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possibilities
UBC scientist Dr Fabio Rossi explores the
future of adult stem cell research. Pages 6-7.
v
v
CD
by Alex Leslie
FEATURES STAFF
The term '^m < I'll loiMirh' h.is lipi-urne i luzz-
iwird in ihe niedn, driven to new her/his ol con-
trirttT^v by Gei>rj.e W Bush's nuch puMiti&i-d
h.iimmg of new stem i ell hnei in the I S due to
debute u\\er the rw t iQoint-ut dut life begins
In a mdio address to the i-jljun on August 13,
J001, President Bu»h Mated, 'I l>ehe\\ ihdt
humjn life is .. _itred >__: from our frejlor. 1
worry jbuut .1 mlt'ire that devalues life aud
J believe, as yo.ir President, I ha\\e an important
(iMuifition to foster rind eni our ige respect fur life
in Anient a jnd Lluoughout the world."
To protest Lhe bc-n, 1 J., pitjetit, ri'srar'h and
aiddemic institutions wrote President Bush,
d( niJTidmg .i re <:\\ alu.it'un of the ls-sue, ^aluip
that "£i\\en 'he urtat hope that .stem (.ell ri-"-e uch
provides to those who iii-"vjii-ir.>lt ,i 1'nr 'hi1 llM '"me h it
■id Tt s'l-m (o'ls, 'xiijie Uiit-\\<.'d o.'alv lo |).'udu(i'
lilocl, ( i'l '"-o jT'ii'llie 'i'Isi !e (r'lls J'IiiK,i.h die
/.(Id"*-. S I 1 liA i'li!l is'u 1,1 1:1,] nul hii'lv 'o 'h-
/nlc'iVl I'.r 'laed.iul p_ 1 ['<>se-3 jii ,!ie 1 r-\\l
ili-i ide. lis ilis^i'irr. dm us i m .ibu of ;■ j--i'hI.
ur^ '"or jd i",t -it ij 1111 '.si -1 -iiddi i'ly iniii h^lit
The 1'i.cl iL-sLi^l ol Ru-.-.,'* n M.in \\ .lUit'l -.wil
\\e.ir-? 'lowi ■ c1 Vije, < o- Id ! 11 !■! le r.i'W 1 f_eiiei i-
'i\\ e ^ei.niie-i for !,"■ h'l .Ji"< .is ,'i\\rns is ri jsili
■ ir d't-troi'^y, ht£.rt iht-ent-e ir_l Alzheimer's .Ls-
>• ise 'Pie s'lii- 'i a J,s( rj\\i ry ilnl .id ill s'.rm 1 e^U
,11 sse-^-i \\e jln'iiV ' 1 ,>iiidii( e (I'ijui'j'iiji,-. of ^le
(■ i'i~c,] ' ( I1-, 'il,!' nui-iV 11 !'s "j.nls 1 siL,n fi
(.ii'lsVp !i"\\ . K i M1C1.J n iiijJi'e i!ii(i.-i>-l.ii.d "J
dt "he ] e'laUj ruflii m i h.'s. a j> .~->M ■ tua
.1 iln ;>1 'K .i_i' .t fi r ei'j'itjt 1 "i .s't-ii n 'I i'se ..'.•)
l.t» h-> 1 !i m <>f i < ("»v 1'..'."'1 ."i f ir s;i"i. (1 il
si j, ij■ -,1s -.,!( 'l is ^ ,ss|
jenes-s
of a di
iscovery
! i
F')^--! Is sji |i|» 1 ii l,is oirice on '.he -vi Hid Hour
ol I BC's IX111.1 du .il Ri st iiih Cmlre Pho'ns ui his
fbildn 11 fli-h i'ii his iup pn'itT m j,'en. Jiisi outside
the dour, his M) liuiiis \\uih ijiiir't .u'Jutv Knssi
le.u.ib'.ik uihisih ur iiii'l sjie,iks neni i'ly .11 id i;Hii-
eio isly uli jul bn lui'ik'Jirj'iiih pro|ei I m .iduU
&Lein cell 'pl,i_ k ity,' Jie teun Lhdt refers to he jlul-
ny of .1 tell lo .issuiiie diiTeji-ul mVs in the body
Rossi is .in .issMiiut i>r'jfess,or in ihe dt-parl-
ment of niedn :il ^enetii s, .iad .1^1) is r.inad^
Pesejri h f h ur (CR(.) 111 regenerjlhe n.eihiine.
Pip i'i,i|orily of his luue, liui.e\\er, is drtole'l lo
his research concerning stem cells. Rossi began
working at UBC at the end of 2001, coming from
Stanford, where he had been working on the problem of stem cell plasticity for two years as a senior
staff scientist
The groundbreaking experiment performed
by Rossi's team involved ridding mice of their
own population of stem cells and then replenishing each mouse with a 'stained' stem cell, taken
from a mouse cloned with a jellyfish gene,
designed to appear bright green under ultra violet
light. The stained stem cell men repopulated the
mouse with its green progeny, the biological term
Continued on pages 6-7.
LEVI BARNETT PHOTOS
THIS ISSUE:
iM$*Ik_tl S!il!«
UBC test patients not informed
about risks. Page 3.
Great Wall Mongolian BBQ reviewed
in this week's food review. Page 11.
p*
Vfrappiiitj it ill. up
Nordic skiing and women's hockey finish
up the season. Page 9.
Tlt# _#fp€tifflWlitf
of research - ■
Peering into medical research in Canada.
Page 10.
' _i
J
J
r
\\j
Volume 85 Issue 39
magazine
^mr Friday,.February 27, 2004
Mm,;
fa $t ^i
Hywel ii raul in tight pc %*i *-.:;-! wa 2
CLASSIFIEDS
UBC FOOD COOP. FAIR TRADE &
ORGANIC FOOD FOR THE
STUDENT BUDGET. Open 12-2PM
weekdays in the SUB basement near the
Wellness Centre and Travekuts.
THE UBC CHAPLAINS
ASSOCIATION PRESENTS A
SPIRITUALLY INSPIRING ART
EXHIBITION, "IN SARCH OF
YOUR SPIRITUAL SOURCE", by
prominent professional artists;
Gregg Simpson, Jamie Nicholls, Jean-
Guy Dallaire, Marion Jamieson, Pnina
Graniter, Janet Ciimmiugs, Monica Hu,
and MongYen. ,8-13 March, 2003,
10am-7pm, AMS Art Gallery in SUB.
PHARMACY AWARENESS WEEK the
UBC Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences
invites you to celebrate the pharmacy
profession and the health care of our
community at our annua] fair in the
SUB. Monday, March 1st to Friday,
March 5th 2004 12-2PM
FREE FORUM on CANADIAN
TROOPS IN AFGHANISTAN,
presented, by Mobilization Against War
and Occupation, to discuss the politics
behind MAWO's growing Canada-wide
campaign against the occupation.
Sunday, March 7th, 6:30pm,
Collingwood Neighborhdod House (1
block south of Joyce Skytrain)
www.mawo\\'ahcouver. org
mawoinfo@yahoo.ca 604-322-1764
VISIT THE VEREBRATE MUSEUM!
Tons of specimens to see. Meet at main
Biology building enterance at 12 noon
Tues March 2nd. For info contact
Christina: striiick@interchange.ubc.ca
usicians
NEW WEST CC)AST ALTERNATIVE
FOLK ROCK PROJECT seeks young,
solid, energetic positive drummer & bass
player. New CD, local Sc regional
touring. Paid % of gigs & CD royalties!
Influences include: Pumpkins, Young,
Bowie, Dead, Harper, CSN, PF, Zep,
Beatles, Nirvana. Interested parties
should reply to guitarai-my@hotmail.com
or leave a message at 604-807- 4372.
ilH#; uofsief: jla§ixiiif::
PAGE FRIDAY
Friday, February 27,2004
tMMM
TEACH ENGLISH 0\\TRSEAS: Jobs
S$ Guaranteed-Great Pay. TESOL
Certified 5 days in-class, online or by
correspondence. Free information
Seminar, everyTuesday @ 6:00pm. #216,
1755 West Broadway (@ Burrard). Free
infopack: l-888-270-2941or contact
giobaltesol.com
SUMMER CAMP COUNSELORS ON
CAMPUS INTERVIEWS FOR
PREMIER CAMPS IN
MASSACHUSETTS Positions available
for talented, energetic, and fun loving
students as counselors in all team sports
including Roller Hockey and Lacrosse, all
individual sports such as Tennis & Gol£
Waterfront and Pool activities and
specialty activities including art, dance,
theatre, gymnastics, newspapet, rocketrv
and radio. GREAT SALARIES, room,'
board, travel and US summer work visa.
June 17th-August 13th. Enjoy a great
summer that promises to be unforgettable.
