UBC Reports | Vol. 49 | No. 10 | Oct. 2, 2003

IN THE NEWS

Highlights of UBC Media Coverage in September 2003.

Compiled by Brian Lin

Second thought on Statins

After an investigation of the research behind cholesterol-lowering pills, Dr. James McCormack and his colleagues with the UBC Therapeutics Initiative have concluded that the benefit of taking statins appears to be offset by equally tangible risks.

“What needs to be done is a large, long-term trial that compares statins and diet,” Wright told the National Post.

Wright advises people to talk to their physicians about why they are being prescribed cholesterol-lowering drugs.

“They should be honest with them about the benefits, and say: ‘Here is the real evidence’.”

Top of the world wireless

UBC has a new wireless local area network that covers its huge 600-acre Vancouver campus, making it the largest and most advanced WLAN set up by any university or college in the world.

“It’s already changing life on campus,” AVP Information Technology Ted Dodds told The Globe and Mail.

“Students spend less time standing in line and more time learning,” he explains, “while faculty spend less time administering research and are actively engaged in doing research.”

The WLAN is just one part of UBC’s three-year, $30-million project to develop a comprehensive “e-Strategy” and upgrade its computer network that wraps up this month.

Catch allergy before it hits

A new study has found that atopic eczema, an allergic skin condition, is best treated before it flares up.

“The traditional approach is reacting when the disease flares up and then dousing the fire. Now, we are talking about before the disease flares, at the very first sign of initiation. We are going to intervene at that stage to prevent it from getting out of hand,” UBC dermatology professor Vincent Ho told Reuters.

Airline crisis

Commenting on Sept. 11’s impact on the U.S. airline industry, UBC organizational behaviour professor Marc-David Seidel told United Press International that the structures of the airline industry were creaking long before the terrorist attacks.

“The large major carriers that existed prior to deregulation (of the U.S. domestic market) in 1978 were founded and built for a regulated environment. They never fully restructured to the new deregulated environment,” Seidel says.