Campus Resident Volume 6 Issue 7, July 2015

Volume 6, Issue 7 JULY 20, 2015

Published by the University Neighbourhoods Association

Province will assess safety of University Boulevard sidewalks

In the May issue of The Campus Resident, resident John Percy

described sidewalks as “treacherous”

John TompkinsThe Campus Resident Editor

The Ministry of Transportation and Infra-structure (MOTI) has launched a review of the sidewalks along University Boule-vard following an article by West Point

Grey resident John Percy in the May is-sue of The Campus Resident. In the ar-ticle, Mr. Percy described the sidewalks as “treacherous” and a potential source of civil liability to the government. The issue of poorly-maintained and un-safe sidewalks on University Boulevard was also raised by Mr. Percy and other constituents of Vancouver-Point Grey with David Eby, NDP MLA for the area. Mr. Eby addressed the issue with MOTI and received an encouraging response from them. Grant Smith, MOTI Operations Man-ager, Lower Mainland District, wrote, “I have asked our maintenance contractor,

Mainroad Contracting Lower Mainland Ltd., to review the sidewalks and address any immediate safety concerns. Moving forward we will have an assessment of the sidewalks to determine their condi-tion and structure a rehabilitation pro-gram.” Mr. Percy is a retired civil engineer and 22-year homeowner in West Point Grey living near the Blanca entrance to UBC. He, along with many neighbours, stu-dents, residents of the UBC community and visitors, walks the University Boule-vard corridor to and from UBC daily.

SIDEWALKS continued on Page 7

UNA changes voting

proceduresGreater integrity will be

brought to elections

The University Neighbourhoods Asso-ciation has changed the procedures by which it conducts its annual elections. Richard Alexander, Chair, said the UNA has adopted the three envelope bal-lot return system that was recently used in the Metro Vancouver transportation plebiscite: this system employs an un-marked secrecy envelope that contains the ballot, a certification envelope to be signed by the member and post-paid re-turn envelope. Mr. Alexander said the changes will en-sure adequate safeguards to the integrity of voting, and they will prevent practices (such as the photocopying of ballots) that create the perception that the procedure is open to abuse or falls well below the norms for voting in a democracy. The UNA Board adopted the new pro-cedures at its June meeting following the recommendations of the UNA Elections Advisory Committee, and the procedures will be used at the upcoming UNA Annu-al General Meeting (AGM) of members in September. Jan Fialkowski, UNA Executive Direc-tor, said all members will receive an offi-cial AGM/Elections package by Septem-ber 1. “It’s important that the members keep the package and not discard it,” Ms. Fialkowski said. “Only the official ballot will be accept-ed if it is returned in the three envelopes – a photocopied ballot will not be counted; a ballot received in any other envelope other than the UNA’s three envelopes will not be counted.” Residents who become members after the AGM mailing has been done (Au-gust 21) will be able to obtain an official AGM/Elections package at the UNA of-fice. The cry for reform of UNA election procedures came after widespread loss of faith in the way these procedures worked in the September 2014 AGM. At the October 2014 UNA Board meet-ing, the directors agreed to conduct a re-view of the UNA elections policies and procedures with the intent of improving the process in time for the 2015 UNA Elections. In January 2015, the UNA Elections Advisory Committee with eight members was established. The Committee present-ed its report on election reform in May.

Recycling: Creating beauty in the garbage room

Hawthorn Place residents are teaming up to prove that small changes can make a big difference in how people recycle and compost. The recycling project was funded by UTown@UBC Community Grant of $1,000. Organizers hope to develop a model recycling system that can be adopted in other residential buildings on campus. See story on Page 8.

UNA acts vigorously to conserve waterConservation measures have

been taken since Metro Vancouver declared water

shortage July 3

The University Neighbourhoods Asso-ciation has responded vigorously to the need to conserve water in the face of un-

seasonably dry and hot weather. Since July 3, when Metro Vancouver declared the second stage of a compre-hensive four-stage plan to deal with wa-ter shortages, the UNA has sought to re-duce water usage on numerous fronts. All water features in the neighbour-hoods have been turned off. Irrigation to all large areas of grass has been turned off, so that the only grassy areas being irrigated— once a week as

permitted—are the boulevards that have trees and shrubs that need to be kept alive. Trees and shrubs have been moni-tored for signs of stress, they will be wa-tered by hand if necessary. Timers on all irrigation zones have been reprogrammed and sprinkler heads closely monitored to avoid water run-off as much as possible.

WATER continued on Page 4

THE CAMPUS RESIDENT JULY 20, 2015page 2

Interested in running for election as a Resident Director?

Interested in the general operation of the UNA Societyand Board of Directors?

Come to the candidates briefing on

Wednesday, July 29, 2015at The Old Barn Community Centre from 7 to 9 pm.

The session will include:• Organizational structure of the UNA• Overview of municipal and recreation services provided by the UNA• Roles and responsibilities and expected time commitment of Resident Directors• Review of the 6 other governments that interact with the UNA on campus• UNA projects 2015-2016.

Space is limitedRegister before July 24, 2015 at [email protected]

UNA September ElectionInformation Session

A meeting for members of the UNA and residents of the“Local Areas” including Hampton Place, Hawthorn Place,

Chancellor Place, East Campus, and Wesbrook Place

Wednesday September 23, 2015 7pm – 9pmat The Old Barn Community Centre (6308 Thunderbird Blvd., UBC)

University Neighbourhoods AssociationANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

CALL FOR NOMINATIONSIn accordance with the UNA Constitution and By-laws, there will be an Election for TWO (2) UNA Resident Directors to take place at the UNA

Annual General Meeting.

Eligibility RequirementTo be eligible for nomination a person must be a resident of the

“local area” (those five areas currently identified for non-institutional development in the Land Use Plan) and otherwise meet the requirements

of our By-laws.

The UNA Constitution and By-laws requires that no more than THREE (3) directors may come from a single area. To read the UNA

Constitution and By-laws, please visit the UNA website www.myuna.ca. TWO (2) directors to be elected this September will initially hold office

for TWO (2) years. Directors may be re-elected (subject to being eligible) for up to TWO (2) more terms.

Nominees for the UNA Board of Directors may contact the UNA office by phone or email to be sent nomination forms or may print a copy from the UNA website www.myuna.ca. To be eligible, nominations require the support of 5 members of the UNA. Nominees are requested to submit a maximum 500 word bio and a high resolution head shot photo with the

completed nomination form to the UNA office. Biographical information will be posted on the UNA website and in The Campus Resident

newspaper.

Deadline for NominationsThe deadline for nominations is 4:30 pm on Friday, August 14, 2015.