For more information and to apply:
MAH_KEE_NAC www.campmkn.com:
1-800-753-9118. Interviewer will be on
campus Monday March Ist-lOam -
4:00pm In the Student Union Building
(SUB)-Room 212.
GRADUATING? NEED A JOB? The llTnTrr_P?_TTTl HT.
iCentro Method Job Networking course BWJ""l"1"i"*lll"',lil'"M""L
teaches you where - and 'how' to find
opportunities in the hidden job market.
Get amazing results! Discount if registering
with a friend. Call for free brochure.
604.684.2275. www.icentro.com
ACCOMODATION NEEDED:
March and April (possibly longei). Pka.se
phone and leave a message.
604.708.0844
LPI / EXPERIENCED ACADEMIC
COACH, most subjects. 604.222.2164
WORD PROCESSING AND
DICTAPHONE TRANSCRIPTION
services for students and instructors.
Thesis (APA), term papers and tape
interviews. Editing and proofing of
existing papers. Cal! Diane at 465-5524
or email drkalyk@shaw.ca
DO YOU NEED A MATH TUTOR?
Patient Math tutor with MSc and 6 years
tutoring experience. Small groups
welcome. $30/hour. Satisfaction
guaranteed! Call Dan _ (604)742-1723.
CUSTOM ESSAY WRITING - Essay
research help! Professional writers
available at www.essayexperts.ca
6048731688
EXPERIENCED ENGLISH TUTOR,
UBC area, 604.222.21.4
___^_______E____J
TUTOR WANTED LOOKING FOR A
TUTOR FOR BUSI452. Will pay cask
Please phone Bryan at 604.377.8324. or
e-mail me at pacificorca@telus.net Would
like tutor to review written assignments
(weekly) by e-mail.
SCORE POINTS WITH MOM &
DAD! They will really like this Kits
accommodation for their Vancouver visit.
www.cherubinn.com
2 BED AND DEN, 2 BATH
APARTMENT IN UNIVERSITY
VILLAGE available for subletting from
March 1st to August 31st. You do not
have to occupy for the whole time. Pardy
furnished, fireplace and water included in
rent, rent is $2100 a month. Washer-dryer I
and dishwasher included. Call Anna or
Rebecca for more information on 604-
221-1785 (Anna) or 604-224-0098
(Rebecca) or email luckie85@candw.ky or
mimento2001@yahoo.ca.
FOR RENE 2 BEDROOM GRND
LEVEL SUITE. 1 or 2 female students
pre£ Dunbar area. Sophie. 604-228-
9207.
ciflssiriiDS
FOB STUDENTS!
ft ft looWno br iroqhtmateR ft
-yyjy Got something 10 sell? ft
Or (list liaue an announcement to make?
If you are a student, you can place
j i - ciassifieds Im ft ^
For more information, visit
Boom 23 in the Stir
ft ; (basement] or call 822-1651
pit I sixtft annual n#/v writing: contest: Is nows
^IplicalHQri W $rjgirja| f ietidri;; riort-f fctiortftftft:
anp^
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.'..if!-.-!.
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$Ht
ne saves zx
Over 500 people wait for organ transplants every year in BC and only
about 100 to 200 people receive the
organ they need. The waiting list can
extend from seven to ten years; some
die before they make it to the top of
the list But this year, UBC Pharmacy
students lave made the odds better
for those who are waiting.
UBC student Ann Wong, together
with the Kidney Foundation of
Canada, organised a contest to sign
up new organ donors and reduce the
waiting list Each person who agrees
to be a donor can save as many as
eight lives with the organs that they
give, said Pauline Buck of the Kidney
Foundation of Canada—the contest is
called the One Saves Eight Award.
Jag Deol, a UBC Pharmacy student organised a team that signed
up 46 new registrants, the equivalent
of 368 lives, said Buck Deol, along
with Dean of Pharmacy Robert
Sindelar will receive the award
today.
Grad school decides
In an election remarkably devoid of ~
controversy, the next executive of the
Graduate Student Society (GSS), the
student group that represents graduate students on campus, has been
decided.
Carey Hill won the presidency
unopposed and incumbent Josh
Caulkins remained VP Academic
and External. Lihe Zhang defeated
Jennifer Billows and Anthony
Waldron to become next year's VP
Administration and Chen Shen
defeated Phil Orchard to become VP
Finance. Yashar Khalighi was
acclaimed as VP Student Services.
A referendum to make the
Graduate Magazine independent in a
similar structure to the Ubyssey
failed to reach quorum, meaning that
the magazine will remain in the
structure of the GSS.
Megathon honoured
Ubyssey news editors Megan
Thomas and Jonathan Woodward
received the Smdeiit Press Freedom
Award from' the ;CaitaJ_ian
Journalists for Free Expression on
Wednesday. " '; ' ft. 'ft, '
The award honoured the pSir's
contribution to freedom of the press
by using the Freedom of Information
Act with former news editor Chris
Shepherd to acquire a letter that was
sent from Martha Piper's office to the
provincial government shortly
before striking teaching assistants
were legislated back to work. Some
have argued that this letter was the
agent that ended the strike.
The story, entitled "The Piper
Effect/ ran in the September S, 2003
issue of the Ubyssey.
.AMS aquires art
The Alma Mater Society (AMS) has
commissioned a painting by First
Nations artist Lawrence-Paul
Yuxweluptun. The painting may be
a landscape inspired by UBG- and
will join the AMS's art collection.
. Money for the pamfingf which
will cost $ 14,000, wiilcome fraiii an
art acquisition fond,' to whicn students give $ 1500 per year, according
to the results of a student referendum.
The expenditure is part of efforts
made to make the AMS more open
and more accessible to First Nations
students, said Josh Bowman, AMS VP
Administration. ♦
EVENTS^
UBC Improv " A high school reunion," Scarfe 100, Friday Feb. 27,7pm.
Check out this "special" (yes, maybe even in that special way) improv
comedy which promises to mix a little of the past, a little of the pubescent.
Free for members, $2 for non-members. ♦
Cheap Fares? Budget; Hotels?
Advisors Who Gefc Id?
This ain't; your parents' travel agency... jb's yours.
MimygM
|lpttB3OTi
Iftjillii
ftft$2Slf
fills
m£mm>-y&mm.
■ ■ • - . i ■ - " I $1 _T ■*:
4'- -.,. ■ * Sal (F i
|i.t/.|.-
i :»:«5:-fri *^v-
'it! ii:- t r c:*\\
568 Ounsmuir SC.
(604)806.4040
1191 Davie St . 109-1965 W. 4fch Ave.
(604) 685.4066 (604) 739.6001
online >> on the phoae >> oncsmpu/ >> on ths /theet
www.statravel.com PAGE FRIDAY
Friday, February 27,2004
■the iiby ssey Wagaiiii« .■'
NEWS
UBC's medical ethics questioned
Review reveals some patients may not have been warned of risks
by Megan Thomas
NEWS EDITOR
UBC officials scrambled into damage control mode yesterday after
two major newspapers ran frontpage stories saying the university
broke Canadian ethical rules and
failed to warn some patients of
the dangers of medical experiments and drug trials.
The National Post and The
Vancouver Sun ran stories alleging UBC broke ethical rules on 523
projects because it did not employ
a professional ethicist, approved
projects using just a summary
rather than the entire protocol and
failed to adequately inform
patients of potential cancer or
infertility risks.
"We have to have a new look at
the protection of the public interest in Canada for people who go
into research trials,* said Patricia
Baird, a UBC medical genetics professor and ethics expert.
But Baird also said UBC is not
alone in the struggle to conduct
ethical medical research.
"There are some major problems across the country in terms
of appropriate oversight of clinical
trials,* she said. "I think it would
be useful for most universities to
have a good look and have an
external review.*
The university's ethical breach
was revealed through a 2001
external review ordered by UBC
VP Research Indira Samarasekera.
But Samarasekera said the review
was not a reaction to concerns
about patient safety.
"I was concerned that the
administrative support was inadequate,* she said. "I wanted to
make sure that we were completely compliant and, if possible, that
we exceeded the standards that
were expected of us.*
UBC did not notify Health
Canada about the breach until
March of 2002, but Samarasekera
said the delay was because UBC
did not receive a written report
until August of 2001 and had to
assess the results.
"Until we received the official
report, all we had was a verbal
indication and it was inappropriate for us to write to Health
Canada when [we] didn't have a
written document,* she said.
The Post and The Sun also said
UBC began the review by looking
at industry-sponsored trials, and
alleged that the university was
"We have to have
a new look at the
protection of the
public interest in
Canada for people
who go into
research trials"
—Patricia Baird
UBC genetics professor
and ethics expert
more concerned about research
dollars than patient safety.
But industry-sponsored trials
often involve experimental drugs
and are the most dangerous for
patients, prompting UBC to reassess those studies first, said
Samarasekera.
