at the end of the day. THE TRUST FACTOR For UBC economist John Helliwell, trust is a vital support for better lives. "If employees are higher by one point on a 10-point scale in their assessment of the trustworthiness of their managers, the effect on their life satisfaction is equal to a pay increase of more than 30 per cent," says Helliwell, who carried out the groundbreaking work with UBC graduate student Haifang Huang, now teaching at the University of Alberta. Trust in multiple domains increases a person's sense of well being even further, says Helliwell who is also the co-director of the Social Interactions, Identity and Well-Being program at the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. In a paper for the October 2009 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development World Forum in Busan, Korea, Helliwell and UBC economics graduate student Shun Wang used well-being data from the Gallup World Poll and the Canadian General Social Survey. Both of these surveys also asked respondents whether their wallets, if lost, would be returned to them if found by different individuals such as neighbours, police and strangers. "Those who think their lost wallet would be returned if found by a neighbour or the police report an increase in subjective well-being similar to that associated with an increase of household income of about two-thirds," says Helliwell. ■ The UBC museum has completed a $55.5 million renewal, unveiled in January. (Above) A canoe by Haida artist Bill Reid in the Museum of Anthropology's Great Hall. (Below) Visible storage galleries open up the collection by another 10,000 objects. The MOA launches a massive digital collection BY LORRAINE CHAN WITH FILES FROM FRONTIER MAGAZINE next month, UBC's Museum of Anthropology (MOA), the Musqueam Indian Band, the Sto:lo Nation, Sto:lo Tribal Council and the U'mista Cultural Society will launch the first-ever digital network of more than 300,000 Northwest Coast objects. Called the Reciprocal Research Network, this Web-based resource links collections of 12 partner organizations, including the Smithsonian Institution in the U.S., and Oxford and Cambridge in England. Designed to foster the exchange of knowledge, the RNN invites geographically dispersed users and institutions - including originating communities - to carry out individual or collaborative cultural heritage research projects. "This technology makes it possible to research our cultural heritage held at museums around the world from our home communities," says Terry Point, a Musqueam associate arts researcher who has been providing community feedback on the RNN's design and direction since 2004. For many Aboriginal communities, this is the first time they will see materials and objects that were previously scattered in museums across Canada and the world, rendering them unknown and inaccessible to the communities that of Peoples. The RNN represents a major cornerstone of MOA's renewal project, which was unveiled in January. Other renewal features include 5,800 square feet of new, state-of-the-art exhibit space along with recording studios and sound booths that will provide a resource the building, electronic versions can be created that provide an active resource in the RNN's database. "This will create, over time, a different arena in which researchers and people in the originating communities interact." Such exchanges are already underway. Recently during the RNN's For many Aboriginal communities, this is the first time they will see materials and objects that were previously scattered in museums across Canada and the world, rendering them unknown and inaccessible to the communities that created them. created them. "Unlike other museums, we have always tried to democratize our practice, and work directly with communities to represent communities and let communities represent themselves," says Anthony Shelton, Director of MOA, who for more than five years has overseen a $55.5-million renewal of the Museum entitled A Partnership for preserving Indigenous languages. These innovations consolidate and strengthen MOA's place as Canada's largest teaching museum and a premier exhibitor of global arts, says Shelton. "The RRN provides a mechanism to digitally repatriate Indigenous collections and archives," says Shelton, who notes that instead of physically removing material from pilot phase, a Musqueam elder came across a rattle he recognized as one used by his family for a cleansing ceremony. He notified the Cambridge University curator that such objects are sacred and are not suitable for public display. "It provides an equal playing field for sharing knowledge," says Point. "Aboriginal people can bring their expertise to the table whether it's cultural specificity or language." The decolonization of knowledge is something Shelton hopes the Museum will start to achieve as it becomes a resource for Indigenous communities. To this end, a new hybrid space within the Museum houses the visible storage "multiversity" galleries. More than 10,000 objects in the collection that were previously difficult to view, along with their interpretations, are now presented for the public. The interpretations are a product of the Museum's collaboration between curators and communities, which Shelton says has generated a new thesaurus of criteria based on community preference rather than museological dictates. The MOA Partnership of Peoples Renewal Project is funded by Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Province of British Columbia, the Koerner Foundation, Stewart and Marilyn Blusson, the Audain Foundation for the Visual Arts, Department of Canadian Heritage through the Canada Cultural Spaces Fund. 6 | UBC REPORTS | FEBRUARY 3, 20J0 FEBRUARY 3, 20J0 | UBC REPORTS | 7 UBC Olympic legend: GM of first national hockey team predicts women will lead medal count BY HEATHER AMOS BOB HINDMARCH LIKES THE LOOK of the 2010 Canadian hockey teams. "I think the characters of the people they've selected for 2010 are not just individuals, they're