Volume 6, Issue 10 OCTOBER 19, 2015

Published by the University Neighbourhoods Association

Wesbrook Community

Centre OpensVitality is added to town at UBC

The Wesbrook Community Centre has opened its doors to campus residents and others, offering them a first-class set of facilities. The community centre will add to the vitality of the growing town on campus, and its meetings room and recreational facilities will provide a focus for com-munity activities. An elegant building, the new centre stands at the heart of the Wesbrook Place, one of five neighbourhoods that comprise the residential precinct at UBC—the other neighbourhoods Hampton Place, Hawthorn Place, Chancellor Place and East Campus. The ample size of the Wesbrook Com-munity Centre will allow it to serve a campus population of 20,000 residents eventually, roughly double the popula-tion of the town at UBC today. During the design phase of the Wes-brook Community Centre, it was an-ticipated by the architects that video surveillance cameras would be installed in the building. The community centre is 30,000 sq ft and has 17 points of egress. At their October 13 meeting, UNA Board of Directors approved the UNA Video Surveillance Policy for the Wes-brook Community Centre. With limited staff resources, the recent theft from the Old Barn Community Cen-tre and recent assaults on campus, it was agreed that the installation of video sur-veillance was prudent. Directors heard that the location and installation of cameras was approved through the Development Permit, and that video surveillance has its challenges. There are legitimate uses for it such as safety, security of property and equip-ment, and deterrence. However it cannot be used for the monitoring of staff pro-ductivity. In the context of the protection of personal privacy, there must be a bal-ance between the need for overt surveil-lance and individual privacy. Planning for the Wesbrook Community Centre began 20 years ago almost to the day, although the facility had no such name then. In the fall of 1995, after UBC had begun to develop Hampton Place, Metro Van-couver resolved to bring campus plan-ning under its control, and in 1997, this resulted in the Metro Vancouver Board of Directors approving an Official Commu-nity Plan (OCP) for UBC.

WESBROOK continued on Page 2

UNA Members Make Stand: No Pay Increase for Directors

Members of the University Neighbour-hoods Association at their annual meet-ing on September 23 voted down a pro-posed amendment to its bylaws which would have given five resident directors a modest pay raise. Directors earn an annual ‘stipend’ of $5,500, and a proposal before the meet-ing called for this sum to be increased to $6,000. The Chair of the UNA Board, who earns a further $2,750 (for a total of $8,250), would have seen this total increased to $11,000 had the proposal passed, while chairs of various standing committees—who receive nothing at present—would have become eligible for annual pay-ments as follows: Secretary/ Chair of Governance Committee ($1,500); Chair of Operations and Sustainability Com-mittee ($1,500); Chair of Finance and Audit Committee ($1,500); and Chair of the Human Resources Committee ($500).The proposal needed 75% majority to pass. However, 33 UNA members voted against the proposal, while 20 voted for it. Thomas Beyer, of Chancellor Place,

After intense debate at AGM, twenty members vote for pay hike,

thirty three vote against

spoke in favor of hiking the stipend. Mr. Beyer said the directors do consider-able amount of work in tending to UNA affairs. He spoke from recent experi-ence, having served on the UNA Board for three years until 2014. Most of this time, Mr. Beyer was Chair of the Finance Committee. Bill Holmes, of Hampton Place, spoke against the proposal to increase the sti-pend. Mr. Holmes said he opposed an in-crease because the UNA did not conduct its affairs in sufficiently open manner. He referred specifically to committee meet-ings, which are closed to the public. Charles Menzies, of Hawthorn Place, spoke against the proposed pay hike. Mr. Menzies, UNA Resident Director, said the argument is often made that the pay of UNA directors is low when compared to the pay of councilors in municipalities of equivalent size. However, Mr. Menzies questioned the validity of comparing what a city coun-cilor does and what a UNA director does. He said, in fact, the UNA Board has no real power or authority; it’s all granted to the UNA from UBC. “We are, essen-tially, a volunteer advisory board to UBC charged with running two community centres.”

DIRECTORS continued on Page 5

Richard Alexander Acclaimed UNA Chair

Resident Director Richard Alexander, of Wesbrook Place, will remain Chair of the UNA Board of Directors for at least an-other year. UNA directors acclaimed Mr. Alexan-der to the post of chair at their October 13 meeting at the Old Barn Community Centre. Directors also acclaimed Resident Di-rector Ying Zhou as UNA Treasurer for the coming year and Resident Director Laura Cottle as Secretary of the UNA for the coming year. At the recent September 23 Annual General Meeting of the UNA and elec-tion of directors, UNA members elected Ms. Cottle, of Hawthorn Place, as a di-rector for the first time and re-elected Ms. Zhou, of Chancellor Place, to her second term. Both Ms. Cottle and Ms. Zhou, will serve for the next two years. Others with seats on the eight-mem-ber UNA Board are: Resident Director Charles Menzies, Resident Director Sa-brina Zhang, UBC appointee Andrew Parr, UBC appointee Carole Jolly and Alma Mater Society appointee Jenna Omassi.

UNA Guys’ Night: Men Don’t Do Things Face to Face, but Shoulder to Shoulder

The next UNA Guys’ Night will take place November 11, 7-9 pm, at the new Wesbrook Community Centre. UNA guys left to right: Michael Chen, Jose Arias Bustamante, Albert Shum, Nils Gmail, Asif Niazi and Barish Golland. See story on Page 4.