Completed nomination forms should be mailed or delivered to the UNA office, #202-5923 Berton Avenue, Vancouver BC, V6S 0B3. The names of persons nominated for election as Resident Directors shall be published in a ballot and delivered to the membership with the notice of

meeting and related material by September 1, 2015.

For more information, please contact the UNA Office at 604.827.5158 or email [email protected]

Metro makes public education of fire danger top priority‘Extreme’ fire rating is still

in effect in Pacific Spirit Regional Park

Metro Vancouver has made public educa-tion about the responsible, safe and sus-tainable use of Pacific Spirit Park during this hot and dry weather the top priority of its staff. As such, staff has increased its patrol frequency of the park as Metro continues to monitor for appropriate use of the park during these extremely dry conditions. Richard Wallis, Supervisor, Park Op-erations, Regional Parks, West Area, said, “Staff request that in addition to the public being responsible about their use of the park, the public assists by reporting any sign of smoke or fire immediately to 911.” Mr. Wallis asks that members of the public keep their eyes and ears open for any other concerns in the park and report non-emergency concerns to the Metro Vancouver Regional Parks West Area Of-fice at 604-224-5739. Metro Vancouver is working closely with Vancouver Fire Department to monitor the extremely dry conditions

to ensure the safety of the park and sur-rounding areas. The fire danger rating is still extreme. Continued dry weather has resulted in conditions that are tinder dry and extremely sensitive to sparks and fire. Visitors to Pacific Spirit Park are asked to obey posted signs and fire danger guidelines. Campfires and briquette bar-beques are prohibited, propane barbeques are allowed only in picnic facilities under responsible supervision, and smoking is allowed only in designated areas. Also, sword Fern Trail adjacent Hamp-ton Place is currently closed to the public. Visitors to UNA park spaces face the following fire-related restrictions: no open-fires (e.g. campfires) are allowed. UNA asks visitors to be aware of all spark sources and report any signs of smoke or fire to 911 or UNA staff. Metro Vancouver urges public responsi-bility on the following two accounts. Handling of Cigarette Butts: “Please be responsible and ensure that all ciga-rette butts are fully extinguished, and ashes are cool before being properly dis-posed. Do not dispose cigarette butts on lawns, flowerbeds, park spaces, forests or any areas that may cause a fire hazard. Use proper ashtrays.”

Forest Fires: “In hot and dry summer months, forest fires are of a serious con-cern. Grass and other open fires can get out of control quickly and cause wild-fires. During warmer weather, the num-ber of visitors to regional parks increases,

resulting in increased risk of accidental wildfires. If you discover a wildfire, con-tact the fire department immediately and wait for further instructions regarding evacuation and the protection of you and your home.”

Keep up to date with the latest UNA news, announcements, events,

and The Old Barn Community Centre’s programming!

Join us on FACEBOOK!

The Old Barn Community CentreThe University Neighbourhoods Association

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THE CAMPUS RESIDENT JULY 20, 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: [email protected]

Design ProductionRebecca Indphone: 604.822.9675 email: [email protected]

Advertising enquiriesemail: [email protected]

Running in circles with the Wesbrook roundaboutAndrzej Jan Wroblewski

Hampton Place resident, retired professor of industrial design

As a long-time resident of Hampton Place, I have been witnessing how our planners have been making efforts to im-prove traffic patterns around our neigh-bourhood—at unknown but, for sure, significant public expense. A few years ago, the pedestrian cross-ing at the South entrance to Hampton Place was redesigned and changed from a straight path to a triangular design, with painted markings indicating the new path. No doubt, some good intentions motivated this change and triggered the expense in re-surfacing and re-landscap-ing the area—a change that has clearly not been welcomed nor accepted by pe-destrians as evidenced by markings on the grassy area of the former path that people still use when crossing the street, ignoring new design. About three years ago another improve-ment was implemented—at the intersec-tion of Westbrook Mall and 16th Avenue. The roundabout was designed with the intent to make the intersection safer and slow down the traffic on 16th Avenue. I imagine that it was quite a costly ‘im-provement’ considering new road re-pavements, street and pedestrian lights re-installation, etc. However, the design of the roundabout, including positioning of the pedestrian crossings, has generated many danger-ous situations and led to complaints.

Clearly, a conclusion was reached that this intersection was not working well as the roundabout has recently again been re-designed: relocation of street lights, underground electric cables, pedestrian paths, additional widths of the streets, new landscaping patterns. After several weeks of traffic disruption (and I am sure another significant expenditure of public funds), we have a new roundabout. What is the result? Last week, I tried to enter 16th Avenue from Hampton Place, but after waiting eight minutes, I decided to abort the attempt because the cars were stuck between Blanca and the roundabout practically without moving. I did not count how many cars and busses were idling, burning gasoline for several minutes while waiting to squeeze them-selves through the roundabout which now has cars from three directions hav-ing to merge within the roundabout into a single line in order to proceed towards campus. While the planners have certainly achieved the objective of slowing down the traffic (to a halt, actually!), I cannot comprehend how this solution is compat-ible with UBC and UNA’s sustainability agendas, and how it accommodates en-vironmental concerns shared by many residents. When I went for a walk this morning, I noticed workers marking over the newly installed road, pavement and landscap-ing. I stopped and asked them about the purpose of their activity, and they indi-cated that changes need to be made be-cause there is a problem with the current layout. So there will be more construc-

tion and more expenditures related to the roundabout. I would be interested to learn how much the subsequent re-designs of the 16th Avenue/Wesbrook corridor have cost taxpayers over the past decade and whether anyone bears responsibility for repetitively remedying solutions that do not work? With the availability of public consulta-tion that could inform the process, access to traffic tracking techniques and tech-nology-enabled modeling, and extensive experience world-wide with roundabout designs, I wonder why we need to be taking a trial and error approach to plan crossings and intersections at UBC? It seems to me, that competent planners and engineers should be able to successfully manage such designs on the first attempt. There is no doubt in my mind that it is a matter of another few years, at most, before we will undergo another improve-ment of the 16th and Wesbrook round-about. At some point, our decision-mak-ers will surely find it intolerable to accept that hundreds of cars a day are uselessly idling at this intersection because of its inadequate design, especially as the num-ber of users will increase with the grow-ing population of Wesbrook Place. While there will be no way to spare us the in-convenience of yet another construction project, I wonder if UNA and UBC will take steps to charge the expense back to those responsible for the flawed design rather than having taxpayers yet again foot the bill. As we have just been asked to pay our rural taxes and the annual UBC levy, this

seems to be a particularly good time to ask these questions. It is common in pro-fessional fields to bear financial respon-sibility for one’s errors (thus doctors, lawyers and others purchase professional liability insurance), and it is increas-ingly a societal expectation that those in a decision-making power who approve and tolerate projects that result in waste of public money are called to answer for their mistakes as well (by stepping down or being fired from their positions, so that more responsible individuals can assume these roles). As a retired professor of industrial design, I wish our planners would give thought to the old mantra that has under-scored some of the best designs in the world: that design should be rooted in good understanding of the problem that the design is supposed to solve— from the users’ perspective—and that the so-lution should improve users’ experience. And as a UNA resident, I wish those en-trusted with the stewardship of public funds— to which our community con-tributes—would do so with responsibility and accountability.