very team-oriented," he says of players like Scott Niedermayer, Sidney Crosby and Hayley Wickenheiser. For Hindmarch, a former athletics director at UBC, teamwork is the single most important quality of an Olympic hockey team - and he should know. Hindmarch was the general manager and assistant coach for the first national hockey team that went to the 1964 Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria. Canada had returned home from the 1960 Olympics medal-less in hockey, a sport Canadians typically excel in. At the time there was no national team and the NHL didn't share its players, "so our best senior team Canadian champion, the Alan Cup winner, would usually represent the country at the Games," he said. Canada was no match for teams like Russia, which were filled with professional players. In 1963, Hindmarch and the late Rev. Father David Bauer, who coached the UBC hockey team and taught at the university, established Canada's first national Olympic hockey team at UBC. The team was built around a core of UBC students and the top junior and senior players in the country. Canada tied for third at the 1964 Games. "With their team, they set the values and goals we still have for our game - not just for the national program, but for all hockey in Canada," says Bob Nicholson, President and CEO of Hockey Canada. Hindmarch, a UBC professor emeritus in human kinetics, has attended every Olympics from 1960 to 1998 and served as the Chef de Mission for the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics. But the UBC Hall of Famer never imagined the Olympics would come to him. Now that they're in his own backyard, he says, Vancouver is going to be hit with excitement. "People don't really understand the fun and enjoyment that's going to happen," says Hindmarch. "The big UBC Hall of Famer and professor emeritus Bob Hindmarch says teamwork is the top quality for an Olympic hockey team. thing to do is just to get downtown and to meet the people and have some fun." He knows this Olympics will be a success and that everyone will get into the spirit. He says you just have to look at the sale of red Olympic mittens to see that the international demonstrated over and over again." But, for the athletes, the Games are a completely different experience. "One great, positive item of the Olympic Games is that it brings young people together, and they all get along." Dances are held in the athlete's caught up in the idea that they have to win a medal. "When I was Chef de Mission in Sarajevo, I couldn't believe the pressure," says the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame inductee, who - wait for it - lives on Olympic Street in the Dunbar neighbourhood. 'With their team, they set the values and goals we still have for our game - not just for the national program, but for all hockey in Canada." competition is a unifier. "Look at the torch relay, it touched every little community." Hindmarch says the games will highlight every part ofthe country and people around the world will find out who Canadians are and what we are all about. "Canada will be represented as a very stable, friendly country and that will be village and Hindmarch says there's no other time where a person can dance with people from so many different countries around the world in one night. He wishes all young people could have the opportunity to experience the Games. But he also understands how important the Olympics are for the athletes - they can't help but get He remembers telling the athletes: "Don't win a medal for Canada. Go out and win a medal for you." To this day Hindmarch remembers the disappointment of figure skaters Barbara Underhill and Paul Martini. The pair were supposed to win a medal in Sarajevo, but early in the competition they missed a compulsory skill and were out of the running for the podium. Hindmarch remembers comforting Underhill and watching the tears roll down her cheeks. Later that year, the skaters won the World Championships and Hindmarch sent Underhill flowers with the card: "The tears of a world champion are still on my jacket." In the 2006 Torino Olympics, Canada came third in medal standings with seven gold medals. After a $110 million Own the Podium initiative, Canada hopes to haul in a record number of medals in 2010 and win its first gold at an Olympic Games at home. The Olympic legend isn't worried about Canada's 2010 medal count. "We'll win medals where we don't think we will," says Hindmarch. And because ofthe development of female athletics in Canada relative to other countries, Hindmarch thinks "women will win more medals than men." Richmond, B.C., native and UBC grad Alexa Loo will compete in front of a hometown crowd. Hooked on racing: Grad's grace under pressure BY GLENN DREXHAGE ALEXA LOO PREFERS TO PERFORM when the heat is on. "I kind of work best with a little pressure and a deadline," says the 37-year-old snowboarding Olympian and UBC grad. "I was never one ofthose students who had my projects done ahead of time." This approach should serve her well, given the hectic schedule and Olympic expectations that Loo faces. In January, the Richmond native had her best-ever World Cup results, nabbing the silver in the parallel giant slalom in Kreischberg, Austria. Shortly after, Loo was one of 18 athletes named to the Canadian Olympic snowboarding squad. She'll be looking to avenge her performance in the 2006 Torino Winter Olympics. Expectations were high, but a fall in the qualifying round Loo first tried snowboarding when she was 15 and fell in love with the sport. In 1995, she joined a racing club, and the stage was set. Along the way, she attended abroad and caroused on Wednesday nights at the Pit Pub. "I made the most of my university experience and I loved it," she said. Since leaving school, she's been Since leaving school, she's been able to speak French and German on the World Cup circuit, a skill honed by her studies at UBC. meant that Loo finished in 20th place and narrowly missed the finals. "I was devastated," she