"There was a greater risk to
patients that were enrolled in
industry funded trials,* she said,
adding that only 12 per cent of
UBC research is industry
sponsored.
UBC also receives much of its
$3 70 million in research funding
from federal government agencies. Samarasekera said she does
not believe the breach will affect
the relationship UBC has with
those agencies.
"They have been very pleased
with how open and how responsive we have been with respect to
fixing what no doubt is a serious
problem,' she said.
Health Canada spokesperson
Jirina Vlk said that each project is
assessed individually for merit
and that the breach will not affect
future funding for UBC.
Health Canada is satisfied with
the steps UBC took to rectify the
problem, but would have preferred the university not be in that
position, said Vlk.
"They should be in compliance
with the laws to begin with,* she
said.
Samarasekera did apologise to
the public for any stress the
incomplete protocol may have
caused.
"We certainly regret any loss of
confidence in UBC that the public
or the community might have
experienced as a result of this situation,* she said. "But we would
like to assure people that no
patient was put at risk. They may
not have been informed of the
risk, but they were not put. at risk*
Only two of the studies
required patients to sign new consent forms after the review.
Samarasekera said all patients
have been contacted and re-
consented. ♦
"Yes means yes, no
means no. Whatever we
wear, wherever we go"
Women gathered Wednesday night for the first-
ever campus Take Back the Night march, an
annual rally held in Vancouver where women
march in solidarity and walk in safety without
men. The event was organised by the Sexual
Assault Support Centre (SASC) on campus and
included speakers, a march and a vigil. x
Veronica Fynn and Brenda Ogembo offered
cross-cultural experiences and related them to
the UBC campus, noting that women cannot
take safety for granted even at UBC.
One out of every two women in Canada
have been physically or sexually assaulted at
least once and 4 7 per cent of women in BC will
be sexually assaulted in their lifetime.
Lisa Lafreniere, Sexual Assault Support
Centre coordinator, put out a challenge: Tve
done five years of anti-violence work. I challenge all of you to put me out of a job."
i
r
■■:.. »\\
Arts Undergraduate Society in deficit position this year
Overdrawn account
means every transaction
is examined closely
by Lori Leung
NEWS WRITER
The new Meekison Arts Space and an off
year for Arts County Fair revenues has
pushed the Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS)
$47,000 into the red financially this year.
"The AUS is in debt because we are currently paying back money in installments
for the Meekison Arts Students Space. This
takes out a large chunk of money we would
generally use for student services and other
events we like to put on for Arts students,"
said AUS VP Finance Anne Maftei.
Because the AUS is in a deficit position,
they must rely on Alma Mater Society ^AMS)
VP Finance Brian Duong's scrutiny of their
expenses. The AMS is allowing the AUS to
overdraw their account, but Duong must
approve every check written—meaning
money is exchanged more slowly.
"This is typical procedure. [It] usually
results in cheques taking
an extra day to be available, but allows for some
extra scrutiny," said
Duong.
The AMS acts as a liaison between all clubs and
student societies and the
bank by providing them
with accounts that are
monitored by the AMS.
Both the Commerce and engineering
Undergraduate Societies have been in debt
in the past, added Duong.
"This is not unusual so long as the situation is deemed to be temporary. In the case
of constituencies such as Arts, it is definitely temporary as they are guaranteed student
fees every year,* explained Duong.
Constituencies like Arts, with more than
11,000 members, receive approximately 80
per cent of their $13 per-student levy in
September. The rest is settled at the end of
DUONG
the academic year.
"These large constituencies will typically
budget to spend their entire anticipated revenues given the amount of students they
have, but do not receive all the money in
their accounts until the end of the year,"
-aid Duong.
The AUS has not implemented any drastic rueasures to remedy the situation and.
\\i Ls County Fair will happen as usual this
year. But the society has cut down on spending, including reducing the number of free
events for students, said Maftei.
"The AUS is continuing to operate as
usual. We have always been conscious of
how much money we spend on our events
and services and this has not changed," she
said.
The AUS is also in a deficit position
because of a $40,000 grant from the Dean
of Arts that will not be transferred to the
AUS until invoices for expenses are submitted, said AUS President Chris Payne.
Dean Nancy Gallini said she believes the
AUS is working hard to engage Arts students
in the university community and wanted to
support some intellectual initiatives that the
society could not afford otherwise.
"I was so impressed by the Meekison
Lounge initiative that, at the opening, I
announced for $20,000 to be set aside to
the AUS for intellectual activities in support
of their new space. During [2003's] Imagine
Week, I put aside another $20,000 to
enhance the undergraduate experience,"
said Gallini.
Maftei said once she knows the expenses
to be paid with the dean's money, she will
submit a report on the AUS spending.
"The dean's grant money has not yet
been transferred because we chose to pay
for all dean-funded events up front. The
money will be transferred once I get a final
number of how much the AUS needs to be
reimbursed,* explained Maftei.
Despite the financial troubles, Duong is
not concerned that the AUS will have financial troubles in the future.
"The AMS is confident that the AUS will
find itself out of the deficit situation by
year's end," said Duong.
Payne also recognises that the AUS "must
make sure in the future to be a little more
responsible with the money." ♦ h
NEWS
tKf 'uifssef: tnliailii:
PAGE FRIDAY
Friday, February 27,2004
Chiropractic...
The Choice For Me
Melissa Banyai is a Third-year student from Windsor, Ontario
Canada. She graduated from the University pf Windsor with a
Bachelor of Science degree in Human Kinetics achieving
honours status each of her four years.
Melissa explored several schools before choosing Logan.
She chose Logan because of the hands on approach, diversity
of the program and the knowledge of the staff. "The
Admissions staff is extremely knowledgeable about Canadian
issues, the program is excellent and the campus is beautiful.
What more could you ask for?"
After graduation, Melissa plans to open a multidisciplinary
practice offering traditional chiropractic care, rehabilitation
and acupuncture. "The chiropractic field has many options
and specialties that interest me, the possibilities for helping
patients through chiropractic care are endless!"
Logan College offers students an incredible learning
environment blending a rigorous chiropractic program
with diverse and active student population. If you are
looking for a healthcare career that offers tremendous
personal satisfaction, professional success and income
commensurate with your position as a Doctor of -'
Chiropractic, contact Logan College of Chiropractic
today and explore your future.
1? rtpMn-I^Wo-53-3-9|ip
_M".M._f- ^-^ ______.wwM-^ft ""ft wu__a_ l/irian ariif -
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AMS election upheld
Senate lets Board election stand
By Dan Burritt
NEWS STAFF
Closure, after more than a month of
waiting, has come to the 2004 Alma
Mater Society (AMS) elections.
Four weeks and two appeals after
the January AMS elections, Brian
Duong and Mia Amir have been officially elected as the UBC Board
of Governors (BoG) student
representatives.
The Senate elections committee,
the final authority on student elections, decided Wednesday to uphold
the original results of the BoG election ratter than hold a re-race.
"The committee found that there
were irregularities in the conducting
of the election, but the committee
was not convinced that these materially affected the final results," UBC
Elections Officer Eric Smith wrote
in an e-mail announcing the
Committee's decision.
"The committee is recommending that it. Enrolment Services and
the AMS work together this spring to
streamline elections procedures,"
Smith added.
When informed, of the result,
Duong said he was pleased with the
verdict
"I am a happy man. I'm glad it is
over," he said.
Duong's and Amir's initial victories were invalidated by AMS
Elections Administrator Anthony
Waldron because of evidence that
race results were leaked during the
elections. Waldron said this information could have resulted in an
advantage during campaigning.
Duong appealed Waldron's ruling
and William Pak, Chief Justice of the
Student Court, overturned
Waldron's decision.
Third-place BoG candidate
Olivier Plessis then appealed
Justice Pak's ruling, sending the
decision to the Senate elections
committee.
With the committee's ruling,
Duong and Amir will sit as BoG representatives for the 2004-2005
school year.
Amir said she was happy with the
committee's decision, but expressed
disappointment with the AMS elections system and the appeals
process.
"I feel that the process was lacking integrity in terms of seeking real
justice in the elections," he said,
Plessis, defeated by the final
appeal, said, "I am confident that a
fair decision was made. I'm happy
it's over and I'm'glad to see some
closure on it."
But Plessis did note his concern
about the nature of the AMS elections and appeals process and said
he hopes that the system will be
reformed.
"I hope the investigation of the
leaks of the [elections] results and
other irregularities are not swept
under the rug," he said. ♦
Landmine-detecting plant?
STARTS FRIDAY FEBRUARY 27™ AT A THEATRE NEAR YOU!
Check www.tribute.ca for Locations & Showtimes
by Ross Moroz
THE GATEWAY
EDMONTON (CUP)-A research
team at the University of Alberta (U
of A) is collaborating with Canadian
arid American military agencies to
produce landmine-detecting plants.