UEL community calls for further revisions to Block F planBoth ‘good things’ and ‘problems’

seen in revised Musqueam application to develop land

Residents on the University Endowment Lands agree generally with their elected representatives that the recently revised plan by Musqueam Capital Corporation (MCC) to develop 22 acres of forested land should be further revised. In a series of straw polls at a Town Hall meeting sponsored by the UEL Com-munity Advisory Council (CAC) on June 22, over 60 residents backed CAC opinions—as expressed in a circular— that “good things” can be said about the revised MCC plan to develop Block F. However, residents also confirmed they “still see problems” with the new plan which MCC placed before the UEL ad-ministration for approval in May. Residents at the Town Hall meeting described the revised plan for Block F—which has the potential to add 2,500 people to the current UEL population of

almost 4,250 over the next ten years—as being “in need of tweaking.” Nothing epitomizes—or seems to epito-mize—the reservation of UEL residents towards parts of the Musqueam plan for Block F more than the proposed height of four high-rise towers. In the original version of the plan, sub-mitted in the fall of 2013, MCC proposed residential high-rises of 22 storeys. UEL residents greeted the news of this project-ed height with no enthusiasm at all, and the Musqueam took note: in the revised plan, the proposed height of these four towers was reduced to 18 storeys. However, speakers at the CAC meet-ing called for further reductions — to possibly 14 storeys, even 12 storeys. In any event, community sentiment seemed to be that when completed, no high-rise building should exceed the current height of the majority of mature conifers within Block F. In contrast to the problematic high-rise issue, the issue of a hotel planned for the Musqueam Block F development has been resolved to the satisfaction of UEL

residents. In its initial version of the plan, Musqueam proposed a 120-room hotel. Residents judged this to be inappropriate. Musqueam kept the door open for revi-sion and eliminated the hotel proposal from its revised version of the plan—re-placing it with rental accommodation. The Musqueam made another conces-sion on the issue of a community cen-tre in the development. Originally, they had opposed the idea of UEL people other than Block F residents using about 10,000 square feet of community ameni-ty space. Many residents objected to this. Musqueam paid attention, and the plan now includes a full community centre for all UEL residents to attend. At an earlier June 3 Open House on the Block F project hosted by the UEL ad-ministration, the CAC executive handed out a two page circular which spells out the problems and solutions they see in the revised application. The circular reads, “Good things we can say:• The current application is much better than the first submission in December

2013, which asked for a larger density in-crease, high-rise towers up to 22 storeys and a hotel and no provision for below market housing and a poor level of ame-nities.• The open spaces such as parks, paths and street edges are now much better.• The community centre concept is mov-ing in the right direction.• The hotel is gone, replaced by rental housing.• The bylaw required level of below-mar-ket housing has been achieved.” The circular also reads, “The problems we still see:• Maximum tower height of 18 storeys is still excessive.• Many bylaw relaxations are asked for, some of which will affect height and den-sity.• Residential parking is reduced from the current UEL bylaw levels.• Commercial centre street level parking and service vehicle access are not ad-equately resolved.

BLOCK F continued on Page 7

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.


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

The grass on Nobel softball field is be-ing maintained – minimally – as permit-ted by the Metro Vancouver restrictions. All power washing of hard landscaping and window washing has been stopped. As soon as the UNA received the notice from Metro Vancouver about increased water conservation measures, notices of restriction were sent to strata presidents and building and property managers. Jan Fialkowski, UNA Executive Direc-tor, said, “While we have no ability to enforce these restrictions within the pri-vate stratas, nor does Metro Vancouver: I don’t believe that anyone would will-ingly ignore the restrictions.” Meanwhile, UBC Properties Trust, which manages the majority of faculty and staff rental properties in the campus neighbourhoods, is also complying vig-orously with the necessary measures to deal with water shortages in its buildings, as mandated by Metro Vancouver. On July 3, Carol Mason, Metro Van-couver Commissioner, said, “Metro Van-couver takes water conservation and pro-tection of our sources of drinking water extremely seriously. “Over the last several years, our lawn sprinkling regulations have had a signifi-cant positive impact on reducing water demands in the peak summer season, and we are asking residents and businesses to further conserve water at this time.” One hour of lawn sprinkling uses as much water as 25 toilet flushes, five loads of laundry or five dishwasher loads. The demand for water doubles during the hot-test days of summer to as much as two billion litres of water a day. Thanks to conservation programs like the lawn sprinkling regulations and the Water Shortage Response Plan, there has

been a 27% decline in per-capita water use in Metro Vancouver since 1993. Met-ro Vancouver revised its lawn sprinkling regulations in 2011 to only allow morn-ing sprinkling, and peak-day per capita water demand has decreased by 2% per year. The current seasonal Lawn Sprinkling Regulations took effect on June 1 to help conserve Metro Vancouver’s high-quali-ty drinking water, and they are in place until September 30. Watering lawns is permitted in the morning but prohibited during evening hours when demand is highest for do-mestic uses like cooking, dishwashing, laundry and showers. The increased re-strictions apply to lawn sprinkling only and not to watering flowers, vegetables and shrubs. Current Lawn Sprinkling Regulations ResidentialEven-numbered addresses may sprinkle lawns 4 am–9 am Monday. Odd-numbered addresses may sprinkle lawns 4 am–9 am Thursday. Non-residentialEven-numbered addresses may sprinkle lawns 1am–6 am Wednesday. Odd-numbered addresses may sprinkle lawns 1am–6 am Tuesday. In addition to following the regulations, other ways to conserve water include: sweeping driveways, sidewalks and gar-den paths rather than spraying them with water, ensuring there are full loads for dish and clothes washers, using a spray nozzle with an automatic shut-off when washing your car or watering plants, fix-ing leaking faucets and hose connections, turning off the tap when brushing your teeth or washing dishes. The last time that Metro Vancouver im-plemented the second stage of the Water Shortage Response Plan was in 2003.