recalls. But Loo was also resilient - indeed, she quit her job and kept racing. "Now I get to compete for a home crowd!" she says. UBC, where she earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree in 1994 (followed by a chartered accountant designation four years later). She also rowed and swam on varsity teams, joined the ski club, studied able to speak French and German on the World Cup circuit, a skill honed by her studies at UBC. And recently, she used her math and stats training to keep track of the Canadian Olympic Team rankings. In addition to the upcoming Winter Olympics, another life- changing event will soon come Loo's way: a 2010 wedding. Loo got engaged shortly before her silver-medal run in Austria. "I got a new board and a shiny new engagement ring - the confidence in my equipment and my personal life allowed me to ride to my abilities and get on the podium," she says. Despite all the big events on the horizon, she's managed to adopt a balanced outlook. "I am trying to keep everything in perspective. Marriage is the rest of my life, but the Olympics is one race." For more, visit www.alexaloo.com. ■ UBC and the Olympics/Paralympics insane pain continued from cover when jeff pain describes himself as a Type A personality, he's not kidding. After all, the Canadian Olympian and UBC alumnus specializes in the skeleton - a heart-stopping event where racers hurtle face down on ice-coated tracks and reach mind- boggling velocities on specialized sleds that don't have brakes. Speeds typically range between 110 and 120 After a silver in Torino, Jeff Pain is going for gold in 2010. kilometres per hour, although Pain notes that the track in Whistler can reach up to a fearsome 145 km-h. The 39-year-old Pain, who will compete in his third Winter Olympics at Whistler in February, recalls the first skeleton ride he took in November 1994. "It was exciting for me," he says, likely with a bit of understatement. "I only know of two reactions. You absolutely hate it and never want to try it again - or you want to do it every day of your life." Pain falls into the latter camp, and he's obviously chosen the right calling. He finished sixth at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2002 (when skeleton was added as a permanent event) and had a brilliant silver-medal performance at the Torino Games in 2006. Now, he's going for gold in 2010 - something that he attributes on his website (www.jeffpain.ca) to "an insane desire to be the best." "Whatever I try, I want to try and do my best," he explains, whether that includes being a top Olympic athlete, father, husband - or landscapes which ties into Pain's UBC past. He was born in Alaska while his father was there on a job assignment. Shortly after, the family returned to his hometown of Calgary. Pain earned his degree in landscape architecture at UBC in 1994; during that time he also trained in track and field (specializing in high jump) and served on the executive of a social ski club for a few years. During his track training, Pain considered returning to Calgary to try the bobsleigh once he was finished with school. However, he says he didn't have the right mentality or body for the event (bobsleigh features teams of participants that huddle together in a large sled). So he opted for the solo sport of skeleton. It was a wise move. In addition to his Olympic achievements, Pain has won the World Championships twice and the World Cup title twice. For the past year and a half, he's put aside his landscaping work in Calgary to focus solely on training, his racing schedule and the 2010 Winter Olympics. Despite his skeleton success, Pain maintains that his involvement in the sport is inspired by more than accolades and attention. "I do what I do not to win or have great results, but instead to discover myself," he writes on his website. "It does not matter what arena we choose to play in, it only matters what we learn about ourselves along the way." ■ MEDAL WON BY UBC (Ned Pratt, bronze in doubles rowing, 1932, Los Angeles) MOST CAREER MEDALS WON BY A UBC ATHLETE (Kathleen Heddle, rowing, three gold and one bronze) MOST MEDALS WON BY UBC ATHLETES AT A SINGLE OLYMPIC GAMES (Melbourne, 1956) MOST MEDALS WON BY A UBC PARALYMPIC ATHLETE (Walter Wu, eight gold, swimming) THE NUMBER OF OLYMPIC ICE HOCKEY GAMES THAT WILL BE PLAYED AT THE UBC THUNDERBIRD ARENA (also known as the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre) as part of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games ETil THE NUMBER OF PARALYMPIC ICE SLEDGE HOCKEY GAMES, including the gold medal match, that will be played at UBC Thunderbird Arena as part of the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games THE LARGEST UBC THUNDERBIRD CONTINGENT TO ATTEND AN OLYMPIC GAMES (Montreal, 1976) ALL-TIME MEDALS WON BY UBC ATHLETES (18 gold, 21 silver, 24 bronze) HIGHEST ALL-TIME REPRESENTATION OF UBC ATHLETES IN ONE SPORT (ROWING) OVER THE GAMES LIFETIME THE NUMBER OF UBC-AFFILIATED VOLUNTEERS THAT ARE PART OF THE UBC WINTER GAMES VOLUNTEER PROGRAM (accessibility volunteers, library ambassadors, torch relay volunteers, volunteer centre volunteers). These people fill volunteer positions created and run by the University. I UBC REPORTS | FEBRUARY 3, 20J0 FEBRUARY 3, 20J0 | UBC REPORTS | Canada dreams of gold BY GLENN DREXHAGE Montreal, 1976: Team Canada wins five silver medals, six bronze - and not a single gold at the Summer Olympic Games. Next up is Calgary, 1988; this time the tally is two silver medals, three bronzes . . . and no gold at the Winter Olympics. Fast forward more than two decades. Once again, the Winter Olympics are on Canadian soil. And once again, the expectations for gold medals are reaching a feverish pitch. But what exactly is the significance of the top-notch prize - for athletes, for Canada, for sponsors? Is it, shall we say, worth its weight in gold? To find out, we talked to a few UBC experts about the true value of Olympian ducat for those Canadians who, hopefully, bring an end to