The team, led by U of A Biological
Sciences Professor Dr Michael
Deyholos, hopes to alter the genetic
structure of a plant in a way that
would cause it to change colour if
TNT is present in the soil. The plan
is to modify receptors on the roots
of a plant so that those receptors
would respond to some of the compounds present in TNT, helping soldiers on humanitarian and peacekeeping missions to - clear
minefields.
The research is funded by
Defense Research and Development
Canada (DRDC), the research and
development arm of the Canadian
Forces. DRDC has granted the team
$ 150,000 over two years to conduct
a feasibility study.
"Everyone knew we couldn't
[produce a plant] in two years," said
Deyholos, "We were only supposed
to find out if it was possible and we
think it is."
The idea for the project came
from Dr Anthony Faust, a U of A
alumnus who works for DRDC at
Canadian Forces Base, Suffield.
Faust was inspired by an American
plan to use plants to detect heavy
metals on the surface of Mars. He
theorised that a similar process
could be used to detect the compounds found in explosive
landmines.
The U of A project has since
caught the attention of the Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency
(DARPA), the American Military's
research and development firm.
While DARPA is not contributing
any funding to the project at this
point, the U of A team is cooperating
with an American group funded by
DARPA.
"DARPA funds way-out, weird
stuff—they are probably the basis for
. the X-Files," laughed Deyholos, who
described a DARPA brainstorming
session he attended as "very
strange."
According to the organisation's
website, DARPA "pursues research
and technology where risk and payoff are both very high and where
success may provide dramatic
advances for traditional military
roles and missions."
"[DARPA] believes that if more
than ten per cent of its projects are
successful, they are not thinking
radically enough," explained
Deyholos.
DARPA was created in 1958 as a
response to the Soviet Union's
launching of the Sputnik satellite
and has conducted highly secretive,
defense-oriented research ever
since, including the creation of
ARPAnet, a forerunner of the
Internet, in 1968.
While DRDC and Deyholos maintain that their research is obviously
intended to be used for humanitarian purposes, the involvement of the
ultra-secretive and military-centric
DARPA raises the prospect of the U of
A team's findings being used for less
altruistic purposes. For instance,
Deyholos remembers one DARPA
meeting where someone wondered
aloud whether or not "we could make
plants that attack people."
When questioned about the ethical implications of partnering with
an American military organisation,
Deyholos remained pragmatic.
"Knowledge is neutral; what you
do with it can be good or evil," he
asserted. "Scientists can try to imagine all the possible applications of
their work, but in the end they are
not responsible." ♦ F
PAGE FRIDAY
Friday, February 27,2004
^lf'lifsiff^rtaiiiwnfft;
NEWS
Ubyssey called to task for Pit Pub article
Editorial staff meet
with the AMS safety
committee
by Megan Thomas
NEWS EDITOR
An expose of the Pit Pub featured in the
February 10 edition of the Ubysseyhas resulted in calls for a retraction of the article and a
meeting with the Alma Mater Society (AMS)
safety committee.
Hie K&jsseyreceived a letter calling for the
retraction on February 12 signed by several
individuals and campus groups calling the
article "offensive" and saying it 'succeeded in
undoing years of safety awareness work by various committed campus members."
Next, the Ubyssey was invited to hear
the concerns of the safety committee
on Tuesday.
"It seemed more like it was an editorial
than an article," Tyler Bryant, AMS Safewalk
coordinator and member of the safety committee told Ubyssey staff members. "It really
normalised just going up and grabbing
a girl."
According to Ubyssey Features Editor
Heather, Pauls, the article was an "eye-witness-
account pf. what happens on an
: ..."jftU
"a . " *
_ .«. » * *
WW'.1/.
average Pit night"
The article interviews several patrons at a
Wednesday Pit night who describe their reasons for going to the Pit
Answers included men saying, "If you want
to get laid you go to the Pit," and that they go
because "there are lots of ladies there."
Physical violence including breaking glass
over a patron's face and excessive alcohol consumption were also mentioned.
Ubyssey News Editor Jonathan Woodward
defended the article to the safely committee,
saying, "We didn't make this up. We thought
these quotes were pretty outrageous. They
speak for themselves."
Woodward added that the Ubyssey must
also be free to honestly report issues on campus without fear of who it may offend.
But Brenda Ogembo, AMS VP Academic-
elect and safely committee member said that
press freedom also carries responsibility.
"A big part of freedom is responsibility,"
she said, adding that the Ubyssey needs to be
more sensitive when reporting about issues
regarding campus safety. "It is a very, very slippery slope."
Other members of the safety committee
expressed concern about the tone and balance
of the article, saying it condoned the actions of
the persons quoted, which might discourage
victims of sexual assault from coming forward.
They were also concerned about a photo caption reading "Bump and Grind: Girls only go to
the Pit for the great tunes...cough," saying it
was "heterosexist* and demeaning to women.
The writer of the article Tessa King said she
welcomes the concerns of the safety committee and the debate it has created. But she also
said she intended the article to be entertaining
and satirical, something that she feels is
LOOK, PEOPLE DANCING! The caption
appearing under this photo in its original
publication sparked some debate.
MELISSA ROHDE/UBYSSEY FILE PHOTO
appropriate because of her confidence in safety at the Pit
"Humour only comes through confidence,"
she said. - * ^
While he said issues around sex and violence need to be treated with sensitivity,
Canadian University Press President Craig
Battle says the student press has a responsibility to report on campus issues as it
sees them.
"The role of the student press is to act as a
mirror of campus," he said. "[The Pit article]
encouraged debate and that is part of the role
of the student press."
All members of the press must also ensure
that they are not self-censoring to avoid offending members of the public, said Stephen Ward,
a UBC journalism professor and ethics expert
"If in fact you start not writing about some
stuff because of possible consequences...in
general that is really dangerous," he said. "That
doesn't mean, however, that you shouldn't
think about, when you write the piece, [how]
can we minimise any potential misunderstandings, or minimise any potential harm."
Ward added that no article is perfect and
that the Ubyssey piece could have had more
balanced views, but that the article was not
, unethical as long as it accurately portrayed the
Pit patrons.
He added that newspapers often have to
write about offensive attitudes.
"As reporters, we cover people with offensive attitudes all over the place." ♦
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Beyond: Ggoglei Leaiii (Q search the net:
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IParty People Wanted
Are you a social butterfly? Do you have a large network of friends on-campus? Here is your
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Are you seeking a venue to hold your next fundraiser or party?
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FEATURE
-tie uifis«f; magsi||»2;f
'AGE FRIDAY
■ Friday, February 27,2004
THE TUITION CONSUMPTION IS UNDERWAY
You are invited to participate!
Open Forum on Tuition
with University Representatives
March 3, 6:30 pm
Place Vanier Commons Block
March 4/11 am -12 noon
SUB Conversation Pit
March 4, 6:30 pm
■■■■;'■■■■■■■■ ■\\;-Magda's Lounge
Totem Park Commons Block
Express your views at: tuition@interchange.ubc.ca
C'mon, I know you wanna wrife some culture.
C'mon... do it. Do it.
Do it.
Meets: Tuesdays @ 2prn
^ft"ftftft:;ftft;rft:ftSu&'Rm^2|:
i cu)ture@ubyssey.bc.ca
Help the 2004 Grad Class Council
Choose a Gift for UBC
This year, the GCC would like to consider funding proposals for the
following grad gift criteria:
♦ Something that supports social justice initiatives
♦ Something that supports sustainability
♦ Something we can feel proud of
♦ Something creative
♦ Something that can support volunteer programs on campus
Note: the grad gift of 2004 should adhere to a minimum of 3 out of the 5 specified criteria.
Hopefully, with your help, we can put our money towards something
really meaningful this year. The deadline for receipt of a project proposal
and budget is Wednesday, March 3rd. Forms can be picked up from Val
Levens in the SUB, Room 238.
Dr Fabio Rossi's research dri adult stem
cells is groundbreaking- But what will
this mean for medicine?
v
*«
*
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'*
from page 1.
for offspring. The green stem cell and its progeny could then be easily traceable against the
background of the otherwise normal mouse.
Adrienne Lee is a medical student at UBC
who worked on Rossi's project for over a year
after completing her BSc. Her main task in the
project was to design the staining protocol for
the stein cells. She discusses the reasons for the
success of the experiment
"Prior to when we started this project, people
would inject a lot of stem cells—like a million or
ten thousand stem cells—but the problem with
that is that even within the stem cell population
there's different types of stem cells. So the way
we did it is we would inject only one stem eel."
The moment of discovery occurred when
green muscle cells started appearing in the
mice, showing that the adult stem cells injected,
previously believed to be only capable of
producing blood, were somehow creating
muscle cells.