THE CAMPUS RESIDENT OCTOBER 19 2015page 2

The OCP envisioned a residential com-munity at UBC “that is complete with a diversity of uses and services, vibrant, lively and healthy, and (with) a commu-nity orientation and sense of neighbourli-ness,” and the plan directed that new resi-dential development be focused around a South Campus village commercial centre (now Wesbrook Village). The OCP further provided “for a com-munity centre and school (now Universi-ty Hill Secondary School) in conjunction with a south campus village centre.” In fact, the Land Use Plan (which re-placed the OCP in 2011) specifies three community centres at UBC, including Wesbrook Community Centre. The first one, The Old Barn Commu-nity Centre came on stream in Hawthorn Place in 2008 (and remains operational). Wesbrook Community Centre opened October 19 on Berton Avenue in Wes-brook Place. Development of the third community centre at UBC will take place

WESBROOK continued from Page 1

Phillip McKeen

Wesbrook Community Centre Offers First-Class Facilities

Phillip McKeen showing off the grand scale of Wesbrook Community Centre

Residents enjoying the facility during the sneak peek on September 19, 2015. Photo credit Sandra Leung.

State of the art gymnasium in Wesbrook Community Centre. Photo credit Don Erhardt.

when Wesbrook Place is built out over the next ten years, and residential de-velopment switches to what is now part of the UBC married students’ quarter at UBC (Acadia Park). For the last year, the University Neigh-bourhoods Association has employed Philip McKeen to work at the $10 mil-lion facility in Wesbrook Place—his job as project manager to liaise between the UNA Board of Directors and the con-struction company building the centre

(Scott Construction). At the UNA, Mr. McKeen has reported to Executive Di-rector Jan Fialkowski and Director Op-erations and Risk Management Calvin Cheung. Mr. McKeen believes the Wesbrook Community Centre is as much state-of-the-art as any such centre in Vancouver.

He points to such “cutting edge” physi-cal features of the building as its rubber floors, encapsulated wood sides and “im-pressive” amount of natural lighting. “It’s got lots of quality from the archi-tectural point of view and functionally. In the way it looks, in the way it feels, it’s stunning.”

THE CAMPUS RESIDENT OCTOBER 19, 2015

Published monthly by the University Neighbourhoods Association #202-5923 Berton Avenue, Vancouver BC, V6S 0B3

page 3

Editor & Business ManagerJohn Tompkinsphone: 604.827.3502 email: jtompkins@myuna.ca

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Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor

Include name, address and telephone number. Maximum lengths: Letters 400 words. Opinions 750 words. We may edit or decline to publish any

submission.

Iona Green playstation

From September article in The Campus Resident, I see further public consulta-tion is planned regarding the Iona Green playstation, and that is fine. I would, however, like to reiterate and reinforce what I have said before. I live close by and regularly walk though Iona Green. I even had the great good fortune to play with my new grandson there and enjoy the playground. It is ideally situated in a spot that provides for easy supervision, safety and a secure friendly environment. I have never seen or heard anything close to noise. In fact, the usage of the play-ground is moderate. I also very much en-joyed the concert held on Iona Green by Chris Ronald in the summer. This music was a wonderful additional use of Iona Green and, even though amplified, no-body could suggest it was noise. I value the playground and find any thought of moving it offensive and a huge waste. If there is noise at some late hour that I have not witnessed, since I haven’t frequented the area after about 9 pm, then I would suggest it is not being made by young children in the playground. If it is occurring at all, then I suggest it is by older (unsupervised) individuals who are just making noise, and this has nothing to do with the presence of the playground. Moving or removing the playground won’t accomplish anything (in terms of sound). It will only eliminate a valued and needed asset. While public consultation is fine.…. The answer is clear to me….Status Quo!

Keith Switzer, resident

The Answer Is Clear...Status Quo!

What to Do about Iona Green Playstation?

The solution to the ongoing problem of noise from the Iona Green playstation needs to be sought by looking outside of the constraints of the current neigh-bourhood boundaries. To those who live immediately adjacent to Iona Green, the noise is intrusive and continuous – forc-ing people indoors and precluding use of balconies during the summer. Yet others in the neighbourhood value the park be-cause it is “close” ... but not too close. Two recent petitions have illustrated this point. The new University Neighbourhood, adjacent to Chancellor Place, presents an opportunity to rethink the solution – not by “exporting the noise problem” (which we didn’t create in the first place), but by remedying an unforeseeable planning error caused by the acoustic canyon of hard-surfaced buildings tightly surround-ing Iona Green. My neighbour Tom Adamson has pro-posed relocating the playstation to an area immediately south of Hillel House on a site labelled “The Green”. I whole-heartedly support Tom’s proposal. This space can serve both neighbourhoods, is close to both, is economically attractive because equipment already exists, and landscaping changes would be minimal. Active pedestrian traffic – no cars – con-tributes to safety. The site is far enough from adjacent buildings that noise is of no concern. Use of this site preserves Chancellor’s play facilities which are EIGHT times more generous than those of Vancouver Quadra. (1,488 people for two playstations vs 114,600 for 19). The distance that most would have to walk is shorter than that encountered by half of the households on Vancouver’s west side.To achieve this solution, the University would need to relax the view of neigh-bourhood boundaries as rigid lines, and acknowledge that playgrounds occupy

more space than the physical size of the play structure – because of the noise. Chancellor is too small a neighbourhood to accommodate play structures without disturbing adjacent residents, and likely Vancouver School of Economics aca-demic staff. There is ample precedent: the joint-venture UBC/UNA skateboard park and two daycare centres are on aca-demic land. It is easy to demand the “status quo” when you live far enough away to avoid the noise. But quite a different story when you live right above it, and more galling since the playstation was installed after the park was built. The ongoing noise creates frustrations between neighbours,

The “Status Quo” Serves No Onereducing the social cohesion necessary for a sustainable neighbourhood.The “status quo” serves no one.