WATER continued from Page 1

HIKES

Proudly supported by

FUN!TRAILS MOUNTAINS

OUTDOOR ADVENTURE CLUB

For Youth Aged 13-18

July 25August 8August 22

Lynn Peak - Lynn Headwaters Regional Park

Hollyburn Mountain - Cypress Mountain

Baden Powell - Lynn Canyon to Deep Cove

$25.00 for each session (10% UNA/UBC discount is available). Registration is required early - space is limited. T: 604.827.4469. W: www.myuna.ca

Transport and snacks will be provided. Meet at The Old Barn Community Centre (6308 Thunder-bird Blvd) at 9:30am for a 10:00am departure, returning by 6:00pm. Please bring lunch, water, and dress appropriately for each activity.

RESEARCH SUBJECTS NEEDED FOR BALANCE PERFORMANCE STUDIES

Neural Control of Posture and Movement Lab at UBC – Dr. Mark Carpenter

We are looking for healthy young adults (age 19-40 years) and healthy older adults (age 55-85 years) to participate in research studies investigat-ing how the nervous system controls upright standing. Balance perfor-mance will be tested in our laboratory at UBC using simple balance and walking tasks. Please contact Dr. Carpenter ([email protected] or 604-822-8614) if you are interested in participating in research and would like more information about the studies that are currently ongoing in our

research lab at UBC.

THE CAMPUS RESIDENT JULY 20, 2015 page 5

We need your help!Record dry and unseasonably hot weather in May and June has led Metro Vancouver to issue STAGE 2 water restrictions and an EXTREME fire rating for Pacific Spirit Regional

Park and the Lower Mainland. Both apply to the UBC Vancouver campus.

Restrictions will continue until September 30, and may become more strict.

WATER WISE• water ponds and fountains must be shut o�

• lawn and garden bed watering can only occur once per week

• window washing and power washing is discontinued

1 hour of lawn sprinkling uses as much water as 25 toilet flushes, five loads of laundry,and five dishwasher loads. Increased water conservation is now in e�ect.

Ways you can conserve water include sweeping driveways, sidewalks, and garden paths rather than spraying them with water, ensuring there are full loads for dish and clothes washers, taking shorter showers, using a spray nozzle with an automatic shut-o� when watering plants, fixing leaking faucets and hose connections, turning o� the tap when brushing your teeth or washing dishes.

FIRE SAFETY• fire safety practices are in place for everyone on campus

• no open-fires (e.g. campfires or briquette/propane barbeques) are allowed

• be aware of all spark sources; report all fires to 911

• smokers should carefully dispose of butts and ashes in proper non-flammable containers

for more information, contact [email protected]

UEL incorporation study: Council calls again for meeting with Minister

Community is pressing to become municipality in face of apparent

inertia by government

John TompkinsThe Campus Resident Editor

Elected representatives of the Univer-sity Endowment Lands community have again attempted to meet their ‘mayor’ to discuss a proposed incorporation study for the UEL. Dave Forsyth, President of the UEL Community Advisory Council (CAC), refers to Coralee Oakes, Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Develop-ment, as “the equivalent of our mayor” in a May 25 letter about the CAC bid for an incorporation study made 18 months ago. Mr. Forsyth writes, “As the politician responsible for local matters in our com-munity, you are the equivalent of our mayor. Yet you have repeatedly turned down requests to meet with us. It’s as if the mayor of your home town, Quesnel, refused to have anything to do with the residents of Quesnel. Meetings with your

officials are not an adequate substitute for meetings with you.” As an unincorporated area, the UEL does not have an elected mayor and mu-nicipal council. Instead, the provincial government is the governing body, and the community is administered through the Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development under the Univer-sity Endowment Land Act. The Ministry appoints a Manager who is responsible for the day to day adminis-tration of the UEL. The Community Ad-visory Council—an elected body of sev-en UEL residents—represents the UEL community to the provincial government and advises the Manager on matters of importance to the residents. Mr. Forsyth—who has lived in the UEL all his life—writes in his letter to the Minister, “We are aware from your offi-cials, who met with us at our instigation, and from your responses to our MLA’s questions during last year’s debate on budget estimates, that consultants have been retained to gather the facts. That process seems to be taking an inordinate amount of time, especially given that at least one of your officials is thoroughly familiar with the UEL, having worked on

UEL matters for years. “As you know, our MLA (David Eby, NDP) recently obtained documents through a freedom of information re-quest. Those documents show that a workshop was held last November, ap-parently to brainstorm our request and other UEL matters. However, the docu-ments are heavily redacted, so we are able to learn little from them. “We find it surprising that this work-shop, and possibly other activities, have been carried out without the participation of UEL residents. Community represen-tatives should be integrally involved in all discussions regarding the governance of the UEL. The process to date has lacked any transparency or openness. It is unacceptable that we are being kept on the sidelines while a matter of consider-able importance to our community is un-der discussion.” UEL residents have attempted to gain municipal status once before, doing so in the 1990s in cooperation with Hampton Place residents. However, the bid failed when the UEL group and Hampton Place group (the first residents at UBC) failed to reach consensus on governance struc-ture and other matters.

While both UEL and UBC residents live in unincorporated areas without elected mayors and municipal councils, the similarity in governance structures ends there. In 2002, the University Neighbour-hoods Association was established to approximate a municipal council for resi-dential areas on UBC campus. The UNA Board of Directors—com-prised of five directors elected by resi-dents, two directors appointed by UBC and one director appointed by the Alma Mater Society—is responsible for gov-ernance of residential neighbourhoods on campus under the terms of a Neigh-bours’ Agreement with UBC. Among other things, the UNA promotes a distinct University Town and acts as an Advisory Body to the UBC Board of Governors. The current push on municipal incorpo-ration on the UEL began 3 ½ years ago with the election of long-time commu-nity leader Ron Pears to the post of CAC President. After Mr. Pears concluded his term in office, Mr. Forsyth took over as CAC President in the November 2014 UEL election.