the glitter drought. What a gold medal means for the winning athlete(s) Jessica Tracy, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology w THE UNIVERSITY OK BRITISH COLUMBIA 2010 PRESIDENT'S SERVICE AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE NOMINATIONS The committee is seeking nominations of outstanding staff who have made distingusihed service to the university. For a nomination form, please go to www. ceremonies, ubc. ca Please mail nominations to: president's service award for excellence committee c/o ceremonies office 2nd floor, ponderosa b campus zone 2 Deadline for nominations is March 5, 2010 my research involves looking at two different kinds of pride. There's authentic pride, which is pride that you feel in your accomplishments, and which is very genuine. Then there's hubristic pride, which is more grandiose and narcissistic. Hubristic pride can be more defensive; it's the pride that people feel when they're a bit insecure underneath it all. And it has negative outcomes; people with hubristic pride tend to have relationship problems, they tend to be aggressive and hostile. Certainly, a gold medal win is going to be a major pride-eliciting event. For any professional athlete, there's not much higher an accomplishment than winning a gold medal. So of course they will feel pride on a personal level - whether it's one type of pride or another depends on their personality. The athlete could also feel that I, as a Canadian, just did something amazing for my country - and that's a group identity. If that's the focus, then they would start to feel a collective sort of pride - "Look at what I've done for Canada; as a Canadian I'm proud of my national identity." What a gold medal means to Canadians Michael Byers, Professor, Canadian Research Chair in Global Politics and International Law. Also the best-selling author of Intent for a Nation and Who Owns the Arctic? Canadian athletes will win many gold medals at the Vancouver Winter Olympics. This is an easy prediction to make given that Canada won 24 medals at the 2006 Torino Winter Olympics, seven of which were gold. At the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, Canada won 17 medals. Seven, again, were gold - including all- important victories in both men's and women's hockey. Thevalueof gold for sponsors Paul Cubbon, Marketing Instructor, Sauder School of Business and Robert H. Lee Graduate School AN OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL provides great opportunity for an athlete's sponsors. In many ways, it is the marketing dream, but the investment in an athlete can also be a risky and uncertain one for sponsors. Athletes can lose form, get injured, or just be unlucky. And there are many outstanding athletes, but only one gold medal winner for each event. For many Canadians, a win in the gold medal men's hockey game would be the ultimate medal for Canada to win. Yet it is unclear whether any one sponsor can align with the team as a whole, and so it might be a "Games Sponsor" rather than an athlete sponsor that is able to take advantage of aligning themselves with such a win in a team sport - and this might be more a case of reflecting in the glow of success by association, rather than any measurable benefit. An example of a brand that was very successful in associating with an athlete - before, during and after a gold medal win - was Roots with Ross Rebagliati in 1998 with the famous In some winter-sport obsessed countries like Austria, Germany, Italy, Norway and Switzerland, Canadian victories will be clearly noted. A win in men's hockey would reverberate across Russia, the Czech Republic, Finland and Sweden (which won in 2006). But the impact of all our medals will be felt most at home, in terms of how Canadians feel about their country. I remember flying into Vancouver Airport on February 24, 2002, just minutes after the Canadian men's hockey team had soundly defeated the United States. My taxi driver, an elderly Sikh man with a heavy accent, long beard and turban, was absolutely ecstatic about Canada's victory. "It's a great moment for our country," he said. "I'm so proud to be Canadian." And I was proud that he was proud. "poor boy" hat. It is somewhat easier to leverage a gold medal win to sell more of an item of clothing than it is, for example, to sign up banking customers. A last and separate point concerns the murky and controversial arena of "ambush marketing" that has never been far from these Games. The official Games sponsors are not necessarily the same as the sponsors of individual athletes, or even organizations like Hockey Canada. But at its extreme, efforts to prevent ambush marketing represent an appropriation of patriotism and winning for select commercial sponsors. While it is logical that VANOC would attempt this to mollify high- paying official sponsors, it seems to be an almost impossible line to hold, as sponsors of athletes and other companies look to take advantage of areas that they feel they can legitimately associate with. These "non-sponsors" of the Games have learnt to be more careful about what they say and how they say it. However, you can be sure that if an athlete sponsored by a "non-Games sponsor" wins a gold medal, then this will be celebrated, advertised and marketed aggressively. This might include national team uniform sponsors (such as Burton for the U.S. snowboard team - Burton is not an official Games sponsor) through to any of a myriad of other brands that can hope to link to gold medal success. ■ Rethinking drug development: A new commitment to global access BY BRIAN LIN UBC RECENTLY BECAME the first Canadian university to join Yale, Harvard, the US National Institutes of Health and other major institutions as a signatory to the Statement of Principles and Strategies for the Equitable Dissemination of Medical Technologies. To date, 14 institutions have pleged to provide developing countries with better access to drugs and therapies that originated from university discoveries. Angus Livingstone, managing