John Bourne, resident

Neighbours Need Relief from Frat House NoiseThree residents appear

before UNA Board to recount how noise from student parties

is affecting them

Three campus residents appeared before the UNA Board of Directors October 13 to explain how loud and frequent noise from fraternity houses along Wesbrook Mall is spoiling their pleasure of living at UBC. The residents reported raucus noise comes from fraternity house students holding outdoor parties well into the night and even into early morning. One

party continued until 5:30 am evidently. The directors heard that “other than the noise, UBC is a great place to live.” The first resident to speak, a retired UBC professor, said he had taken com-fort when buying his home in Hampton Place that the University detachment of the RCMP on Wesbrook Mall stood be-tween it and the fraternity houses. However, he has become disillusioned by the failure of all local authorities to re-strict the amount of noise coming from the fraternity houses. He said he had been told by the RCMP, Campus Security and “student services” that “they can’t do anything.” He urged the UNA—in con-cert with UBC—to develop a policy

of containing outdoor fraternity house noise. The second resident to speak explained how the noise reaching his suite from a fraternity house was so loud one late night, it drove him and his family to seek the quiet of a hotel. The next day, he pre-sented the hotel bill to the president of the fraternity house from which most of the outdoor noise came. To be fair to the students, he said the fra-ternity in question agreed to pay the bill. However, it appears not to have stopped the noise of outdoor parties, which con-tinues. The third resident to address the UNA Board talked of “going to bed at 12:30

am and hearing music blaring from loud speakers.” After hearing the three residents speak unhappily of losing sleep due to late night noise arising from outdoor frater-nity house parties, the UNA directors agreed to see what can be done to bring neighbours relief. They agreed to start discussing the issue at an upcoming committee meeting. While the UNA has a Noise Bylaw for residential neighbourhoods, this bylaw does not stretch into such “institutional” parts of UBC as the fraternity house pre-cinct.

Phillip McKeen showing off the grand scale of Wesbrook Community Centre

THE CAMPUS RESIDENT OCTOBER 19 2015page 4

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 18, 20157-9pm WESBROOK COMMUNITY CENTRE

RSVP TO QIUNING WANG QWANG@MYUNA.CA 604.822.3799

CONNECT WITH YOUR FELLOW RESIDENTS!BRAINSTORM PROGRAM & EVENT IDEAS,

SHOW OFF YOUR MOVEMBER MOUSTACHE!

UNA Guys’ NightQiuning Wang

UNA Community Engagement and Volunteer Coordinator

“Men don’t do things face to face, but shoulder to shoulder.” This is how John Ogrodniczuk, a long-time campus resident and UBC Psychia-try Professor, whose academic and pri-vate consulting work involves working with men, began our first Guys’ Night planning meeting. His remarks were echoed by the other men sitting in the room. Nils Bradley, re-tired from the Canadian Army and living in Hampton Place for 14 years, added: “It has been my observation that men at all ages, especially seniors, are not prone to joining in group functions. It didn’t mat-ter what the function was—trips, dinners, dances or walks—80% of the regular at-tendees at functions were women.” It sounded pretty daunting, as the goal of the UNA Guys’ Night meeting was to advise on how to engage men more ef-fectively. Identified in the UNA’s 2014-2015 Volunteer Report was the need to im-prove men’s participation in community services and programs. Out of 87 adult volunteers that came out and helped last year, only 14 were men. Representative male UNA residents were thus invited to share their thoughts on how to boost the number. Barish Golland is among the few male volunteers from Wesbrook Place. Apart from his busy IT support work at UBC, he runs a Lego Robotics program at University Hill Elementary School. He shared a similar view as John Ogrodnic-zuk that men build relationships through doing things together, such as playing or watching sports, making things or fixing things. Since there have been few oppor-tunities in the UNA community for men to do things together, a dedicated space is needed for that to happen. His view coincided with a concept that John and his colleagues have been

promoting: Men’s Sheds. The Sheds movement began in Australia, building from the standpoint of a “shed” being an iconic gathering place for many men. The Men’s Sheds model is recognized as a health promotion tool, especially for men at risk of social isolation. The first Canadian Men’s Shed was launched in Manitoba in 2011. Further thought is needed on how it might be applicable to the UNA community that is fast growing and culturally diverse. Also sitting in the room were a few recent immigrants. Among them was Micheal Chen who moved to Wesbrook Place with his family in March of this year. Coming from a managerial position in a Fortune 500 company in Shanghai, Micheal hoped to be able to continue his career in Canada. He felt that a men’s mentorship program that connects new immigrants with local professionals could be very helpful in assisting them to build a new future. Asif Niazi moved to East Campus three years ago. He had been a mathematics teacher in international schools abroad for about 20 years. He has enjoyed the few volunteering opportunities he experi-enced so far and always looks forward to meeting with other men who share simi-lar interests. Jose Arias Bustamante lives in Acadia Park Family Housing and was the only non-UNA member at the meeting. But he has worked with the UNA staff closely this year to run the Soccer for Dads pro-gram at the UNA Community Field. The project was funded by the UTown @UBC Community Grant program and was well attended. Jose confirmed that sport is a great way to bring men together. At the end of the UNA Guys’ Night meeting, the group emphasized that there were two aspects of men’s engage-ment: 1) men connecting with men; 2) men connecting with other members of the community. As a start, Guys’ Night should have a focus on “men connecting with men”, where men have an opportu-nity to talk with other guys about shared interests and programs they would like to see at the new Wesbrook Community

Centre. Before the meeting was adjourned, we made the following plan: our next Guys’ Night will be on November 18, 7-9 pm, at the Wesbrook Community Centre. It is about men connecting with men, men staying active and men serving their local community. It’s a guys-only eve-ning. Every man is welcome! Bring your

best ideas to share and your Movember Moustache to show off! For more infor-mation, please contact Qiuning Wang at 604.822.7399 or qwang@myuna.ca.