THE CAMPUS RESIDENT JULY 20, 2015

Published monthly by the University Neighbourhoods

Association

Advertise with us! email - [email protected]

page 6

UNA Chair: Plebiscite result reflects keenness of local residents for transit

YES vote in Electoral Area A was 59%, but only 38% in

Metro region as whole

The majority YES vote in Electoral Area A in the recent plebiscite reflects on the keen awareness by residents of the im-portance and value of a comprehensive transit network, says University Neigh-bourhood Association Chair Richard Al-exander. Voters in Electoral Area A cast bal-lots 58.57% in support of a proposed new 0.5% Metro Vancouver Congestion Improvement Tax to be dedicated to the Mayors’ Council Transportation and Transit Plan; in comparison, voters in Metro Vancouver as a whole cast ballots only 38.32% in support of the tax. The population of Electoral Area A con-sists largely of 20,000 residents of UBC (10,000 permanent residents as well as 10,000 students in residence) and more than 4,000 residents of the University Endowment Lands. Mr. Alexander said, “Living on the Point Grey peninsula pro-vides residents with an appreciation of the importance of public transit and the services that we receive.” Commenting on the results of the plebi-scite, Werner Antweiler, a professor at the Sauder School of Business, Univer-sity of British Columbia, said, “Electoral Area A (which is mostly UBC and the Endowment Lands) is significantly dif-ferent from the rest of Metro Vancou-ver. People living at UBC rely on public transit to a much larger extent than other Metro areas. Anyone who has ever taken the 99B line is acutely aware of the need

for improved public transit, in particular building rapid transit along the Broad-way corridor. Of course, the demograph-ics of Electoral Area A has something to do with the voting result as well. Many UBC students were eligible to vote and rely on transit much more than the aver-age Metro Vancouver resident. Similar to Bowen Island (another area where the YES side carried the day), long known to have a “green” outlook, UBC residents are perhaps also more acutely aware of environmental issues and the long-term need for better public infrastructure.” Professor Antweiler anticipated the negative outcome of the plebiscite and suggested alternative forms of financing on his blog in March. Robin Lindsey, a professor in Opera-tions and Logistics Division at the Saud-er School of Business, wrote in an email, “Electoral Area A includes several unin-corporated areas in Metro Vancouver. I do not know the population distribution, but my guess is that UBC accounts for a large fraction of the total. Of the $7.5+ billion package, over $2 billion was ear-marked for transit service improvements along the Broadway Corridor. UBC residents were probably well aware of pass-ups and delays on the 99B line, and attracted by the prospect of having a sub-way running from Commercial Drive to Arbutus and the prospect of a later exten-sion to campus. “Another factor could be that the population of Electoral Area A is better-educated than average, and aware of the benefits of improved transit service. The benefits include: reductions in traffic congestion, pollution, crashes and noise; greater accessibility; and benefits from

so-called agglomeration economies that arise when people can interact face-to-face more easily. “These are only conjectures. I don’t know whether attitudinal polls at the mu-nicipal level were taken at any stage of the referendum process.” Jude Crasta, Vice-President External Affairs, UBC (student) Alma Mater So-ciety, said, “The AMS was disappointed to see the results of the Metro Vancouver Transit Plebiscite released recently. “However, we do not believe the results to be a rejection of improved public tran-sit and transportation in our region. Fur-ther, we are pleased to note that Electoral Area A was one of the three places in the region that produced a YES vote. “Moving forward, the Broadway Cor-ridor Rapid Transit Project remains a key priority for our students in the long term, along with improved bus service solutions to relieve current congestion problems. We will keep working with our partners in support of improved transit solutions in order to allow our commut-ing students to get to campus as quickly and comfortably as possible.” Kay Teschke, a professor at the School of Population and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, said, “ As a faculty member, I hear stories all the time from students and colleagues about the difficulties with the B-line buses. Anyone who hears this would find it hard not to be willing to contribute to an improved system. The Broadway subway would fill a huge un-met demand. The proportion of trips to and from UBC by transit is one of the highest in the region. The results by city suggest that cities where transit use was higher were more likely to vote YES. Many people at UBC study issues relat-ed to the referendum. Traffic congestion, air pollution, and public health would all have benefited from the Mayors’ Council plan.” Maria Harris, Electoral Area A Director and a member of the Mayors’ Council on Transportation, said that while those who voted NO did so for a variety of reasons, dissatisfaction with the Mayors’ Council plan appears to have been a minor factor. “It was clear during the plebiscite that many people recognize the need to im-prove transit throughout Metro Vancou-ver and believe that the Mayors’ Council plan is sound,” Ms. Harris said. Ms. Harris said it is not apparent at the moment how the funding dilemma will be resolved. “Minister Stone is push-ing the Mayors’ Council to use property taxes and has also said that some of the funding should be obtained from land value capture (realizing on the increase in the value of land that occurs when rapid transit is implemented nearby). Mayors have been adamant in rejecting the use of property taxes for this purpose, as prop-erty taxes are the principal source of rev-enue for funding their municipalities.” Sumeet Gulati, a professor in the Fac-ulty of Land and Food Systems at UBC, was not surprised by the result of the

plebiscite. He called Electoral Area A “transit dependent”, and related his expe-riences as a transit-user (#25 route) liv-ing in Dunbar. “I catch the bus after tak-ing my son to school at 9 am, and two or three buses go by at times without stop-ping.” The plebiscite was “not the way to go,” Professor Gulati said. David Moscrop, a UBC political scien-tist, said the result was “no surprise. “If you look at Vancouver proper, it actually voted NO by about 3,000 votes. That sur-prised me. For Electoral Area A, no sur-prise: students are heavy transit users.” Pat Condon, a professor in the UBC School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, said, “Students wanted the subway…that’s not a surprise to me.” Lawrence Frank, a professor in the School of Community and Regional Planning at UBC, said of the strong YES vote in Electoral Area A, “Yes, this would be expected. Area A around UBC was to gain a lot by being located along a vibrant new rail alignment and also de-mographically comprised of a population more attitudinally pre-disposed to and with a greater understanding of transit’s importance.” UBC President, Arvind Gupta, said in a news release, “Though I am person-ally disappointed with the outcome of the plebiscite, Metro Vancouver residents have spoken and we need to respect the outcome. “However, this is not the end of our efforts to ensure that our partners come together to improve transit for all Lower Mainland residents, including extending rail rapid transit to our Vancouver cam-pus. UBC intends to work proactively with the Musqueam First Nation, City of Vancouver, TransLink, the Province, Metro Vancouver and other key stake-holders to bring forward a bold vision that heeds the concerns that voters have expressed but also delivers the improved service that our region critically needs, including more buses in the short term and rapid transit in the longer term. “Improved transportation is as much about bringing UBC closer to the com-munity as it is about bringing faculty, students, staff and other members of our campus community to UBC. We want to improve connections between UBC and Metro Vancouver to facilitate the exchange of ideas, collaboration and in-novation – in science, engineering, medi-cine, arts and business. With a growing community of nearly 50,000 students, 14,000 faculty and staff and 10,000 resi-dents, UBC is one of the largest single destinations in Metro Vancouver. Right now, the lack of transportation options is a barrier to people accessing the opportu-nities that UBC has to offer – academic, cultural, athletic, research and economic. “Regardless of how you voted, I want to thank you, our faculty, staff and stu-dents, for participating in this important plebiscite. You have shown with your ac-tions that UBC truly is a place of engage-ment.”


