UBC This Week | Jan. 17, 2008

UBC This Week is a weekly summary of UBC people in the news, recent media releases and upcoming event highlights. UBC This Week past issues are also available on-line.

Sign up for UBC This Week and other UBC Public Affairs e-mail services at www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/eservices.

Recent UBC Media Releases

• Jan. 17: Students Living in University Libraries Across Canada for Next 10 Days
• Jan. 15: Popular Osteoporosis drugs triple risk of bone necrosis
• Jan. 14: UBC Welcomes Transit Announcement
• Jan. 14: UBC Discovery Unlocks Tree Genetics, Gives New Hope For Pine Beetle Defense

Upcoming Event Highlights

• Jan. 18: Covering Religion - Ari Goldman
• Jan. 18-19: Men's and women's volleyball v. Thompson Rivers at War Memorial Gym
• Jan. 18-19: Men's ice hockey v. Lethbridge at Winter Sports Centre
• Jan. 20: Dual Eclipse: Orchestras of Two Worlds
• Jan. 21-22: UBC Planning Open House 2008
• Jan. 23: Writing About War: By People Who Have Been There
• Jan. 23: Andy Milne & Benoit Delbecq: Duo Piano

Find out what else is happening at UBC this week. For sports events, visit the UBC Athletics site at www.gothunderbirds.ca/schedule.asp.

UBC People

• Online elections for the AMS start tomorrow
• UBC professor appointed to national endMS initiative
• Students camp in Koerner to raise literacy funds for Nepal
• UBC professors receive grants for ecological goods and services research
• Engineering professor wins signal award
• Graduate students recognized for their work
• Theatre at UBC presents Old Goriot
• Exponential Future opens at the Belkin Gallery as a centenary event
• Last call for YouTube youth video contest
• Health Promotion Programs take on Alzheimer’s and smoking
• Unruly Salon series continues with glo/cal citizenship, music and inclusive education
• UBC’s Institute of Asian Studies offers lectures
• Asian Studies launches lecture series in Islamic Studies
• Basketry at the Botanical Garden
• University administrators to gather at UBC

UBC People

Online elections for the AMS start tomorrow

Student elections for the Alma Mater Society (AMS) Executive begin online on Jan. 18 at 12:01 a.m. Questions, comments or concerns about the elections can be directed to Brendan Piovesan, Elections Administrator (SUB 249K) at Elections@ams.ubc.ca.

For more information, visit www.amsubc.ca/index.php/student_government/subplate/category/ams_elections.

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UBC professor appointed to national endMS initiative

Prof. Peter Rieckmann, Department of Neurology and Director of the multiple sclerosis program at Vancouver Coastal Health and UBC, has been appointed Regional Director (Pacific Northwest) for the endMS National Research & Training Network. The endMS initiative, funded by the MS Scientific Research Foundation and the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, aims to accelerate the pace of MS research.

Rieckmann joined UBC’s Brain Research Centre in September 2007 as the MS Society of Canada Research Chair to study MS pathogenesis and new therapeutic strategies.

For more information, visit www.med.ubc.ca/news/Awards_and_Honours.htm.

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Students camp in Koerner to raise literacy funds for Nepal

Two undergraduate students with a dream of spreading literacy will camp in Koerner Library for 10 days to raise support, awareness -- and funds. As part of Live-in for Literacy 2008, DREAM (Discover the Reality of Educating All Minds), a university club, is pitching a tent inside the lobby of Koerner Library. Other participating libraries are at Queen’s University in Kingston, Memorial University in St. John’s and Laurentian University in Sudbury.

Two students will live in each library from 10 a.m. PST Jan. 18 until 10 a.m. PST Jan. 28. The aim is to raise $20,000 nationally to construct five school libraries in Nepal through Room to Read (www.roomtoread.org), an international charity. In the past two years, the event has raised $17,000 to build a computer lab in Cambodia and three school libraries in Nepal.

This is the first time western Canada has been involved in the event, which has been held at Queen’s University for the past three years. In a show of support, UBC Library has already pledged $1,000 to kick-start donations.

For more information, visit www.liveinforliteracy.com.

