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UBC Reports | Vol. 55 | No. 3 | Mar. 5, 2009

In the News

Highlights of UBC Media Coverage in February 2009

Compiled by Sean Sullivan

A Colour-coded Guide to Thinking

Distracted at work? The colour of your walls may be to blame.

A UBC study published in the journal Science finds that the colour red is the most effective at enhancing our attention to detail, while blue is best at boosting our ability to think creatively.

“If you’re talking about wanting enhanced memory for something like proofreading skills, then a red colour should be used,” Juliet Zhu, an assistant professor of marketing at the Sauder School of Business, told the New York Times.
Zhu conducted the study with Ravi Mehta, a doctoral student.

The findings were also reported by The Associated Press, Agence France-Press, The Independent, the Globe and Mail, Canwest News Service and the CBC.

Fish On the Move

Climate change will cause a massive dislocation of ocean life by mid-century, says a UBC-led study.

William Cheung, who led the project while a post-doctoral fellow with UBC Fisheries Centre, announced the findings at the AAAS Conference in Chicago. “We’ll see a major redistribution of many species because of climate change,” he told Reuters.

Fishers in the tropics may take the brunt of these changes, especially since many are from developing countries and are ill-equipped to deal with the loss in catch. Nordic countries like Norway, on the other hand, may see a gain in potential catch.

The BBC, CNN, Agence France-Press and The Canadian Press were among the international media outlets that reported the study. Scientists have made projections of climate change impact on land species but this is the first such study on marine species ever published.

UN Call to Cut Overfishing is Ignored

Thirteen years after the world rallied to curb overfishing, most nations are failing to abide by the United Nations’ code of conduct for managing fisheries, the Associated Press reported.

Time magazine, The Canadian Press, New Scientist, the CBC and FOX News also covered the international study led by Prof. Tony Pitcher of the UBC Fisheries Centre.

“The overall conclusion is really a bit depressing. Even the countries that score at the top of our range are not doing very well,” said Pitcher.

Canada, the United States, Norway, Australia, Iceland and Namibia are the only nations that scored above 60 per cent on a code of conduct compliance rate – the equivalent of a “D.”

Juliet Zhu, assistant professor of marketing at the Sauder School of Business.

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Writing Team Earns Award

UBC Reports’ team of writers won a Silver Award in the “Writing, Periodical Team” category of this year’s District VIII Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) communications awards.

UBC also earned Gold for the visual design of its 2008 annual report entitled “Not Me. We.”  and a Silver for its new UBCevents website (www.events.ubc.ca).

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Last reviewed 10-Mar-2009

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