Editor’s Note: Movember is an annual event involving the growing of moustach-es during the month of November to raise awareness of men’s health issues.

THE CAMPUS RESIDENT OCTOBER 19, 2015 page 5

Prod Laquian, of Wesbrook Place, spoke out strongly against the pay hike. Indeed, Mr. Laquian—who retired at the AGM after six years on the UNA Board—spoke out against any payment of stipends to di-rectors. He said they should all be true volunteers, but the UNA insisted that they be paid. Mr. Laquian received con-siderable applause from members when he said that last year, after receiving his unwanted cheque for $5,500 from the UNA, he immediately “handed it to the church.” The AGM debate followed in the wake of a report Municipal Comparison Study

commissioned by the UNA. The report (the Fletcher Report) compares the UNA Board with municipal governments in the Lower Mainland and concludes as follows: Based on the comparison of the UNA Board responsibilities and time commit-ments with those of elected officials in lo-cal government, and on the existing and evolving role of the Board, a number of recommendations are proposed for the Board’s consideration. Generally the recommendations are oriented toward the Board continuing to develop its management and governance capabilities in advance of the demands that are likely to be placed on it as the

University Neighbourhoods continue to grow and urbanize into a small City. In anticipation of this increased com-plexity and the time commitment required to pursue municipal-like management and governance initiatives, it is proposed that the elected Board members be com-pensated for their current and evolv-ing duties in proportion to the duties of and responsibilities of local government Councilors. Based on the comparison study, this level of compensation for the Chair and elected Directors is proposed to be ap-proximately half that of the Mayors and Councilors of smaller municipalities.

DIRECTORS continued from Page 1

At the October 13 board meeting of the University Neighbourhoods Association, directors unanimously voted to refer the issue of whether to hold UNA committee meetings in public to its Standing Com-mittee on Governance. Currently, meet-ings of the Standing Committee on Gov-ernance and the Standing Committee on Operations and Sustainability take place

UNA Agrees to Discuss Prospect of Open Committee Meetings

Unlike board meetings, committee meetings are currently closed to

public and press

behind closed doors. With UNA Chair Richard Alexander unable to attend the October 13 meet-ing, Resident Director Charles Menzies chaired it, and as a new item of business, Mr. Menzies introduced a motion pro-posing that the UNA open its committee meetings to the public for reasons having to do with “transparency.” The motion by Mr. Menzies reads: Whereas municipal councils in BC are required by law to hold meetings that are open to the public except when deal-ing with personal matters and specified matters of a confidential nature (This

is mandated by sections 89 to 93 of the Community Charter which is provincial legislation), and; whereas the UNA acts a municipal-like body, Be it resolved that all future meetings of the Standing Com-mittees of Governance and Operations and Sustainability be open to the public and operate under the same provisions as our public meetings of the Board of Directors. Instead of voting on the motion, the seven members of the eight-member board in attendance referred it to the next meeting of the Standing Committee on Governance—in a week or so.

The debate on whether the UNA should hold its committee meetings in public or private has simmered for years. Those in favour of open committee meetings claim they will help reduce the “democratic deficit” at UBC. In contrast, those who favor the status quo, say the UNA is a Society under the BC Society Act and has no obligation to follow the rules of the Community Charter. This said, all forms of government close both board and committee meetings to the public at times—when, for example, confidential matters related to personnel are under discussion.

WESBROOK LECTURE

SERIESMonday, October 19Dr. Ravi Ravindra

Monday, November 2

Monday, December 7

Ravi Ravindra, PhD, is a spiritual visionary, scholar, and leading international speaker on religion, science, and spirituality.

Dr. Neil Cashman, a Canadian leader in neurodegenerative diseases, is a neurologist, professor of medicine at UBC and the director of the Vancouver Coastal Health ALS Centre.

Dr. Glenn Landry, PhD, is currently a postdoctoral research fellow at UBC focusing on circadian rhythms, sleep, aging, and cognition.

Dr. Neil Cashman

Dr. Glenn Landry

FREE 7-9pm Wesbrook Community Centre, 5998 Berton Ave.

Follow us on FACEBOOK!

The Old Barn Community Centre

The University Neighbourhoods

AssociationWesbrook

Community Centre

THE CAMPUS RESIDENT OCTOBER 19 2015page 6

1915 UBC CENTENNIAL 2015

Happy Birthday, UBC! Where Will the Next Century Take Us? Tuum est. It’s Up to You.