"This led to the theory,' says Rossi, "that perhaps there was population of bone marrow cells
that was capable of repairing more than just the
blood." He leans back once more in his chair,
smiles and spreads^out his hands. "And what
does this mean? Wei, it's completely unclear."
The chaUenge now faced by scientists is
determining exactly how the blood stem cells
are able to make muscle. Once this is known, the
possibility of reproducing the process in order
to design regenerative theories wil be very real.
Currently, there is a face-off between two principal theories that claim to account for the
phenomenon. Watch out—this could get ugly.
Theory 1: changing identities
The first is the transdifferentiation theory.
According to this theory, Rossi explains, a eel
"can stil be convinced to change its destiny
when there is a need for a specific tissue." A
damaged tissue wil release a signal asking for
help and the blood stem eel responds by sending over muscle eels. "They don't have to be a
blood eel anymore; they can participate in
repairing this other tissue because there is a
need," says Rossi.
"I believe that human
life is a sacred gift from
our Creator/'
—George W. Bush
US President
This theory seems plausible, ably accounting
for the change in eel type, but it does not
account for the whole picture. For instance, if
this is a designed physiological mechanism,
activated for an express purpose, why is it
so rare?
"You'd expect it to work a little better," comments Rossi. Cells go on damaged in the human
body in huge numbers, a fact evidenced by muscular dystrophy and Alzheimer's disease, both
degenerative diseases currently without efficient reparative therapies. Due to its rarity, scientists such as Rossi suspect that the mechanism is perhaps not a regular physiological
mechanism, but something entirely different
Theory
mistake
2: evolution's fortunate
The other theory, and the only one that Rossi
personally advocates, asserts that the phenomenon is not a physiological mechanism, but a mistake, a biological anomaly. "It's a mistake that
doesn't have any major disadvantages so it
hasn't been selected against during evolution,"
he explains.
This 'mistake' most likely consists of events
of eel fusion in which a eel circulates, reaching
more or less everywhere compliments -of the
bloodstream, and bumps into a damaged eel
and fuses into it, assuming the identity of the
damaged eel.
"Indeed it seems that this supposed 'plasitic-
ity is probably due to eel fusion," says Rossi. "A
scientist says, 'Hey! I transplanted eel A and I
found eel B. That means eel A turned into eel
B!' But that turns but to be: eel A fused into
eel B. And that's a big difference."
If the production of muscle cells by adult
stem cells is indeed a biological "mistake" (a
freak fusion event), it wil make it more difficult
for scientists to isolate and put to use for regenerative therapies
"It's a "mistake. How do you improve a
mistake?"
But whether the change from blood eel to
muscle eel is a physiological mechanism or evolution's fortunate mistake, the possibilities it
presents in terms of regenerative therapies
remain the same.
Toward medical applications
Stephane Corbel, a UBC post-doctoral student, has worked on Rossi's team since the outset, deeply involved in the design and carrying
out of the experiment. At the moment, his
thoughts are focused on designing methods
to further investigate the true nature of the
mechanism,hopefuly moving towards possible
medical applications.
The objective of Rossi's team is to isolate the
way in which a stem eel operates in order to
design an efficient system to use adult stem' eel
plasticity for therapeutic purpjses, says Corbel.'
"If you could track which type dfblood eels [turn
into muscle eels], that might help us make a better system to improve the jrocess, because
[right now] we have very low efficiency.
Adult stem cells are already used for reparative uses, but such uses are limited;
For muscular dystrophy patients, Rossi
explains, the treatment currejitly used—injecting stem cells into the damaged muscle—is arduous and inefficient "The problem is that when
you inject the stem cells into the muscle, they
never realy go very far from the injection
tract...even doing hundred and hundreds of
injections the efficiency is not sufficient"
The treatment of heart disease could also
benefit from Rossi's research:* At present, adult
stem cells can only be used to repair the organ
from which they originate. This presents a problem, as there exists no adult stem eels of the
heart in the human body.
Theoreticaly, if the nature of the adult stem
eel plasticity were to be completely uncovered,
the new muscle eels produced could be directed
towards repairing the tissue damaged by both
muscular dystrophy and heart disease.
Such medical applications, however, insists
Rossi, are years down the line.
"The jury is not out but theie is absolutely no
guarantee. Although I am optimistic, I cannot in
al honesty say, 'Oh, we'l have it in five years.'
It's in my interest to say, 'Yesl Adult stem cells
are the best thing, give me al the funding!' But,
quite honestly, I can't do that*
The embryonic vs. aduft stem cell
debate
It is impossible to utter the words 'stem eel'
these days without immediate connotations of
enraged religious groups and heated ethical
controversy. The debate surrounding embryonic
stem eel research is now so livid that it is difficult to approach the topic without fear of causing
offense. Just turn on CNN or climb out of the
hole you've been living in if you have any doubt
as to this fact
Since Rossi's discovery, adult stem eels have
been brought to the forefront of the debate.
Those against embryonic stem eel research
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MICHELLE MAYNE/UBYSSEY FILE PHOTO
;<_aim that destroying embryos is now unnecessary in light of the recent advancements—a
Claim which Rpssi regards as not only erroneous, but also designed to serve a political and
not a scientific purpose.
'In my opinion, that's
where We'll end up
eventually. We'll be able
to take a cell and repro-
gram it into another
cell and then use that
cell to repair whatever/
—Dr Fabio Rossi
UBC scientist
"The idea is that if you have an adult stem eel
that can do the same thing as an embryonic
stem eel, then why would you not take the
adult stem eels that can be given by an
informed person with consent versus destroying the embryo to get the embryonic stem cells
out?" he says. Sounds good, but, Rossi explains,
embryonic stem eel research, according to current scientific knowledge, is more likely to give
rise to a successful therapeutic application twenty years sooner than adult stem eel research.
"They have hyped the stem eel plasticity
beyond, in my opinion, [what] they have done
because they want to use that as a very strong
argument not to look at embryonic stem cells,"
says Rossi. "It is used by people with a' specific
political agenda...to reduce the importance of
embryonic stem cell research"—a field that he
claims is the brightest hope at the moment for
patients of Parkinson's and heart disease.
When science meets George W.
Bush
It is common knowledge that new embryonic
stem eel lines have been banned in the US
under the guidance of President George W.
Bush. This ban, Rossi argues, is not for the benefit of science. Ironicaly, it is only hurting the
US, as researchers leave for Canada, Australia
and the UK where their research is legal.
Rossi's research isn't affected, however, as it
does hot involve embryonic stem eels. But this
does not stop him from expressing his utter lack
of support for the ban, which he says has no scientific grounds and prevents important
research in the US. As stated in the letter to
President Bush protesting the ban, with signatories including groups as diverse as the American
Foundation for AIDS Research, Hope for ALS
and the Association of American Universities,
"The discovery pf [embryonic] stem eels may be
the single most important scientific and medical
breakthrough in the past decade or more. This
could impact the lives of millions of Americans
suffering from many of humanity's most devastating illnesses, including Alzheimer's disease,
ALS, heart disease, cancers, spinal cord injury
and diabetes."
The future of stem cell research
Rossi's research has put the possibility of
discovering groundbreaking medical uses with
adult stem cells on the map for the first time.
But for the mpment, he insists, the embryonic
stem eel research banned by President Bush is
certainly the mosj promising route towards a
successful reparative therapy.
Importantly, Rossi's research also marks a
significant step towards what could be the ultimate goal of stem eel research: the possibility
of nuclear eel reprogramming.
"In my opinion, that's where we'l end up
eventually. We'l be able to take a eel and
reprogram it into another eel and then use
that eel to repair whatever," he says. "Once we
start understanding how the reprogramming
takes place, we can start playing around with it
ourselves."
For now, such an understanding seems distant in a constantly evolving field of theories
and discoveries.
"The public thinks that the text book is holy
and can't be changed and is the Truth, with a
capital T. There is no such thing in science," says
Rossi. Outside his office door, the lab hums. "It
is the truth today, it's the working model...but
what's the truth going to be tomorrow?" ♦
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, life: Mbfssef' liiiiailiff
PAGE FRIDAY
Friday, February 27,2004
3
From Red Lodge to Sugarloaf
Alpine ski team
takes Regionals
by Wilson Wong
SPORTS STAFF
Paul Boskovich is adamant that all of
the DBC Alpine Ski Team members
studied hard this week before heading out to Maine. But one wonders
how much studying could have been
accomplished by the Ski-Birds after
the excitement of winning the"
Western Regipn Championship last
weekend in Red Lodge, Montana.
Taking to the hills Thursday with
out Captain Stephanie Rodenkirchen,
the UBC women showed that they
were still a force as rookie Andrea
Lustenberger placed second in the
giant slalom. A superb sixth-place
performance from Rim Webber and
a respectable 18th place from Joanna
Rosenfeld cemented a third-place finish for the team, heading into
Saturday's slalom.
