UBC Reports | Vol. 50 | No. 7 | Jul. 8, 2004

In the News

Highlights of UBC Media Coverage in June 2004

Compiled by Brian Lin

Why Tattoos?

In the latest issue of National Geographic magazine, UBC anthropologist John Barker explains the reasons why people get tattoos.

“The reason people tattoo are incredibly varied,” said Barker. “There are different motivations in different locations at different times.”

For example, in many Polynesian cultures tattooing is extremely sacred, forging a connection to the ancestors, Barker said.

In Papua New Guinea the Maisin women cover their entire faces with exotic curvilinear patterns in a puberty ceremony. Until they are tattooed, they are thought to have “blank” faces, not yet ready for marriage.

Walk Against Obesity

A new study led by UBC community and regional planning professor Lawrence Frank provides detailed evidence of the obesity-sprawl connection. Frank surveyed nearly 11,000 people in Atlanta and discovered that for every hour people spend in their cars, they are six per cent more likely to be obese.

For every kilometre they walk in a day, they are five per cent less likely to be obese, Frank told Time Magazine. People who live in a mixed-use environment are seven per cent less likely to be obese -- probably because they walk more.

“The policy implication of this study,” says Frank, “is that if we’re going to solve our public-health issues, we’re going to have to address the built environment.”

Ethnic Votes may Sway Election

For the first time in Canada’s history, the Chinese and South Asian communities are expected to greatly influence the results of the June 28 federal election, UBC political scientist Richard Johnston told Agence France Presse English.

The number of Chinese and South Asian Canadians have increased steadily in the past three decades, representing half of Canada’s four million visible minorities.

They are also asserting their political clout. “Their mere presence in Parliament will have a profound change in how we see ourselves,” said Johnston. “We’re getting used to seeing Asian faces in prominent places, as leaders of the community.”

Labour Board Favours Unions

A recent report published by the Coalition of B.C. Businesses shows the B.C. Labour Relations Board failing to properly administer the provincial labour code by coming out with decisions that put the rights of unions ahead of those of individual workers.

In recent months the board has dealt with numerous requests by employee groups looking to abandon their unions, UBC labour relations professor Mark Thompson told the National Post.

Thompson said labour legislation put in place in the early ‘90s making it considerably easier for unions to sign up members caused frustration in the business sector and the government is still trying to find a balance that is fair to both sides.