In his May article in The Campus Resi-dent, Mr. Percy describes University Boulevard as a two-kilometer bus or car ride into the University of British Colum-bia from ‘THE GATES’ at Blanca Street offering a beautiful, welcoming vista of towering trees, a blossoming landscape and the peacefulness of a lush top-class golf course. “However, the sidewalks on both sides of University Boulevard from Blanca to Acadia Road are treacherous. Each trip, whether on dry or wet and icy days, is a formidable challenge to able-bodied

SIDEWALKS continued from Page 1 walkers and joggers, but an impossible trip for some seniors and those with sight or mobility issues.” Four photographs accompanied the ar-ticle showing sidewalks with broken con-crete, patchy asphalt, muddy ponds and projecting tree roots. “To the best of my knowledge, there has been no attempt to maintain or im-prove these important thoroughfares for decades,” Mr. Percy wrote. “Surely, the employees of the govern-ment department responsible for main-taining these terribly neglected walk-ways have documented their seriously poor condition. I further suggest that

UBC transit policy puts campus shuttles on road to successShuttles have been running for a decade—but running profitably

only recently

When shuttle bus service began at the University of British Columbia in the mid-2000’s, hardly anyone used it. Empty shuttle buses rolled through Hampton Place and other parts of cam-pus for years, and TransLink sustained a heavy financial loss in running them. A senior UBC administration official at the time offered the view that TransLink might more economically cancel the ser-vice—which ran on two routes (C20 and C22)—and pay taxis to carry its few us-ers instead. Even as recently as 2012, C22 was among the lowest performing routes in the TransLink system with an operat-ing cost of $5.57 every time a passenger boarded. Fortunately, those days have passed. In close collaboration with UBC, Trans-Link has developed two more produc-tive routes to better meet the needs of customers using the services. As a result, C22 was discontinued, and in December 2013, route C18 was introduced. Michael White, UBC Associate Vice-

President, Campus and Community Plan-ning, provided The Campus Resident with the latest statistics affirming the fi-nancial health of the shuttle bus service:• Annual revenue hours increased by 24% to accommodate a growing rider-ship made possible through the service changes.• Total annual boardings on the two UBC routes increased 66%: from 179,000 in 2012 to 297,000 in 2014.• Cost per boarding passenger decreased 26%: from $2.16 to $1.61. In an interview, Mr. White said, “The new routes are direct, simple and consis-tent, serving areas of strong demand and key destinations. Customers have better access to the south part of campus, in-cluding Wesbrook Village.” The two TransLink Community Shuttle routes at UBC—C18 and C20—offer a wide coverage of campus, creating stron-ger connections between amenities and attractions, neighbourhoods and student residences. The C18 runs counter-clock-wise from the UBC Bus Loop to West Mall, close to student residences. The C20 runs clockwise from the UBC Bus Loop to Marine Drive, maintaining ser-vice to the UBC Botanical Gardens and St. John Hospice. Effective June 22, a new bus stop has been added to the C20

these sidewalks are in no way compliant with the intent of Provincial Construction Guidelines and are a potential source of civil liability to the Province and perhaps others, should anyone succumb to the multiple tripping hazards.” As a way to solve the issue and ensure safe safety on the University, Mr. Percy suggested following the example set by the recently improved forest walk-way along the north side of 16th Av-enue running from Blanca to Wesbrook Village.“It is a pleasant, wide, safe and compact gravel trail that is very heavily utilized,” he said. In an e-mail to The Campus Resident,

Mr. Eby said he is very pleased that MOTI will be taking action.

It would be nice to have University Boulevard sidewalks look like this.

BLOCK F continued from Page 3

Community Shuttle route outside Marine Drive Residence on Lower Mall. The C18 and C20 run every 30 minutes, regular one-zone fare applies. Passengers may use a Compass Card/U-Pass, month-ly pass, FareSaver ticket, Transfer or pay exact coin fare to board the community shuttle. Mr. White also provided UBC statis-tics for daily transit ridership to and from campus compared to other modes of travel: from 18% transit usage in 1997

growing steadily to 55% in 2013 (last year for which results are available). In comparison, single vehicle occupancy usage has declined from 43% in 1997 to 28% in 2013. Mr. White said that improving trans-portation to and from (and around) cam-pus is one of the most important issues his department faces. He said UBC has heard from students and residents that they want better transit, and UBC has de-termined to provide it.

• Commercial centre underground park-ing is not adequately resolved.• Community centre has no underground parking and very limited street level parking. • Community centre governance and op-erations are not properly addressed.• Number and size of family housing units is too small.• Senior housing is not dealt with or men-tioned.• Noise control is not addressed.• There is no scale model provided and for a project like this a model is neces-sary.• Density: might be accepted as a pro-posed if all other issues are resolved.” The development of Block F will lead to big changes in the UEL. Housing in the UEL will be 75 % multi-family hous-ing in the future, unlike the mainly single family housing the UEL has had for de-cades. Following the Town Hall meeting, a Block F Working Group within the CAC drafted a report on community response to the revised MCC application for a Block F development permit, and sub-mitted this report to the UEL administra-tion and MCC. Block F land was transferred by the Province of British Columbia to the Mus-

queam Indian Band as part of Reconcilia-tion, Settlement and Benefits Agreement in 2008. Band members say that profits from development of the land will be used to improve educational and other

facilities on Musqueam Indian Reserve located south of Marine Drive near the mouth of the Fraser River. The UEL CAC circular concludes, “This (Block F) project is by far the big-

gest project we will see until the 146 acre University Golf Course, also owned by the Musqueam Indian Band, can be de-veloped after 2083. We need to get the development of Block F right!”

Passengers board community shuttle bus at UBC.