Racing with their normal line-up
for the first time in a couple of weeks,
the UBC men took home second on
Friday. Trevor Bruce didn't miss a
beat after returning from injury as he
took fourth. Teammates Paul
Boskovich and Nathan Crompton
also placed among the ten best and
those results put UBC second in the
men s team standings.
Both teams needed to ensure a
top-four finish overall to win a trip to
the Nationals but neither team let up
on Saturday. Another second place
finish from Lustenberger, this time
in the slalom, gave her the overall
individual gold medal. Fellow rookie
Shelane Wiseman and Webber were
UBC's other top finishers and their
results gave them win on Saturday
and the silver medal in the overall
team standings.
News of the performance got home
quick. "When we called injured ladies
captain Stephanie Rodenkirchen in
Vancouver, she was in tears. There has
been a lot of hard work this season to
get to this point and she has been a
huge part of it,* said Boskovich.
Inspired by their counterparts,
the UBC men came out and defended
their regional championship on
Saturday. Bruce finished in second,
Crompton in fifth and Boskovich in
seventh, overpowering all other
teams. However, the best performance may have come from
UBC's Norwegian import, Alexander
Boedtker. He crashed into a fence
the day before and had to get some
work done on his face, but the next
day he came out and finished 12th.
"For both teams it was a total team
effort; Andrea Lustenberger and
Trevor Bruce were our real leaders
on the hill but you can't have top individuals without a strong supporting
cast. The youngsters like Nathan
Crompton and Shelane Wiseman
stepped up in Montana, improving
on their conference results. When
you get solid performances from the
. rookies it takes pressure off the top
dogs," added Boskovich.
Both teams head off to Sugarloaf
Mountain, Maine for the National
Championships, taking place March
1-6. UBC's men finished in fifth last
year at the Nationals while the
women finished 12th. This time, the
teams may be bringing home more
than just great memories. ♦
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Cups
overflowing
Nprdic skiers finish up a" stellar
regular season
TOP HONOURS: Mike Koehle {left) took a first place ranking in
the masters division, photo courtesy of pamela syposz
s by Jesse Marchand
SPORTS EDITOR
"It was actually the best [meet] I've
Kad since I left high school," said
Nordic skier Davey Mitchell of his
fifth place finish in the junior
men's ten km and third place team
finish in the relay event at this
year's BC Cup championships.
The last team event of the year,
the championships were held in
Vernon on the 15th of February.
The event featured a men's ten km,
women's five km, freestyle relays
and an awards banquet which
placed UBC third among all club
teams in the province.
"We definitely had a really good
year," said «UBC skier Pamela
Syposz. "We had a couple of guys that
were really strong and dominated a
couple races," she added, referring to
team stars Greg Egan and Luke
Heckrodt who not only had strong
individual finishes but also took their
team to a third place finish in the junior men's freestyle relay.
"You can't talk about one without talking about the other," added
Mitchell.
Other results were also strong.
In individual placing, Michael
McMillan took the top UBC honours in the junior men's category
with a fourth place finish in the
ten km. For the senior men's ten
km it was Egan and Heckrodt who
not suprisingly took second and
fourth respectively. The top master men's UBC skier Was Mike
Koehle—rated first in the region—
in third place.
And, although his finish wasn't
high, Jon Pellicelli skied to 12th
place in the ten km with a broken
pole, managing to beat his previous
ten km record by three seconds.
For the women, Susan Vanduijl
took second in the senior women's
: five km with graduating Kathryn
Fairweather just missing the third
place podium by one second.
Jessica Hanson and Syposz rounded
out the master women's category
with a fifth and sixth place finish.
"Saturday definitely wasn't my
best race, but I had a good one
Sunday," said Syposz, whose team
finished in sixth place in the
freestyle relay and was honoured
with second place in the league at
the aggregate awards banquet.
Egan and Heckrodt also managed
the first and second place awards
for being the best full-time student
skiers.
r Now that the official season is
over, one meet remains: the
Nationals. Held in Charlo, New
Brunswick, the team is only able to
send four skiers this year and they
will be Roger McMillan, Egan,
Heckrodt and Syposz. The
Nationals run from March 14-21. ♦
Fortin the star of UBC hockey team
Women's ice hockey season finishes on the slow road to success
by Jesse Marchand
SPORTS EDITOR
Sometimes things just don't go the
way you want them to. But for the
Thunderbirds women's hockey
team, six losses in the first six
games didn't mean giving up.
On November 14, the Birds
recorded the first win of the season
facing off against the University of
Manitoba. It was their first win in 2 5
games after last year's season boasted only one win. But the Birds
weren't happy with the win/feeling
that they'd played stronger in
other games.
That weekend Manitoba also
-broke a losing streak, beating the
Birds 1-3 on game two of the weekend double-header. The Birds' next
win came on November 22 with
SO LONG: Lady ice-season ends, peter klesken/ubyssey file photo
graduating goaltender Lucie Fortin
blocking 35 shots from the
Lethbridge Pronghorns. While this
game put them into playoff position,
the next four losses made it a stretch.
The end of January saw the T-
Birds become a much better team,
recording three of their five wins all
season. And even though they didn't
make the playoffs this year they had
some things to smile about
"I think it was generally positive
overall," said Coach Dave Newson.
"We made some real positive strides
in regard to our culture around our
team and I think that paid some dividends on the scoreboard in the
second term."
But the team was still defensively
weak, allowing the most shots on
goal in the CIS league. The wins they
did celebrate were mostly thanks to
goalie Fortin who recorded two shutouts and a .930 save percentage. For
her last contribution to university
sport, she has been invited to goal-
tend for the CIS all-star game.
While the team will miss her next
year. Coach Newson is still confident
in the remaining players' abilities.
"Our future is in front of us a bit
more than other teams," said
Newson pointing to the fact that
strong teams this year "may be
going into turnover" next year.
But if they want to make the playoffs next year the Birds will have to
work on scoring chances. They only
recorded 23 goals compared to 138
scored by the number one Alberta
Pandas in their regular season
this year.
Hockey playoffs conclude on
March 9, with Alberta the
favourite after recording an undefeated season. ♦
■srONIVpittP BY,
Israel Advocacy Ciubs of UBC, SFU and Langara, Random House Canada, UBC Jewish
Students' Association, UBC Young Conservatives, Nations Jewish Campus life
F6fm0^m
Swuxm SHAMtt^ss
Come to room
23 SUB to
recieve a
complimentary
double pass to
SriowWalker
Monday,
March 1,
7:00PM
at Cineplex
Odeon
Granville.
OPENS IN
THEATRES
MARCH 5
Earn $25 in 20 minutes
§ot20 Minutea? §et$25
Research Study Will Pay for Interviews
We would like to interview non-
francophone university students who have
studied core/basic French in Canadian
schools.
We are interested ONLY in your core/basic
French experiences, not French immersion
nor French in a first language setting. You do
not need to be taking a French course now.
We will pay $25 each for a limited number
of 15-20 minute telephone interviews with
individuals who meet the criteria.
Please email corefrench@sympatico.ca 1
• lEDITORIAL
THE UBYSSEY
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2004
VOLUME 85 ISSUE 39
EDITORIAL BOARD
COORDINATINGEDITOR
Hywel Tuscano
NEWS EDITORS
Megan Thomas
Jonathan Woodward
CULTURE EDITOR
John Hua
SPORTS EDITOR
Jesse Marchand
FEATURES/NATIONaAL EDITOR
Heather Pauls
PHOTO EDITOR
Michelle Mayne
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Paul Carr
Iva Cheung
COORDINATORS
VOLUNTEERS
Sarah Bourdon
RESEARCH/LETTERS
Bryan Zandberg
Vie Ubyssey is the official student newspaper of the University of
British Columbia. R is published every Tuesday and Friday by The
Ubyssey Publications Society. .- ~ ft
We are an autonomous, democratically run student organisation,
and all students are encouraged to participate.
Editorials are chosen and written by the Ubyssey staff. They are the
expressed opinion of the staff, and do not necessarily reflect fine
views of The, Ubyssey. Publications Society or the University of
British Columbia y
The Ubyssey is a founding, member of Canadian University Press
(CUP) and adheres jib CUpi"guiding principles. _
All editorial content appearing in The Ubyssey is the property ofThe
Ubyssey Publications Society: Stories, opinions, photographs and
artwork, contained herein1 cannot be reproduced without the
expressed, written permission of The Ubyssey Publications Society.
Letters to the editor must be under 300 words. Please include your
phone .number, student number and signature [not for publication)
as well as your year and faculty with ali submissions. ID will be
checked when submissions are dropped off at the editorial office of
The Ubyssey, otherwise verification will be done by phone. The
Ubyssey reserves the right to edit for length and style.