director of UBC's Industry Liaison Office, helped craft the principles with colleagues from US universities and the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM), offering UBC's experience with its own Global Access initiative, launched in 2007. "The American institutions were responding to calls from the student-driven organization, Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM), to leverage their intellectual property to address neglected diseases in disadvantaged regions - much like we did when we first put together our Global Access "Biotechnology was the most apparent use, but in developing our Global Assess principles we sought to apply them in the broadest sense possible, as UBC research has a stellar track record of addressing research affordable to people living in low- and middle-income countries," says Mike Gretes, a first- year medical student and chair of the UBC Chapter of UAEM. While the AUTM principles "In encouraging our industry partners to rethink their practices and the potential positive impact this approach may have, we're bringing the essence of innovation and discovery one step further as global citizens." principles," says Livingstone. While the AUTM-endorsed principles focus on drugs and medical technologies, UBC's initiative - the first in a Canadian university - was designed to also envelop discoveries that could address some of today's biggest challenges. real-world problems, including those experienced by both developing and developed nations - food security, sustainability and the environment," says Livingstone. "We applaud UBC for endorsing the AUTM Statement of Principles and for its continued efforts to make technologies based on university Pharmaceutical Sciences Prof. Kishor Wasan is halping tackle viseral Leishmaniasis, which affects 12 million people worldwide. Discovery tackles neglected disease BY BRIAN LIN THE FIRST APPLICATION of UBC's Global Access principles tackles Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL), a debilitating disease that affects 12 million people worldwide. According to the World Health Organization, 1.5 million new cases of VL are reported and close to 60,000 die annually. In 2000, UBC pharmaceutical sciences professor Kishor Wasan discovered that when added to fat, Amphotericin B (Amp B), a powerful anti-fungal and anti-parasitic agent, high levels of the drug can be delivered to the bloodstream with no renal toxicity. In use for more than 50 years to treat VL, Amp B currently can only be administered intravenously - a considerable challenge in cost and delivery. "As any pharmacist would tell you, compliance greatly increases when the drug can be taken orally. This is especially pertinent when we consider the population and regions most affected by VL," says Wasan, a Distinguished University Scholar. "Now that we've got a formulation of a drug that can be easily administered and is effective in treating the disease, the next challenge is getting it to people who need it the most." "This oral formulation of Amp B was a perfect candidate for Global Access," says Angus Livingstone, managing director of UBC's Industry of Liaison Office. "Both Prof. Wasan and the licensee of this technology, Vancouver-based iCo Therapeutics, were enthusiastic about the opportunity." In addition to agreeing to provide the drug at subsidized costs to developing countries, iCo Therapeutics, is co-funding Wasan's Research Chair in Drug Delivery for Neglected Global Diseases with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). The collaboration has since received support by the Consortium for Parasitic Drug Development (CPDD), a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grantee, to the tune of US$180,000. ■ include ambitious elements, such as ensuringthe production of generic versions of patented drugs for the poor, and developing metrics to gauge the success of access licensing programs, says Gretes, UBC could play a leadership role in further advocating for wider consultation ofthe principles among university communities, expansion ofthe principles to include all medical technologies and inclusion of more than a billion of the world's poor living in middle income countries such as India, China and Brazil. "It is gratifying that UBC's leadership in both technology transfer and global access principles are recognized by other institutions and agencies such as the Gates Foundation-funded Consortium for Parasitic Drug Development," says Livingstone. "This is especially poignant in today's dire economic times," he adds. "But in encouraging our industry partners to rethink their practices and the potential positive impact this approach may have, we're bringing the essence of innovation and discovery one step further as global citizens." ■ The Next Next Thing. From Here. • UBC was ranked best in Canada and eighth in North America for its commercialization activities in the Milken Institute's Mind to Market Report in 2006 • More than 140 spin-off companies have been created around UBC discoveries • UBC has more than 250 active licensing deals for its technologies with companies around the world •UBC discoveries have been the basis of products that have generated more than $5 billion in sales • In 2006/07 UBC became the first Canadian university to receive more than $100 million in cumulative licensing revenue • In 2007, UBC became the first Canadian university to formally adopt Global Access principles • Industry spends more than $40 million each year in research partnerships with UBC researchers 10 I UBC REPORTS | FEBRUARY 3, 2010 FEBRUARY 3, 2010 | UBC REPORTS | 11 UBC Okanagan's forensic psych group tackles tough community issues Entrepreneurship project takes aim at unemployment in Kenya BY JODY JACOB GRADUATE STUDENTS AND FACULTY at UBC Okanagan have joined forces to form a Forensic Psychology Scholar Group that aims to deliver high-quality, practical education and research to the community. The Forensic Psychology Scholar Group deals with issues at the intersection