On September 30, exactly 100 years after welcoming its first class of 379 students, UBC launched its Centennial year. “For one hundred years, UBC has at-tracted the best and brightest thinkers, researchers and scientists from around the world,” said Premier Christy Clark. “UBC has become a global presence, a source of pride to all British Columbians, and has been instrumental in driving pos-itive change throughout the world.” Interim President Martha Piper said, “It is my honor to lead UBC during its Centennial year and celebrate a century of excellence in learning, research and community engagement. “UBC has risen from modest begin-nings in 1915 to become one of the world’s leading universities, with an ex-ceptional learning environment and out-standing research in the service of the people of British Columbia, Canada and the world.” Professor Piper spoke at a UBC cer-emony held to celebrate both the launch

of its Centennial year and official open-ing of new Robert H. Lee Alumni Cen-tre at the main entrance to campus. The Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre —in which the ceremony took place—takes its name from prominent B.C. business leader and philanthropist Robert H. Lee in honor of the many contributions Mr. Lee has made to UBC. Following the ceremony, about a thou-sand UBC students, faculty, staff and alumni gathered at the Money and Ray-mond M.C. Lee Square beside the Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre in a large forma-tion to spell out ‘UBC100’. This gather-ing recreated the formation of ‘UBC’ by 1,200 students involved in the Great Trek in 1922 to lobby for the construction of the Point Grey campus. To help commemorate its Centennial, UBC arranged for a high-definition im-age of campus to be taken by the Urthe-Cast Deimos-2 satellite at 10:47 a.m. on the September 30 birthday. UBC has grown to 60,000 students and

now has campuses in both Vancouver and the Okanagan with 305,000 alumni living in more than 120 countries. Built on the traditional, ancestral, un-ceded territory of the Musqueam people, UBC’s Point Grey campus has long been a place of learning. Prior to the estab-lishment of UBC, the Musqueam people shared teachings of their culture, history and traditions from one generation to the next. To celebrate UBC’s remarkable achieve-ments over the past 100 years, UBC is delivering open Centennial Sessions dur-ing the 2015/16 school year on topics ranging from economics and the arts, to climate change and global health. UBC is also offering 20 free Centen-nial Lectures on Saturdays from Septem-ber 2015 to May 2016 on UBC’s Point Grey campus highlighting research and teaching by professors and postdoctoral fellows. For more information about UBC’s Centennial, visit UBC100.ca.

1908 The provincial government passes the University Act to create the University of British Columbia.

1913 Accomplished academic and administrator Dr. Frank Fairchild Wesbrook is named the first president of UBC.

1915 UBC welcomes its first class of 379 students on September 30 to temporary facilities dubbed the “Fairview Shacks” at the current location of Vancouver General Hospital.

1916 Jessie J. Anderson is the first student to graduate from UBC, one of 17 women in an inaugural graduating class of 40.

1922 About 1,200 students involved in the Great Trek travelled from downtown Vancouver to the Point Grey site demanding the construction of permanent buildings at what is now UBC’s Point Grey campus.

1925 UBC’s Point Grey campus opens with three permanent buildings.

1927 Musqueam House Posts are presented to UBC.

1930 The UBC Basketball team wins the Women’s World Championships.

1963 UBC’s fourth president Dr. John B. MacDonald writes the MacDonald Re-port. It shapes higher education in B.C. for the next 50 years, including the creation of Simon Fraser University, British Columbia Institute of Technology and Victoria College’s evolution to the University of Victoria.

1968 A group of 2,000 students take over the faculty club with a sit-in to end au-thoritarian structures at UBC.

1970 Construction of the world’s largest cyclotron particle accelerator begins at TRIUMF in partnership with SFU, UVic and the University of Alberta.

1978 The inaugural Storm the Wall relay is held. It is now the largest intramural sporting event in North America.

1982 The football team wins the Vanier Cup.

1993 UBC’s First Nations Longhouse opens. Built in consultation with Musqueam and many other Aboriginal groups, it is a central location for programming and ser-vices for Aboriginal students.

2001 UBC Robson Square opens.

2005 UBC opens the Okanagan campus.

2007 UBC meets Kyoto targets five years ahead of schedule, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by six per cent from 1990 levels.

UBC Milestones from 1908 to Date

On September 30, 2015, in celebration of 100th anniversary of the first day of classes, the UBC community came together to recreate the iconic ‘UBC’ photo taken as part of Great Trek in October 1922. Photo credit UBC Public Affairs.

UBC Interim President Martha Piper. Photo credit Martin Dee.

THE CAMPUS RESIDENT OCTOBER 19, 2015 page 7

1915 UBC CENTENNIAL 2015

On September 30, the day UBC launched its Centennial year, the University marked the official opening of the Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre. A ceremony celebrating both the Cen-tennial launch and the official opening of the Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre took place at the centre, which is named af-ter prominent B.C. business leader and philanthropist Robert H. Lee in honour of the many contributions he has made to UBC. The Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre will serve as a resource for UBC’s 305,000 alumni, providing a welcoming place to network, meet with students and par-ticipate in intellectual, cultural and social programs. Mr. Lee addressed the ceremony, say-ing, “One of the most valuable lessons my father taught me was the importance of giving back to the community.” In the case of UBC, Mr. Lee has given so much that he is admiringly referred to by ad-ministrators as ‘Mr. UBC.’ UBC sources cite Mr. Lee as instrumen-tal in securing donations to establish the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Stud-ies, the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, the Liu Institute for Global Studies, the Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation in Buddhism, St. John’s College, Allard

Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre: A Place to Welcome

All Who Visit UBCCentre is named after

noted business leader and philanthropist Robert H. Lee,

‘Mr. UBC’

Hall and the Peter A. Allard School of Law. UBC awarded Mr. Lee an honorary doc-torate degree in 1996 and in 2006, UBC established the Robert H. Lee Graduate School at the Sauder School of Business in recognition of the generous gift of him and his family to support graduate busi-ness education. However, perhaps, the greatest of many contributions came in 1988 when Mr. Lee—then Chair of the UBC Board of Governors—founded UBC Properties Trust. The trust, which he chaired for 23 years, became the first in North America to sell market housing on a university campus on leased land, allowing UBC to main-tain ownership of the land while earning it hundreds of millions of dollars. The first residential neighbourhood on cam-pus, Hampton Place, was developed in 1990s. Today, almost 10,000 residents live in five neighbourhoods, governed by the University Neighbourhoods Associa-tion. The splendid Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre cost $19.5 million to build with UBC providing the land and a long list of donors providing the capital. It has taken 5 ½ years to develop. The UBC Alumni Association runs the centre with the support of a $300,000 operating grant from UBC and rental income generated from making meeting room space available to outside parties. A brochure produced by the UBC Alum-ni Association describes the centre as “a place to welcome all who visit UBC.”