"Perspectives" are opinion pieces over 300 words but under 750
words and'are run according to space. ' ■
"Freestyles" are opinion pieces written by Ubyssey staff members.
Priority will be given to letters and perspectives over freestyles
unless the latter is time sensitive Opinion .pieces will not be run
until the identity of the writer has been verified. The Ubyssey
reserves the right to edit submissions according to length and style.
It is agreed by all persons placing display or classified advertising
that if the Ubyssey Publications Society fails to publish an advertisement or if an'error in ihe ad occurs the liability of the UPS will
not be greater than the price paid for thecal The UPS shall not be
responsible for slight changes or typographical errors that do not
lessen the value or the impact of the ad.
EDITORIAL OFFICE
Room 24, Student Union Building
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tel: 604-822-2301
fax: 604-822-9279
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e-mail: advertising ©ubyssey. be. ca
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T AD SALES
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.AD DESIGN
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Tm firedj* screamed Hywel Tuscano, Alex Leslie,
Dan Burrit, Ke\\_o Saberfr, Megan Thomas, Sarah
Bourdon, Levi Barnett, Heather Pauls, Jenn
Camerbn, Momoko Price, John Hua, Michelle Mayne,
"Laurie Leung, Wilson Wong, Jon Woodward, Dan
McRoberts, Paul Carr, Iva Cheung, Middle Mayne
and Biyan Zandberg in unison. "No masthead
equals no fun at one am," said Jesse Marchand. "But
I'm Hred too.* "
COVER PHOTOS
Levi Barnett
COVER DESIGN
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V
Canadian
University
Press
Canada Post Sales Agreement Number 40376022
Not in our
medicare!?
: the-uttf ssef: fflifaiiiic;
PAGE FRIDAY
Friday, February 27,2004
When it copies to big business influence, aggressive pharmaceutical
companies and sketchy medical
research ethics, Canadians are apt
to brush off the problem as one that
concerns our southern neighbours.
Not here in Canada, we say.
Questionable medical ethics could
never get through those swarthy
Canadian customs officers.
But it is becoming increasingly
apparent that Canada needs to take
a good hard look at its ethical procedures and methods used to
enforce them.
UBC got some unwanted press
this week when documents,
obtained using the Freedom of
Information Act, revealed that for
years the university had not been
properly assessing research protocols and, as a result had not been
infmrri.Ttg patients about significant.
risks like cancer and infertility.
But UBC's woes are really just the
tip of a misguided ethical iceberg in
Canada, an iceberg that threatens to
sink unsuspecting patients as well
as our falsely idealised unsinkable
ship of Healthcare.
While it is important to note that
experimental medicine is a vital
component of the health care system and has brought tangible benefits to millions of lives. The trend
towards Ihe privatisation of
research has also assisted the hiring
or sponsoring of our most brilliant
researchers. But it's also obvious
that research ethics.need to be questioned now more than ever.
The power of pharmaceutical
companies is burgeoning
unchecked in Canada. Ontario
research company Quest Clinical
LE, I „ I. ER.«3:
The Presidents
satire
I am writing in response to .Alex
Leslie's freestyle opinion piece
entitled "A young apathanan
speaks" [the Ubyssey, February 13,
2004.] My speech on High Noon
was meant to be satirical, and to
point out how unaccountable some
Alma Mater Society (AMS) executives have been; I completely agree
with Alex's view that the students'
union has the mandate of "voicing
student thoughts and practising
democracy to its fullest' At the
same lime, executives do get paid
for their positions, and we intend
to work HARD for that money.
Often, students are elected as AMS
executives and enjoy a lavish
lifestyle of free food, cozy offices
and a comfortable salary without
fulfilling their responsibilities to
represent student needs and advocate for students' rights. Some past
executives have managed to even
avoid working their minimum 30
hours per weekl There have to be
safeguards to hold AMS executives
accountable, and this year, I hope
to work on implementing methods
to ensure that the AMS executives
are fulfilling their mandates before
they receive their biweekly
stipends. The incoming executives
all ran for these positions out of
Trials says on its website that patient
recruitment is done using "database
searches of electronic medical
records." There was a day when
medical records were confidential.
Once patients are identified as qualified for a study, their doctor is
approached to solicit the patient's
participation. While participants of
medical studies can not be paid
under Canadian law, doctors are
often romanced with "finder's fees"
of up to $20,000 per patient
Doctors should have the courtesy
to ask patients before sharing confidential medical information with
profit-driven companies. We are
talking about more than just e-mail
addresses here. For example, a New
Brunswick company called Clinicall
answers newspaper ads across
North America and tries to match
patients with suitable trials. Once
they have people signed up they
track patients, reminding them to
get to that appointment or fill out
that diary.
Gosh, that all seems nice and
helpful until you realise that the
receptionists at Clinical], who do not
have to have medical training, but
are simply required to sign one of
those foolproof confidentiality
agreements, have full access to
patients' confidential medical information, like what drugs they are taking and why.
Not to mention the power pharmaceutical companies wield with
doctors these days. In the US, it has
been found that the industry
spends anywhere between $8000
and $13,000 US per physician in
order to ensure that these MDs prescribe their products. While it may
frustration: we were tired of seeing
years of uneven results from the
AMS, with some executives doing a
huge amount of work while other
executives languished in complacency. Prior to attending UBC, I had
served two years in the Langara
Students, Union (LSU), and I still
remember the perception the LSU
had of the UBC AMS: an exclusive,
elite student society smugly seated
in their ivory towers. I believe UBC
students often feel this way as well,
and in the last election, they
demanded change. We believe that
AMS executives need to be more
vocal, involved and active. We have
come to bring the AMS executives
back in touch with UBC students,
and to finally empower UBC students to get involved in their student society.
Regarding the' recent tuition
rally, every incoming executive was
present, and this is the first step
towards active, participation from
the AMS on issues such as tuition.
We are also laying down the
groundwork to build strong relationships with the other provincial
students, unions to finally be a player when ft comes to provincial lobbying.
P.S, The AMS executives do not
receive free laptops, ah the horror.
—Amina Rai
AMS President-elect
Psychology 4
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happen on a smaller scale in
Canada, rest assured that the pharmaceuticals are wining and dining
docs with all sorts of perks in order
to influence them.
Another ethical conundrum is
pharmaceutical companies partnering with Canadian universities, a
problem that reaches beyond experimental drugs. At the University of
Toronto (UoT) in 2001, David Healy,
the newly hired director of the university's Centre for Addiction and
Mental Health, was promptly fired
after publicising his concerns about
possible links between widely used
antidepressant drugs like Prozac
and suicidal behavior. Eli Lilly, the
company that manufactures Prozac,
is the major sponsor—to the tune of
$1.5 million—of the medical facility
that had just hired Healy. When
Healy published his complaints in
an academic journal also fiinded by
Eli Lilly, the company yanked funding from the publication.
Another U of T doctor, Nancy
Olivieri, was removed as director at
of a hospital affiliated with the university, ostensibly when she tried to
discuss potential harmful effects of
a drug called deferiprone. Yet again
the trouble stemmed from a drug
company, Apodex, who were pro
posing a $30 million donation
toward the school and hospitals affiliated with them.
Clearly, the corruption of medical research is alive and well in our
home and native land.
Although Canada's research
ethics could be seen as dire and the
influence and power of pharmaceutical companies as multiplying like
experimental bunnies, it could be
worse. Stanford, one of the most
reputed universities in the US is
undertaking research to find a drug
to cure the "hidden epidemic' of
compulsive shopping disorder, a
trial sponsored by, you guessed it a
pharmaceutical company.
Although we have yet to sink
that far into the mire, one still has
to ask, where is Health Canada?
Where do Canadian universities
stand, with pharmaceutical companies or with independant and
ethical research? What are they
waiting for before they reform
medical ethics procedjires and
stop the cancerous growth' of
sketchy and corporately manipulated research? If they continue
with this head-in-the-sind schtick,
Canada won't be able to boast
purity in ethical matters when
comparing itself to the US. ♦ PAGE FRIDAY
Friday, February 27,2004
;1lgilfisil^iilgilli||ft
GUtftfURE
11
his on the bar
GREA TWALL MONGOLIAN BBQ
2897 W Broadway
[Asian cuisine]
$10 All-you-can-eat
by Jersn Cameron
CULTURE STAFF
The history of Mongolian BBQ goes something
like this: centuries ago ih Mongolia, the armies
fighting under the fierce Genghis Khan would
hold huge celebratory feasts at their campsites.
Of course, there were not very many available
utensils, so swords and shields had to do. They
would put the shields over a fire, and then sear
the meat and vegetables, using the swords to
cut and flip the food.