Recycling: Creating beauty in the garbage roomLogan Lane ‘Ladies for Change’

look to inspire neighbours

Laura CottleHawthorn Place resident

It’s always a challenge to get people to change their behaviour. Habits, such as throwing all one’s household waste into a big garbage bag and throwing it into the big bin in the ‘garbage room’, die hard. It takes too much time to sort out recy-clables and compostables! And besides, who wants to spend any more time than one has to in that stinky ‘garbage’ room! With UBC’s aim of a 80% reduction in the amount of waste going to landfills by the year 2021, and the impending 2016 fining by Metro Vancouver of people who put compost in the waste stream, it is clearly important to change behaviours. Our objective in applying for a UTown Community Grant for our recycling proj-ect was to initiate that change – to get people paying more attention to what they are doing with all that stuff they call ‘garbage’. And we decided to start with the children of our Strata. We are three Ladies for Change—Laura Cottle, Veronica Ignas and Carol Bassingthwaighte—who live in Logan Lane Strata located within the Hawthorn Place neighbourhood. Our first aim has been to beautify our two recycling/gar-bage rooms. The dull grey cement walls and ceilings were washed and painted a brilliant green. Then in April, on two con-secutive weekends, we gathered a group of children and their parents to create a recycling mural on one wall per recycling

room (we have two rooms). A local art-ist, Bennett Mitten, guided the children’s creative ideas to a cohesive, relevant final product that shows a collection of house-hold items that can be recycled. One of the participants of our recy-cling project—her name is Hanna—said “Before the paint job, the garbage rooms were dull and boring. Now, whenever I go in, I feel more comfortable in a co-lourful room. Recycling can do the same to our world. If we all pitch in and work together, we can make this world a more colourful and better place to live. I’m re-ally glad that I was part of a helping team like this one.” Another participant—Dar Jankovic, a ten year old boy, in fourth grade— said: ”A few weeks ago there was a painting activity in my building garbage room. I was so excited, I ran down the stairs to the garbage room and started the activ-ity right away. We were painting recycla-ble items. We painted them because we wanted to tell people that recycling is a great thing to do. It was very fun paint-ing, and afterwards, I was very proud of myself. I learned that recycling could be fun and very helpful to the world. I hope this project will tell people to recycle and compost more often. I think the impor-tance of recycling is that if you recycle, you can reuse what you recycled. Recy-cling is a wonderful thing. It helps me, it helps you. Humans can recycle to make a better world, why don’t you? Thank you!” Now, that we have two beautiful recy-cling/garbage rooms, our next step is to change people’s use of the room. To that end, we’ll be assisted through our partici-pation in a UBC research project on recy-

cling behaviour. This research group will install clear visual prompts (i.e. signage) in our rooms and then study the impacts of this visual information on our recy-cling and composting behaviour. In the meantime, our young artists have

Do you know that in 2014 almost half of the amount of food wasted in Canada was generated by consumers? We can mini-mize our food waste with a responsible and well thought out food management plan. Below are some tips about how you can help to minimize the amount of food wasted in your home.• Plan out your food purchases, check your home food inventory before shop-ping. Do not over-purchase: it may end up producing unnecessary waste.• If you have a small family but have pur-

Responsible food management at home

Wegland Sit UNA Sustainability Manager

chased food items in bulk, store unused portions in the freezer right away.• Don’t assume there is always advantage to buying in bulk. Excess quantity means that unused or rotten food will be thrown away along with the money you tried to save when purchasing in bulk.• Be smart about expiration dates. • Plan your meals and cook with appro-priate portions, there is no reason to cook a portion for eight while you are only serving dinner for six.• Consider bringing left-over food for lunch. Left-over food is a ‘free’ and healthier choice compared to take-out food. Save your wallet and reduce your en-vironmental footprint one plate at a time.

begun the process of inspiring people to change their recycling behaviour. Thank you to Hanna, Dar, Vuk, Iva, Sonya, Becky, Mateo, Emma and Mei for creat-ing beauty where only waste existed be-fore!

Young artists paint colourful recycling objects on the wall in the garbage room.


Kids in neighbourhood raise $1,000 for charityJasna Jankovic

Hawthorn Place resident

I live with my family in Logan Lane, part of Hawthorn Place, a UNA neighbourhood. This article is about a fantastic effort of our neighbourhood kids, the Kids for Charity team. I am writing this article as a parent because I am very proud of what these great

kids have achieved.

On Sunday, May 31, a group of kids from our neighbourhood participated in the BC Children’s Hospital 30th annual ChildRun—a 5km race in support of children’s cancer and leukemia research and treatment. That day was the crown of months of hard work to fundraise $1,000 for the hospital’s childhood illness relief network while raising awareness for the BC Children’s Hospital and its services. Iva Jankovic, founder of the neighbor-hood’s Kids for Charity program, led the team of 12 kids through trainings and fundraising projects for the big event. Her brothers, Vuk and Dar Jankovic, and their friends— Sean Choi, Morris Ling, Sonia and Felix Mann, Mateo Fiuza, Gregory Zdanovich, Thomas and Forrest Van Alstein, and Anna R.— were all part of the Kids for Charity team and proudly supported the program through their par-ticipation. Every Saturday, from February to the end of May, the team would get together for their practice run. They would run for 2, 3 or 5 kms, all together, then come back to the Old Barn Community Centre and start their fundraising. One weekend, it was going from door to door asking for donations; the next, it was baking cook-ies and selling them to people passing by. One week, the group decided to do a sidewalk chalk art exhibition, and so

many kids joined in that people stopped by to admire them happily playing to-gether. One lady told me: “I rarely see kids playing so nicely outside like this. What a nice sight.” Yes, I thought—this is how it should be. As the run approached, the kids had still not quite reached their goal of $1,000. “It’s not easy to collect $1,000. It is a lot of money,” commented Dar. Iva sent out an appeal to the Logan Lane neighbourhood: the kids would do dif-ferent ‘deeds’ if the neighbours donated money for the Children’s hospital. The response was there! Every Saturday for the past few months, Kids for Charity members were busy washing cars, water-ing plants, fish-sitting and more. One of the largest ‘deeds’ was the washing of 66 front gates, 10 fences and a few garage entrances around Logan Lane—scrap-ing dirt and green mold off the gates that haven’t been washed possibly for years. The kids came armed with cloths, buck-ets, sponges and toothbrushes (yes, tooth-brushes) and scrubbed away for hours, polishing every one of the 66 gates to a shine. It was hard, they say, but it taught them team work, endurance and respon-sibility. Most of all, it taught them how to selflessly give to others. Or, we can say, they taught us how to do that! After weeks of hard training and work, they finally reached their goal. Kids for Charity proudly donated $1,000 to the BC Children’s hospital. They are thank-ful to all their friends, parents, relatives and neighbours who donated and helped them reach their goal. On the morning of May 31, the team assembled at the start line of the 5km ChildRun. We, their par-ents, were there too, full of pride for the selfless efforts of our kids. They ran, and several of them even finished in the first 30 out of thousands of participants to cross the finish line. All finished the race and celebrated their success together. What to say about this fantastic team of kids? They are our neighbourhood he-roes! Their efforts are continuing, and

you will be seeing them around running, fundraising or simply playing. Send your kids to join them—they are a lot of fun! And join Kids for Charity in August when they will start fundraising with their big

Bike Parade! Look around for posters or go to www.kidsforcharity.org for more information about Kids for Charity and about their upcoming events!