of psychology and the law, delving into topics such as psychopathy, deception detection, sex offending, juvenile offending, eyewitness memory, jury decisionmaking, factors leading to recidivism (offenders who reoffend), offender treatment, and the psychological effects of crime on victims. "The group provides a network for research collaboration and aims to distribute knowledge to the community that helps the public form evidence- based opinions about crime and the justice system," says Julia Shaw, a PhD student working with faculty on forensic psychology research. Shaw, who has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Simon Fraser University and a master's degree from the University of Maastricht, Netherlands, chose to pursue her PhD at UBC Okanagan under the guidance of psychology professor Stephen Porter, because ofthe university's increasing reputation for its psychology and law research. "UBC Okanagan is establishing Members of the Forensic Psychology Scholar Group at UBC Okanagan include Tara Carpenter, Erin Hutton, Julia Shaw, Andrea Bennett and Leanne ten Brinke. a hub for forensic psychology and there are some really good people here who are very well-known and respected in the field," says Shaw. "This group will further enhance the learning experience for students, as it encourages research collaboration and practical application." This summer, Shaw will be working with the John Howard Society of www.mediagroup.ubc.ca GRAPHIC DESIGN VIDEO & MEDIA PRODUCTION ILLUSTRATION PHOTOGRAPHY LARGE FORMAT COLOUR PRINTING DIGITAL PRINTING LAMINATION AV EQUIPMENT & MEDIA SALES AV SERVICES & MAINTENANCE Your M.BC ■priv&inQ rtsowtt Short run printing Exceptional image quality with the highest resolution available COATED SADDLE-STITCHED BOOKLETS CATALOGS MANUALS TRI-FOLD BROCHURES BI-FOLD MAILERS POSTCARDS SPECIALTY PRODUCTS, INCLUDING GREETING CARDS AND LARGE FORMAT POSTERS We use environmentally responsible papers. We provide: i quality printing i experienced staff i reliable, prompt service i very competitive rates i conveniently located on campus Situated on campus at: The Media Group Woodward IRC Building, Rm B32 2194 Health Sciences Mall Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3 Lower level of Woodward IRC Building Wesbrook Mall I® Health Science Email: mediagrp@interchange.ubc.ca T: (604) 822-5561 F: (604) 822-2004 www.mediagroup.ubc.ca "Media rroup the Central and South Okanagan - a non-profit organization that focuses on crime prevention, rehabilitation, reintegration and social justice - to evaluate their new offender reintegration program. "I'll be spending about six months looking at the reintegration program trying to answer the question: is the program working the way the John Howard Society intends it to work in preventing re-offence?" Master's students Tara Carpenter and Erin Hutton have partnered on multiple research initiatives with Youth Forensic Psychiatric Services, a specialized mental health service within the Ministry of Children and Family Development, and are currently assisting the organization with an evaluation of their Violent Offender Treatment Program. Other graduate student members ofthe Forensic Psychology Group are Andrea Bennett, in her second year of graduate studies focusing on the roles that pedophilia and psychopathy play in developing distorted beliefs and attitudes in sex offenders, and PhD student Leanne ten Brinke, whose main area of interest is deception detection and how facial expressions can be analyzed to reveal false emotions. Upcoming planned activities for the group include a website and monthly newsletter to distribute throughout the local legal community highlighting new research findings and events relating to forensic psychology. Faculty members ofthe Forensic Psychology Group include psychology professors Stephen Porter, Michael Woodworth, Jan Cioe, Paul Davies, Brian O'Connor and Zach Walsh. ■ GREENEST BUILDING continued from cover Robinson also chaired the university's Sustainability Academic Strategy, which delivered its final report in October 2009. One of that report's recommendations, which is moving forward, proposed that CIRS should serve as the home to the overarching University Sustainability Initiative (USI). "This will create a single home for UBC's sustainable activities," Robinson says. "It's particularly appropriate to take a highly innovative, new approach and put it in the most sustainable building in North America." In addition, this move means that the academic and operational sides of the sustainability equation will be represented in a single setting - a rarity at other North American universities. "It's proven hard to do," notes Robinson. "They're very different worlds." Indeed, sustainability is serious to UBC - so much so that it's listed as one ofthe nine key commitments in Place and Promise, the University's new strategic plan. Other research partners at CIRS include Simon Fraser University, the Emily Carr Institute of Art + Design, and the British Columbia Institute of Technology. Meanwhile, commercialization opportunities will be explored with UBC sustainability facts In 1997, UBC became Canada's first university to adopt a sustainable development policy. One year later, it was the first Canadian university to open a campus sustainability office. William Rees, a professor at UBC's School of Community and Regional Planning, originated the "eco-footprint" concept and continues to develop the method with his graduate students. As a result of ECOtrek, UBC reduced greenhouse gas emissions in its 277 core buildings by nearly 6% compared to 1990 levels, despite a 14% increase in floor space. UBC offers more than 300 sustainability-related courses. In 2003, 2005 and 2006, UBC was Canada's first and only university to receive Green Campus Recognition from the U.S.