UBC Milestones from 1908 to Date2010 UBC Vancouver is one of the host sites of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olym-pic and Paralympic Games.

2011 UBC launches its start an evolution fundraising and alumni engagement cam-paign.

2015 UBC welcomes the first class of its second century on September 8, 2015.Information provided by UBC. For more milestones over a century, visit: http://100.ubc.ca/timeline/

On September 30, 2015, in celebration of 100th anniversary of the first day of classes, the UBC community came together to recreate the iconic ‘UBC’ photo taken as part of Great Trek in October 1922. Photo credit UBC Public Affairs.

The Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre. Photo credit Don Erhardt.Dr. Robert H. Lee. Photo credit Martin Dee.

THE CAMPUS RESIDENT OCTOBER 19 2015page 8

Speaking at a federal election event in West Point Grey in late September, a refuge from Syria recalled the harsh mistreatment he suffered under its “mad-man” president Bashar al-Assad. Mohammed Alsalech, 25, told about 100 mostly Liberal Party supporters of Vancouver-Quadra MP Joyce Murray that he was a medical student in Damas-cus when arrested for criticizing the gov-ernment. “Criticizing the government is against the law in Syria.” Mr. Alsalech said he spent the next 120 days following his arrest in a detention camp where he was routinely beaten. He described the experience as a nightmare that seemed to have no end. “I almost died but I made it. I was destroyed. I had no hope. I wanted to leave the country.” Upon release, the Syrian refugee did just that, getting help from an agency of the United Nations in November 2013 and arriving in Canada a year later, an experience he described as “like winning the lottery.” Photographs presented by Mr. Alsalech at the meeting showed scenes of utter destruction in Syrian cities. He said the civil war there began when the al-Assad regime—“mad with power”—responded violently and viciously to peaceful pro-tests. Maggie Hosgood, refugee coordinator

In West Point Grey Church, Syrian Refugee Recalls Life

under “Madman”Residents are encouraged

to form private sponsorship groups to help fetch Syrian

refugees to Canada

for the United Church of Canada, also spoke at the Liberal Party election cam-paign event, as did Queenie Choo, Ex-ecutive Director of SUCCESS, the most senior immigrant settlement agency in the Lower Mainland. Ms. Choo encouraged those in atten-dance at the information session in the West Point Grey United Church Hall at 4595 West 8th on September 26 to do-nate funds for helping Syrian refugees to one or other of the big international care agencies. Donations made to SUCCESS go “one hundred per cent to the Red Cross,” she said. Ms. Hosgood encouraged West Point Grey residents to consider forming pri-vate sponsorship groups in order to help fetch Syrian refugees to Canada, the only country in the world with private spon-sorship legislation, she said. Ms. Murray promised that if the Lib-erals formed the next government, they would balance generous plans for fetch-ing refugees to Canada from Syria and other politically-blighted lands with oth-er plans to ensure terrorists do not take advantage of such generosity by secretly slipping into the country. After a 15-minute address in which he described his brutal experiences in Syria and the ongoing civil war there, the slightly-built Mr. Alsalech received warm and welcoming applause from the audience. Since arriving in Canada, he has re-sumed his studies as a medical student, and upon graduation, he looks forward to becoming a health professional in this country.

The University Endowment Lands ad-ministration provided an update on the status of Block F development at a meet-ing of the UEL Community Advisory Council on September 28. Hugh Kellas, a town planner under con-tract to the administration, explained that “a lot more work has to be done” before the administration is able to place the Musqueam Capital Corporation (MCC)

Planner Provides Update on Block F Project in UEL

Public meeting not likely to be held until New Year

project before a public meeting for scru-tiny. Mr. Kellas suggested this public meet-ing might not be held until the New Year—though he held out some hope for a November meeting if all the complex legal work (bylaw changes, agreements, covenants, etc.) relating to Block F could be done by then. MCC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Musqueam Indian Band, has applied to the UEL for a change of zoning and a de-velopment permit on its 22 acres of land adjacent to University Boulevard.