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UBC professors receive grants for ecological goods and services research

Assist. Prof. Sumeet Gulati and Prof. James Vercammen, Faculty of Land and Food Systems, have received a grant of $40,000 from the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands in B.C. for their project Ecological Goods and Services and British Columbia Agriculture. Gulati and Vercammen propose to compile a list of ecological goods and services produced by B.C. agriculture, provide an in-depth analysis of two case studies within B.C. agriculture, and fund some Masters students over the next two years.

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Engineering professor wins signal award

Prof. Rabab Ward, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, has received the 2008 IEEE Signal Processing Society “Society Award" for her leadership and technical contributions to the Signal Processing Society. The $2500 prize will be presented to Ward at the 2008 IEEE International Conference on Acoustic, Speech and Signal Processing this spring in Las Vegas.

The IEEE name was originally an acronym for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. Today, with expansion into many related fields, it is simply referred to as I-E-E-E (pronounced Eye-triple-E). For more information on the IEEE, visit www.ieee.org.

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Graduate students recognized for their work

Christopher Brouse, a PhD candidate in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, has received the 2008 Western Association of Graduate Schools and University Microfilms International Innovation in Technology Award for his Master’s thesis Algorithms and Software for Intelligent Patient Monitoring, in recognition of its innovative technology and creative solution of a major problem.

Eranda Harinath, a PhD candidate in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, has been awarded a $25,000/year B.C. Industrial Innovation Scholarship in Intelligent Systems. The funds will support his research and advance his technology towards commercialization.

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Theatre at UBC presents Old Goriot

Presented in association with the PuSH International Festival of the Performing Arts, Western Gold Theatre and Theatre at UBC, Honoré de Balzac’s Old Goriot (Le Père Goriot) premieres today. The ensemble features some of Canada’s top professional actors, including award-winning BFA Acting alumnus and Adj. Prof. David Mackay, recent BFA Acting graduate Kevin Kraussler and 10 students from UBC’s BFA and BA programs.

Old Goriot runs from Jan. 17-26 in the Telus Studio Theatre at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts. Tickets are $25/$20/$15, available at the Theatre at UBC Box Office (604-822-2678). For more information, visit www.theatre.ubc.ca/old_goriot/subject.shtml.

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Exponential Future opens at the Belkin Gallery as a centenary event

UBC’s Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery announces the exhibition Exponential Future, featuring eight young Vancouver artists whose work is shown internationally. Among the artists are UBC Fine Arts alumnus Tim Lee and several Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design graduates.

The show runs from Jan. 18 - Apr. 27, with an opening reception on Jan. 24 as one of the first UBC Centenary events. The exhibition is sponsored by The Audain Foundation, VANOC’s Cultural Olympiad and The Canada Council for the Arts.

For more information, visit http://belkin.ubc.ca/current.

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Last call for YouTube youth video contest

Jessie’s Hope Society invites B.C. youth aged 12 - 22 to participate in the “What makes you strong” YouTube contest. To enter, participants are asked to make a short video demonstrating how they, their family or their friends expand their self-esteem, body image and inner strength to live with a healthy mind, body and soul despite social pressure from media, fashion, sports, diet industries and friends. Entries must be received by 5 p.m. on Jan. 25.

All participants and the public are invited to attend Jessie’s Hope Society’s YouTube Premier and Awards Ceremony at UBC Robson Square on Feb. 5, where three finalists will receive awards. Tickets are $10/$5 and must be reserved in advance by e-mailing info@jessieshope.org.

For more information, visit www.jessieshope.org/98.html and www.youtube.com/watch?v=Btl5gDREyQU.

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Health Promotion Programs take on Alzheimer’s and smoking

The Health Promotion Programs Unit, part of the Department of Health, Safety and Environment, invites the UBC community to reduce risk of Alzheimer's disease and stop smoking with help from their January seminar program. Helpful Tools to Quit Smoking will be held on Jan. 22 and 24; the first eight people to register will receive a free lung functioning test. Healthy Brain will be held on Jan. 30, led by representatives from the Alzheimer Society of B.C. will review health measures and tools for reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s disease or related dementia.

For more information visit www.hse.ubc.ca/health_promotion/wellness_initiatives/initiatives_index.htm.