-based National Wildlife Federation. Carbon Offsetters, a company co-founded by President, CEO and UBC Associate Professor James Tansey, is the official supplier of carbon offsets for the 2010 Winter Games - a first for the Olympics. John Robinson partners such as BC Hydro, Haworth and Honeywell. CIRS will also encourage public involvement, a move that Robinson says is crucial. "Community engagement isn't just desirable in principle...it's actually necessary to achieve a sustainable future," he notes. "Politicians can't act to change things without a constituency for that change. Business can't deliver sustainable products and services if there isn't a market." For more information, please visit www.cirs.ubc.ca ■ BY DEREK MOSCATO WHEN NANCY LANGTON, associate professor at UBC's Sauder School of Business, discusses the economic environment of the slums of Kibera, in Nairobi she relays a telling anecdote about the area's small-business make-up: Too many hair salons, not enough of anything else. That lack of economic diversity - and the devastating unemployment picture that goes with is - is one of the motivators for the UBC business education program she leads, Social Entrepreneurship 101: Africa. Langton annually brings a team of graduate and undergraduate business students to Africa to teach aspiring small-business owners and young entrepreneurs the fundamentals of accounting, marketing, human resources and more, to ultimately lay down the groundwork of a more robust economic landscape, and the jobs that go with it. The program was originally based on one designed by Sauder faculty and delivered to residents in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, the poorest postal code in Canada. That program, Entrepreneurship 101, was first delivered in 2002. Sauder faculty and students helped residents from the Downtown Eastside to formulate business plans, while learning basic business skills. Entrepreneurship 101 operated out of UBC's Robson Square site, and provided dinners, childcare, and bus fare to participants on class ultimately be used to present to business partners, banks, or micro- financing institutions. Since 2006, more than 225 Nairobi youth have come through the program. The program is rooted in the philosophy that social entrepreneurs are agents of positive change for society, and can provide innovative sustainable solutions to an array of social problems. According to Langton, where a traditional business entrepreneur seeks to generate profit, a social entrepreneur is motivated to generate social value. Aspiring social entrepreneurs in the UBC program in Nairobi have been focused on everything from garbage recycling to community AIDS education. The program also engages traditional small business start-ups. The kind of enterprises that have participated in the program include restaurants, graphic arts firms, business plan consultants, and sound system vendors. "We are looking for businesses that are unique and that start out with a competitive advantage," said Langton. "Our applicants should be innovative and realistic." Last year's Social Entrepreneurship 101 team included a mix of UBC students from wide-ranging backgrounds, including graduate student Jonathan Kaida, then completing his MBA with a specialization in sustainability. Kaida's parents are originally from Kenya and The program was originally based on one designed by Sauder faculty and delivered to residents in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, the poorest postal code in Canada. nights. Participants were mentored by undergraduate and MBA students, and several businesses were started as a result. The program was funded through a grant provided by HSBC and was loosely affiliated with the UBC Learning Exchange. When two undergraduate students approached Langton in the fall of 2005 about doing volunteer work in Africa, Langton thought that Entrepreneurship 101 might be a good model to replicate there. The UBC initiative in Africa started with the delivery of business plan training to youth living in Kibera, the largest slum in East Africa, in the summer of 2006. The workshops, now entering their fifth year, educate and enable Kenyan youth living in Nairobi to start their own businesses. They are part of an intense, three-week program that combines entrepreneurship with social impact. At the conclusion of classes, participants have developed a business plan draft, which can Tanzania, and after traveling to Africa in 2008 to help his grandmother build a house, he applied to be part of the UBC project. Other students, who themselves teach in the program, come from academic backgrounds such as finance, marketing, and education. Increasingly, Langton and her team have been drawn into assessing business plans for the purpose of micro-financing opportunities, a burgeoning financial trend in Kenya and other African countries. She has made many presentations to Kenyan church parishioners about the virtues of various business ventures that have come through the UBC program, and their micro- financing-worthiness. Langton notes that church parishioners also have been participating in the post- program, which provides mentorship and support for the small-business participants in Nairobi after the conclusion of classes. Professor Nancy Langston takes business students to Africa to teach a spring small-business owners program. "It's a way of helping the community help their own youth," she says. But her program pitch isn't just being extended to the churches of Nairobi. Back in Canada, she's also encouraging engagement from the UBC community. "There are so many ways to be involved with this project," she said. "We can use people who can help us with writing grants, marketing, curriculum development, with mentorship, with micro-financing ideas. There are lots of ways to be involved." Follow the Social Entrepreneurship 101 Africa program at: http://www.africa.sauder.ubc.ca Twitter: SEIOIAfrica ■ o c CD I- "<i| *fli* III! r^HJ o o o o > O u c a > accommodation & conferences place for you. www.vst.edu 604-322-6398 12 | UBC REPORTS | FEBRUARY 3, 2010 Fit for the Games: Athletes aren't the only ones training BY GLENN DREXHAGE A HUSBAND-AND-WIFE TEAM at UBC is