THE CAMPUS RESIDENT OCTOBER 19, 2015 page 9

Joash Gambarage didn’t put on his first pair of shoes until his Grade 7 graduation ceremony. As a poor student in the Tanzanian town of Mugeta, one of the most impoverished villages in eastern Africa, Gambarage borrowed footwear for the occasion from a boy belonging to a better-off family. Today, Gambarage is a PhD candidate at UBC’s Department of Linguistics. His life now is a far cry from his childhood experience, which remains a common one for many kids in his home country. Shoes are often an unaffordable luxury. Children drop out of school and beg for money and food in the streets. Some col-lect meager earnings by selling eggs from family chickens. Slowly but surely, however, Gambarage is bringing hope, education and opportu-nity to his village, thanks to his inspir-ing Mugeta Children’s School project. As part of that effort, he’s raising money to address urgent needs that will help put the project on a more solid footing. Gambarage arrived at UBC in 2010 thanks to a four-year doctoral fellowship (he previously studied and taught at Tan-zania’s University of Dar es Salaam). He felt grateful and lucky for the opportu-nity, given that he’s the only Mugeta resi-dent to study at the doctoral level. “It has been wonderful,” says Gambarage, who specializes in African linguistics. “UBC has changed my life completely.” As his life transformed, Gambarage was also keen to help others. “I wanted to give to my community back home,” he says.Gambarage donated $300 of his scholar-ship funding to start what ultimately be-

UBC International Student Joash Gambarage Is Fostering Hope in Home Village

Norma Rose Point School students and others support

school-building in Africa

Glenn DrexhageUBC Public Affairs

came the Mugeta Children’s School. His father, a retired teacher, used the money to build a single classroom, which housed 15 children and a volunteer teacher. The cash also helped pay for flour, used to make porridge for the kids. Sugar, a rare treat, was purchased to sprinkle on top of the servings. “The children loved it. Most of them had nothing to eat,” says Gambarage. Over the next few years, word spread and interest in the school grew. Villagers helped gather stones and water to help construct a school extension. A roof was installed. More money was collected, thanks to donations from friends and UBC colleagues, including $800 raised on behalf of the Linguistics Department. Another contributor is Vancouver’s Norma Rose Point School, which Gam-barage’s son attends. For the past few years, Gambarage has delivered talks to the school’s elementary students, who have raised about $2,000 for the Mugeta school through craft and bake sales. Nor-ma Rose Point has also donated about 600 books to the project. “Our students and staff have been moved by the images and stories of what we take for granted: daily education, a building, a floor, a roof, supplies, books, a playground,” says Rosa Fazio, Norma Rose Point’s principal. “Our students are contributing to making a difference in other children’s lives.” “I think the Mugeta Children’s School is an amazing project. It’s just a labour of love in many ways,” adds Bryan Gick, the Head of UBC’s Department of Lin-guistics. Gick speaks from experience. In 2013, he visited a couple of projects in Tanzania, including the Mugeta school. The surroundings were sparse, he recalls, “but the kids were 150 per cent present, and just taking in everything they could learn.” Gick notes that the project has been evolving and improving since his visit. Indeed, it now boasts five classrooms and two washrooms; about 105 students attend grades 1-5. The school employs seven teachers, and Joash’s retired father also assists with instruction. Classes are taught in Swahili and Eng-lish – a crucial offering, given that school instruction in Tanzania is given solely in English from the secondary level on. “This is a huge opportunity for the kids,” says Gambarage, noting that English-only schools in Tanzania are typically expensive and based in cities. Gambarage is pushing to do more. While the UBC Linguistics Department also donated seven computers to the school, they’re not currently usable due to a lack of reliable electricity. A floor is needed for a classroom extension, and walls need plastering. A well would pro-vide a vital, permanent water supply for

the children and residents of Mugeta. Gambarage estimates that the cost for these improvements is about $9,000. So far, he’s raised about $2,400 towards that amount. He’s continuing to raise small donations from friends and colleagues. Despite the challenges, Gambarage is optimistic. Mugeta Children’s School has already conquered numerous obstacles,

Classes in progress at Mugeta Children’s School in Tanzania. Photos credit Joash Gambarage.

Joash Gambarage, PhD candidate at UBC Linguistics Department.

and he’s determined to keep it on a self-sustaining path to success. “Education is a powerful weapon,” he says. “My goal is to make the school independent so it can stand on its own.” If you would like to make a donation, please visit the Mugeta Children’s School website or its Indiegogo campaign.

Halloween is a wonderful time of year when family, friends and communities get together and celebrate with fireworks.The Canadian National Fireworks Asso-ciation (CNFA) is encouraging all who are enjoying family fireworks this Hal-loween to please keep in mind that safety always comes first! The CNFA wants

Fireworks Association: Focus on Safety First on Halloweento ensure that the whole experience is a memorable one for you and the family. Always purchase your fireworks from a reputable distributor or retailer. This ensures the product has passed all safe-ty standards. Take a few moments to carefully review the safety guidelines in regards to handling, discharging and

disposing of your family fireworks. By following the safety guidelines, you and your family are certain to fully enjoy this time-honoured tradition! The CNFA reminds consumers to check with your local municipality regarding permits as bylaws may differ. The CNFA is the leading national voice

for the fireworks industry. Its mission is to promote fair access and safety in the sale and use of fireworks through public education, advocacy with regulators and member compliance. For more infor-mation please visit the CNFA website at www.nationalfireworks.ca

THE CAMPUS RESIDENT OCTOBER 19 2015page 10

The University Neighbouhroods Asso-ciation plans to install tribute markers on outdoor benches within its neighbour-hoods. At a recent committee meeting, the UNA Board approved a protocol for in-stalling these tributes. Richard Alexan-der, UNA Chair, said, “This protocol is forward thinking and would assist the UNA Board should a request to name a

UNA Adopts Naming Protocol for Outdoor Benchesbench in the public realm be received”. The procedure is as follows: 1. UNA administration receives an ap-plication which specifies location of the marker and the text for the tribute plaque. The application would include a donation ($5,000) to defray cost of the bench in-stallation with the surplus applied to the landscaping account for neighbourhood maintenance.