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Unruly Salon series continues with glo/cal citizenship, music and inclusive education

UBC’s Faculty of Education offers the second salon in its Unruly Salon speaker series on Jan. 19 with an evening of music and performance, followed by a discussion and reception.

The series, made up of seven performances by scholars and/or artists with disabilities from the visual, performing and musical art sectors, aims to increase awareness about disability arts and the significant cultural contribution of disabled Canadians.

The series is free, open to the public and will take place at UBC’s Green College, 6201 Cecil Green Park Road All salons will be intimate and require pre-registration. For more information and to pre-register, visit www.unrulysalon.com.

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UBC’s Institute of Asian Studies offers lectures

UBC’s Centre for Japanese Research, Centre for Korean Research and Centre for Chinese Research will host several seminars in the upcoming weeks. All will be in Room 120 of the C.K. Choi Building, 1855 West Mall.

• Jan. 17, 4-5:30 p.m.: Prof. Hyaeweol Choi, Arizona State University, will speak on The Lure and Danger of the Public Sphere: Gender and Mission Encounters in Korea.
• Jan. 18, 5-6:30 p.m.: Prof. Mariko Watanabe, Hirosaki University, will speak on Educating Monks in Medieval Japan. The lecture will be in Japanese with translation provided.
• Jan. 23, 4-5:30 p.m.: Prof. Emeritus Daniel Overmyer, Department of Asian Studies, will speak on Festivals, Markets and Mediators in Rural North China: New Reports by Hebei Local Scholars.
• Jan. 25, 5-6:30 p.m.: Prof. Joshua Mostow, Department of Asian Studies, will speak on Illustrated Classical Texts for Women in the Edo Period.

For more information, visit www.iar.ubc.ca/bulletin/seminarsJAN2008.htm.

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Asian Studies launches lecture series in Islamic Studies

The Virani Lecture Series in Islamic Studies will hold its inaugural lectures this month. Teena Purohi, a recent graduate of Columbia University, will give a lecture on Dasavatar and the History of South Asian Ismal today from 4-6 p.m. in the Asian Centre Seminar Room 604.

The following week, Prof. Ali Asani, of the Practice of Indo-Muslim Languages and Culture in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University, will give two guest lectures. The first, entitled From Qawwali to Sufi Rock: Exploring Contemporary Expressions of Muslim Devotional Literature in South Asia, will take place on Jan.23 in the Asian Centre Auditorium at 7 p.m., preceded by a reception at 6:15 p.m.

The second, entitled From Satpanthi to Ismaili Muslim: The Articulation of Khojat Identity in Pre-colonial, Colonial and Post-Colonial Spaces in South Asia, will take place on Jan. 24 from 4-6 p.m. in the Asian Centre Seminar Room 604.  

For more information, visit www.asia.ubc.ca.

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Basketry at the Botanical Garden

The UBC Botanical Garden will offer a ‘honeysuckle rib’ basketry workshop on Feb. 24 from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. This basket is a traditional European style used for for gathering and storage. Participants will be offered a variety of natural materials and dyed reed to incorporate into their basket, and will learn about the gathering and preparation of these materials.

The workshop will take place at the Botanical Garden Pavilion at 6804 SW Marine Dr. Advance registration is required; cost is $95 (general) or $90 (members). For more information or to register, call 604-822-3928 or e-mail botg@interchange.ubc.ca.

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University administrators to gather at UBC

UBC is the official sponsor of the International Meeting of University Administrators (IMUA) 2008 conference in Vancouver, to be held August 17-21. The IMUA is a forum for the discussion of issues relating to the management and administration of higher education, with a thematic focus on globalization this year.

Speakers include Prof. Bryan Gould, an international authority on higher education; Prof. Carl Wieman, Nobel Laureate and Director of the Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative at UBC; Prof. David Dolphin, Professor Emeritus in Chemistry at UBC whose research helped launch QLT; Dr. Ron Dembo, founder of Zerofootprint; Prof. Rachel Gumbi, Rector and Vice Chancellor of the University of Zululand; and Dr. Dan Muzyka, Dean of the Sauder School of Business at UBC.

For more information, visit www.imua2008.ca.

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