Many of you are probably already familiar
with Mongolian BBQ style restaurants, and by
consequence you are probably also familiar
with the expensive 'price by weight" system
that most of these restaurants follow. Some of
them even try to make it "fun" by making you
guess how much your bowl of food weighs, not
realising bow much you suffer when you discover your bowl of goodies is going to put you
into debt
Enter Great Wall Mongolian BBQ. Allyou-
can-eat for just under ten dollars. You probably
think I'm kidding, or that this place must be a
dump. Well it's not It may be small, but it's very
clean. The vegetables are fresh, the meat is
frozen—not raw and in the open gathering bacteria as I have seen at other places—and the
sauce is delicious. There are even pieces of
pineapple to add to the wonder of this establishment Yummy fried chips are set at your table to
whet your appetite, and let's not forget the
yuri::)y rice. Those of you who are familiar with
the dr'lights of Mongolian BBQ are probably at
the r. staurant already, so I'll go on to explain
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YOU CAN COOK A WHOLE COW ON THAT THING! The sizzling martial art of mongolian culinary fighting, kev.n saborit photo
how it works for those of you who aren't
It works hke a buffet: you get a bowl and fill
it up with your choice of meat and fresh vegetables. The best part is the variety of sauces yOu
can choose from to complement your meal.
There are various suggestions of combinations,
my favourite being the "Sweet and Hot" combo.
After your food is all saucy, you give it to the
chef, who puts it on a huge round grill and
cooks it in front of you. If it's not busy, you can
go sit down, and the waitress will bring you
your bowl after it is cooked. Don't worry; it only
takes about 30 seconds so you won't have to
wait long.
After you are finished your bowL I would
suggest trying a different sauce combo. The
great thing about this place is that if your food
tastes crappy, it's your own fault You can pick
your favourite food items and avoid things you
dislike, such as my enemy often unavoidable in
stir fry, mushrooms.
Of course, if you have any allergies to particular vegetables, sauces or even peanuts, I would
not suggest going to this restaurant All lie food
is cooked on the same grill and, as the sauces
are in close proximity to one another, there is
bound to be some spillage. Also, if you suck at
making sauce, as one of my friends proved to,
you might not be satisfied with your meal.
So if you are looking for a cheap, slightly
adventurous, delicious meal close to campus,
get over there! This "all-you-can-eat" restaurant
is challenging you to eat at least twice your
money's worth, and with what you get at Great
Wall Mongolian BBQ, it's easy to do so. I ate four
heaping bowls full Can you beat that? ♦
■ ■ ■ ' *i_*j_r.#ji__ _■■ **
.*■»■ ^*&Vii_A_>VJi1;' 12
eU_TURE
ti€; pfeyss^;. ittasaiii#
PAGE FRIDAY
Friday, February 27,2004
The oIoo liest love story of all time
THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST
now playing
by John Hua
CULTURE EDITOR
For some, Jesus Christ was simply a
man recorded in history as the
Messiah, for others he was a prophet
mistaken as the King of kings, for
many Jesus Christ is the Son of God,
who suffered, bled and died for the
salvation of his people and in doing
so is the sole key to eternal life. The
story of Jesus Christ of Nazareth is
one infused with passion in every
sense of the word. Academy-award
winning Director Mel Gibson carefully chose the title The Passion of the
Christ, selecting the word passion for
its Latin meaning of suffering. But
also intertwined within the story is
the passion of one man's sense of
love, the intense, agape (unconditional) love, where "the greatest love a
person can have for his friends is to
give bis life for them."
7£e Passion of The Christ begins
just after the Last Supper as Jesus
and his disciples come to
Gethsemane—the Garden of Olives—
to pray and rest Mostly overlooked
and overshadowed by the gore that is
to follow is the painful portrayal of
Jesus as he struggles internally with
his destiny to the point of utter illness, sweat and tears. Gibson's directorial choice to not understate the
one moinent that Jesus calls upon his
Father to pass the burden of salvation
from his shoulders is extremely powerful due to its humanity.
After being betrayed by one of bis
own disciples, Jesus is arrested by the
leaders of the Pharisees on charges of
blasphemy and taken to an unofficial
tribunal where he Is spat upon, beaten and condemned.
The controversy surrounding the
film begins at this point as Jesus is
taken to be tried by Pontius Pilate—a
man depicted as a fair, but politically-
pressured Roman governor of
Palestine. Jesus is sent to be tortured
in an attempt to quell the angry mob,
lacerated with whips and a cat o' nine
tails—a whip made up of nine knotted
lines with hooks tied on the end of
each named for its effect of tearing
the flesh like the claws of a cat Jesus
is then sent to his death bearing the
wooden cross of over 3001bs upon
his flayed shoulders and almost lifeless body to Golgotha—"the Place of
the Skull"—where he is nailed to the
cross and crucified.
Mel Gibson's choice to fully depict
the violence of Jesus' torture and crucifixion—a choice that has been called
the goriest in film history—is
undoubtedly extremely difficult to
watch However, his attempts to represent the events surrounding Jesus'
death in a cold-factual and painfully
realistic manner intermingled with
heartwarming flashback scenes presenting the son of God on human
terms is moving on both a Christian
and human level.
The film is in Aramaic and Latin
with English subtitles, but could easily be presented as a silent film due to
its emphasis on the visual rather
than language. The acting transcends
to a higher level by relying solely on
body language and facial expression
to convey its message. Doing so masterfully is Jim Caviezel who plays the
part of Jesus. Saying almost exclusively what is quoted in the Bible,
Caviezel's portrayal relies heavily on
his ability to convey raw emotion
through fthis body, face and eyes.
Jesus' excruciating pain and anguish
is captured by Caviezel; the emotions
are precisely balanced by compassion, love and gazes that would draw
tears from the hardest of hearts.
Playing Mary, with grace and
strength is Maia Morgenstern. Once
again,, the actor must rely purely on
emotion as she finds an equilibrium
between the heartbreak of a mother
losing a son and the strength of a
faithful woman.
Although this film is an unavoidable forum for debate, Mel Gibson's
goal to recreate the story of Jesus
Christ, as is it written in the four
131
gospels, is done with artistic
precision. The violence in the film
does exceed any established standards; however, it is not gratuitous,
but rather raw and eye-opening.
Concerns surrounding anti-
Semitism—the fear that the film
blames Jews for the death of Christ
and the backlash that could ensue—
have little bearing due to the long
since passed setting, as well as the
necessity of Jesus' death as an integral part of the story. But be cautious, the 18-A rating is not to be dismissed as the subject matter is
strictly directed towards those who
can comprehend the necessity of
violence in a piece based on the
nature of sacrifice.
The Passion of the Christ is a film
based upon the written accounts of
Jesus' life and death. It is the
Sunday-school story told in a raw
nature reflective of its message. In
its representation of the Bible it
adds little and denies little, leaving
you with a work of film artistry produced with passion, wherever personal beliefs lie. The Passion is a
bold film which will rest on the
minds and in the hearts of many as
they leave, having been told a story
of ultimate sacrifice, undeniable
courage and Incomparable love. ♦
NT1NG THE 1918 F1U
<:■£/..
"'....Ml
One Scientist's
Search for a
killer Virus
Kirsty Duncan's story of organizing
a scientific expedition to exhume
the bodies of Norwegian miners,
victims of the 1918 Spanish flu,
blends the history of disease with
the dark side of modern science.
Cloth 0-8020-8748-5 $35.00
L
Now available at the UBC bookstore
Ufii¥@rsity of Toronto Press
'I
»fl-Cit««r>
»OCIO¥V_>_
UPCOMING RLMS
Screenings @ Norm Theatre in SUB
Admission: $3 and Membership: $20
Film Society Hotline: (604) 822-3697
http://www.ams.ubc.ca/clubs/filmsoc
Fri.Feb 27
SOUTH PARK BZZR GARDEN
Bigger. Longer. Uncut.
Sat. Feb 28 ~ Sun. Feb 29
7:00PM - Mona Lisa Smile
9:30PM - Something's Gotta Give
Wed. Mar 3 ~ Thurs. Mar 4
7:00PM - Big
9:30PM - The Big Chill
faculties?
a reminder to aM students
interested in changing faculties,
the applicdt'on deadline
for faculty transfer is
tomorrow, FEBRUARY 23.
App'ications must be submitted
online, students.ubc.ca/ssc
For oioie information,
vibit ihi? SSC
\\Road'T(iss;ori'Faaiitv Trnnsfer)
UBC
!^g$/"""@en ;
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dcterms:language "English"@en ;
edm:provider "Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library"@en ;
dcterms:publisher "Vancouver : The Ubyssey Publications Society"@en ;
dcterms:rights "Images provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy, or otherwise use these images must be obtained from The Ubyssey: http://ubyssey.ca/"@en ;
dcterms:source "Original Format: University of British Columbia. Archives"@en ;
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dcterms:title "The Ubyssey"@en ;
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