2. The application for the bench is re-viewed by UBC Campus and Communi-ty Planning in relation to the location of the bench and the wording of the tribute plaque. 3. The UNA Board of Directors ap-proves the location of the bench within the open space managed by the UNA landscaping contract. 4. The approval of the tribute plaque

is referred to the UBC Naming Commit-tee under the Board of Governors’ Policy governing naming. 5. Following Naming Committee ap-proval, UNA coordinates the purchase of the bench, the installation of the bench and the production of the approved trib-ute plaque. These costs are deducted from the donation and surplus fees deposited in the maintenance account.

Annual Open House at Brock House takes place October 22.

This event includes a presentation on services provided for the over-55 seniors in the Vancouver west side

Brock HouseThe Senior Centre at Jericho

3875 Point Grey Road, Vancouver BC

phone: 604 228 1461

UNA Unveils Plan to Calm Traffic on Iona DriveLocal residents are concerned about noise and safety issues caused by increased vehicular

traffic

The UNA and UBC Campus and Com-munity Planning propose to set up a speed reader on Iona Drive as way of calming traffic there. Krista Falkner, UBC’s Transportation

Engineer, says the speed reader on Iona Drive would be used for data logging—which would serve as a deterrent for vio-lators. The UNA has begun monitoring the noise and safety issue caused by in-creased vehicular traffic on Iona Drive, and in a report to the UNA Board in Oc-tober, Calvin Cheung, UNA Director Operations and Risk Management, said the UNA will continue monitoring the situation as it unfolds. “Staff will bring an updated recom-

mendation to the Operations and Sustain-ability Standing Committee once we are able to analyze the data from the speed reader and when we receive comments from the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MoTI) on this matter.” On June 30, UNA staff received an email from a Chancellor Place resident stating that residents in the neighbour-hood were concerned with the noise and safety issue caused by increased vehicu-lar traffic on Iona Drive. Meanwhile, residents in the Chancel-

lor Hall building on Iona Drive expressed concern about this situation in a signed petition addressed to Michael White, Associate Vice-President, Campus and Community Planning, approximately a month ago. Mr. Cheung says UNA staff has con-sulted with both MoTI and Ms. Falkner on this matter. “MoTI representatives for the UNA have been notified via email, but we are still awaiting a response.”

THE CAMPUS RESIDENT OCTOBER 19, 2015 page 11

Biodiversity in your backyard

Dr. Meg Lowman up in the tree tops.

CounsellingElizabeth Demeter, Ph. D., R.C.C.Registered Clinical Counsellor

Welcomes new clients for individual, couple or family counselling

Careville Medical Clinic and Pharmacy3317 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC V6S 0B1

Please call 604 873 - 1280

www.careville.ca

‘Queen of the Canopies’ Explores the Treetops, Talks Biodiversity

Jessica Roberts-FarinaWork Learn Marketing &

Communications Assistant, UBC Botanical Garden

The late fall sunlight poured in on a room full of excited guests on Friday, October 2, before Dr. Meg Lowman, Chief of Sci-ence & Sustainability at the California Academy of Sciences, began her lecture on the canopies of our world’s forests. As part of the Wharton Lecture se-ries, students, teachers, architects and biologists gathered in the sparkling new

Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre to hear the world-renowned pioneer of the science of canopy ecology share her experiences exploring the world’s “eighth continent” and what to do to preserve it. Dr. Lowman, who believes “we can-not stay alive without forests”, took the crowd through her life and her childhood love of ecology. It began with collecting flowers in her rural upstate New York town where she used phone books as a plant press and DIY (do it yourself) her-barium. Then, her passion really took off with tree forts. A university professor once told her, “To study the foliage, you’ve got to climb the trees.” Perhaps, that seems like com-mon sense, but no one had done it before. Dr. Lowman showed the audience the single rope technique she used to ‘climb the trees’, where she fashioned a contrap-tion out of the system that would nor-mally take somebody down into caves, so that it would take her up into the trees. “We didn’t even start exploring the cano-pies until the 1980s. We went to the moon before that!” Dr. Lowman spoke on the need to re-invent science, and that more research is not equaling conservation. Dr. Lowman’s unconventional approach to saving for-ests has taken her across the world from Samoa to India and Ethiopia building canopy walkways and inspiring locals to build their own systems of ecological

preservation. “Conventional science is not saving forests,” she said. UBC Botanical Garden also launched the Vancouver Trees App at the lecture as an example of tapping into a vast body of scientific knowledge and bringing it to the public to make a difference. The App provides an exhaustive searchable catalogue of plants, photos, information and lengthier botanical entries. “I was thinking, why isn’t there more accessible information on Vancouver’s plants and trees,” explained Douglas Justice, Asso-ciate Director of Horticulture and Collec-tions.

Trevor Padgett , a forest ecologist, said his favourite part of the lecture was the focus on education. “We make all these discoveries about canopies and biodiver-sity, but what do we do with it. How do we use it to make a difference?” In the Collections: UBC Botanical Garden recently launched our new Van-couver Trees App for iphone. Learn more and download it at botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/ vancouvertrees. Beaty Biodiversity Museum: Elect our next exhibition. Vote for your favou-rite Beaty Biodiversity Museum treasure at BeatyTreasures.com or visit us on campus.

LIVEin our

LOBBYmusic, arts social, fun!

OCTOBER 21

7PM, FREE ENTRYWESBROOK COMMUNITY CENTRE

5998 Berton Avenue, at UBC

NOVEMBER 18

Featuring Chris Ronald Folk guitarist

Featuring Don AlderAcoustic finger style guitarist

Team up with our fun and energetic leader for an action packed party!

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Dr. Meg Lowman.

THE CAMPUS RESIDENT OCTOBER 19 2015page 12