helping ensure that Games volunteers are in tip-top shape. Darren Warburton and Shannon Bredin have developed Getting Games Fit - a 12-week interactive program designed to boost the health ofthe 25,000 Games volunteers. "It is our aim to reduce the risks for common Games-related injuries such as sprains, strains and fractures, and heart attacks," says Warburton. "To our knowledge, this is the first-ever program of this nature for the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games." Warburton is an associate professor and director of UBC's Cardiovascular Physiology and Rehabilitation Laboratory, while Bredin is an assistant professor and director of the Cognitive and Functional Learning Laboratory. Their preventative Games program anticipates the volunteer injuries that can occur. At the 2006 Winter Games in Torino, for example, more than 55 per cent of medical incidents originated with the volunteer workforce. Common issues include injuries to shoulders, the lower back, knees and ankles - plus "cardiovascular events," such as heart ailments. The duo's inspiration for Getting Games Fit came from Jack Taunton, the Chief Medical Officer for Vancouver 2010 and a professor in UBC's Division of Sports Medicine. Previous winter games have experienced high injury rates in volunteers, due to factors such as fatigue, lack of sleep and fitness, the repetitive nature of some tasks, and trips and falls that can be caused by snow, ice, errant cables and other hazards. "It was the vision of Dr. Taunton to reduce the risk for adverse events in our volunteers," Warburton says. As preparation, Warburton and Bredin travelled to Whistler to evaluate the demands of the various snow-based volunteer activities. These could include shovelling snow with shovels ranging in weight from seven to 44 kilograms; walking up ski hills; dyeing snow on skis with a 16-litre backpack pressure sprayer; raking and packing snow; and other strenuous tasks. Thousands are making use of the voluntary program, which began in November and continues throughout the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Here's how it works: volunteers are asked to assess their fitness levels and answer a series of questions regarding their lifestyle behaviours. Based on the outcome, they are UBC's Darren Warburton and his wife Shannon Bredin are helping Games volunteers get healthy. assigned one of three tailored program levels and put in contact with qualified exercise physiologists (recent graduates of UBC who have received specialized training). Exercise guidelines are provided online or in-person, and participants can access more than 100 documents and videos to assist with training. Common workouts include running, swimming, brisk walking and strengthening exercises. Experts also offer motivational tips, answer questions and assist with referrals to others, such as registered dietitians. So far, Warburton says the program has been a big success, with the general fitness levels of participants increasing by about 30 per cent. And if all goes well, this is just the beginning. "The Getting Games Fit program is an important legacy of the 2010 Games," says Warburton. "I am extremely proud of what we are doing, and envision that this will serve as the model for future Games." ■ THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA PRESENTS SPORTandSOCIETY Provocative dialogues with Olympic & Paralympic athletes who have used their celebrity to make a difference in the world. SPORT, ETHICS AND TECHNOLOGY Is High Performance Sport inconsistent with Ideals and Ethics? RICHARD POUND - former Olympic athlete, McGill Chancellor and former president of the World Anti-Doping Agency. DR. JIM RUPERT - Associate Professor, School of Human Kinetics at UBC. BECKIE SCOTT - former Olympic athlete and current member ofthe IOC. u! I^ham y^^ SPORT, PEACE AND DEVELOPMENT How Can Sport Contribute to Positive Social Change? Presented by Merck and Right to Play JOHANN OLAV KOSS - President and CEO of Right To Play and 4-time Olympic Gold Medalist. STEPHEN LEWIS - Chair of the Board of the Stephen Lewis Foundation. WILFRIED LEMKE - Special Advisor to the UN Secretary- General on Sport for Development and Peace. BENJAMIN NZOBONANKIRA -former child refugee from Burundi and current Coach Trainer with Right To Play. PROFESSOR STEPHEN TOOPE - 12th President and Vice-Chancellor of UBC. 8PM SPORT AND INCLUSION Are Major Sporting Events Inclusive of First Nations and Other Groups? WANEEK HORN-MILLER - former Olympic athlete, activist, speaker and television personality. SHIRLEY & SHARON FIRTH - the first aboriginal women to represent Canada at the Olympic Games. H 8PM SPORT AND CHALLENGE Is Anything Possible? RICK HANSEN - CC, O.B.C, President and CEO of the Rick Hansen Foundation. DR. BRUCE MCMANUS - Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at UBC. PAT JARVIS - former Paralympic athlete and member of the International Paralympic Committee. MARCH 10 at 1PM Afternoon Academic Session PEAK PERFORMANCE The Path to Exceptional Athletic Achievement Join leading experts for an afternoon focused on the hottest issues in science and sport and the implications 8PM V.; SPORT, LEGACY AND SUSTAINABILITY Is it Worth It? DR. BRUCE KIDD - former Olympic athlete and Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Physical Education at the University of Toronto. DEREK WYATT - elected Member of Parliament in the U.K. and Chair of the All Party Parliamentary London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Group. ALL EVENTS TAKE PLACE AT THE CHAN CENTRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS. TICKETS are available through Ticketmaster www.ticketmaster.ca Sport, Peace and Development: $25 general admission, $15 seniors/students Peak Performance is a free ticketed event. All other events: $10. TWITTER @UBCComAff #UBCSpSo More information: www.communityaffairs.ubc.ca or www.chancentre.com |UBC| a place of mind 7&;CHAN CENTRE FOR THE PERFOMAINS ARTS
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