Kids for Charity wash a car: Anna, Vuk, Sean, Sonia, Iva, Felix, Morris.

Kids for Charity participate in the BC Children’s Hospital annual ChildRun. Top row: Iva, Vuk, Morris, Sean, Felix, Thomas. Bottom row: Mateo, Forrest, Grego-ry, Sonia, Dar and Luke.

UNA welcomes Skate JamAndrew Clements

Youth Program CoordinatorThe Old Barn Community Centre

On July 3, the UNA hosted the 2nd An-nual Picnic in the Park: UNA Skate Jam. This year’s event was sponsored by Skull Skates, P.D.’s Hot Shop (our local and the oldest skate shop in Canada), CiTR

Campus Radio, UBC Campus and Com-munity Planning as well as the UNA. The weather was perfect for the event which kicked off at 4 pm and went until 8 pm. The event was a great opportunity to bridge the skateboarding community of greater Vancouver to the UNA com-munity. Jesse Oye, a representative from the Vancouver Skateboard Coalition, has spearheaded the event the last two years. “We, at the Vancouver Skateboard Co-

alition, are just really grateful for this park. I mean it’s a beautiful facility built by a progressive university community. The day is a great opportunity to bring together people from different communi-ties to experience a relaxed contest. It’s for everyone, so we get lots of different skateboarders in terms of age and abili-ties, it’s just really a lot of fun for all of us involved.” This year there were about 80-90 par-

ticipants and spectators. The weather was perfect, unlike last year when it rained. There was a DJ spinning live music and a hot dog cart to take care of hunger pains. Speaking of pains, First Aid was also on site. So, thankfully everyone went home safe and sound. Thanks to all the youth volunteers from the UTown@UBC Youth Leader-ship Team for donating their time to help make the day a great success!

Skaters take in the talent at the event.

Members from the UNA Youth Leadership group hang with event organisers. L-R: Abhijat Arun, Jesse Oye, Sean Choi, Felix Mann, AC, Sophia Proksa and Diana Marinescu.


Centennial Celebration

UBC Indigenous 2015 graduates ready to make world a better place for all

First Nations House of Learning hosts largest grad

since Longhouse opened

Recently, just before the celebration of Canada’s National Aboriginal Day, the First Nations House of Learning hosted the largest Aboriginal student gradua-tion celebration in the history of the UBC First Nations Longhouse, which opened in 1993. Fifty-one graduates participated, in-cluding Musqueam Elder Larry Grant. This represented a quarter of the more than 200 Aboriginal students who gradu-ated from both campuses in the spring and fall convocations. With family and friends and various UBC dignitaries, fac-ulty and staff in attendance, the Sty-Wet-Tan Great Hall’s capacity of 350 was reached. As is custom, the graduates were called into the Longhouse through the ceremo-nial door, accompanied by a traditional song by Victor Guerin (Musqueam). Af-terward, UBC was honoured to welcome qiyǝplenǝxʷ (Howard Grant), who wel-comed everyone to Musqueam territory. Howard Grant noted that it was his great, great, great grandfather the first to carry the qiyǝplenǝxʷ name, who first met British naval explorer George Van-couver when he sailed into the area over 200 years ago, and before him, Spanish naval explorer, José Narváez, the first European to enter Musqueam territory. He reminded graduates that past co-lonial policy kept First Nation students from going beyond Grade 8, and that it was important to recognize that their suc-cess stems from their ancestors’ efforts to overcome past hardships. He con-cluded with thanks to the university for acknowledging and recognizing that it is situated on unceded, traditional Mus-queam territory. Dr. Linc Kesler, director of the First Nations House of Learning, welcomed guests on behalf of UBC President Ar-vind Gupta, who could not attend due to unforeseen circumstances. Dr. Kesler also added further histori-cal context to the day by acknowledging that the university’s acquisition of land at its inception followed Musqueam’s loss of control of the territory as the reserve system was formed. Dr. Jo-ann Archibald, Q’um Q’um Xi-iem, Sto:lo/Xaxli’p, Associate Dean for Indigenous Education, Faculty of Educa-tion, Director, NITEP, and Professor in Educational Studies provided the key-note address. Professor Archibald said, “This house

over the years has become a home—a home for all the students who come here to study, for the faculty who teach here, for the family and community members who come to visit, and all the guests who come into this house. “We try to make this a welcoming place, a place of safety and comfort, but yet one where we can learn more about the issues and the opportunities that face Indigenous peoples. And a big part of that relates to the work of the undergrad and graduate students here at UBC who are often here with their classes and sharing their different assignments and projects that they’ve worked on over the years. “We must also thank the Indigenous faculty who have made space and place for indigeneity within all the disciplines here at UBC. You know, UBC is quite a mainstream, conservative place. So in or-der to make this important, vibrant space, it takes a lot of persistence, commitment, and good strategists and good politicians – but they do this with a good mind and a good heart.” Professor Archibald shared the follow-ing poetic sentiments of the late Robert Sterling, Nlaka’pamux, who was instru-mental in the development of the Native Indian Teachers Education Program (NI-TEP): I have learned that my development has been mental, physical, spiritual, so-cial, family, financial, political, and sci-entific.

I have learned that I am a product of two worlds and my survival and the sur-vival of my people depends upon me be-ing the best I can be in both worlds. I have learned: Not just to look but to see! Not just to touch but to feel! Not just to take steps but to stride! Not just to listen but to hear! Not just to talk but to say something! Not just to dream but to do something!

Not just to take but to give! Not just to exist but to be! If life in the future means to challenge me, change me, depend on me, use me, hurt me, laugh at me, criticize me, tempt me, complicate me… then I’m ready! Professor Archibald concluded her re-marks with a call to action, “So, UBC In-digenous 2015 graduates, you are ready to be the changemakers and the trans-formers to make this world a better place for all. I wish you well in the exciting journeys you have ahead as changemak-ers and transformers. We look forward to what you will do in the future as in-dividuals but also as people within your families and your communities and what you create together. All my relations.” The First Nations House of Learning was established in 1987 as a unit within the UBC President’s Office. The Direc-tor of the First Nations House of Learn-ing Dr. Linc Kesler is also Senior Advi-sor to the UBC President on Aboriginal Affairs. The mandate of the First Nations House of Learning is to make the University’s vast resources more accessible to Ab-original Peoples and to improve the Uni-versity’s ability to meet the needs of First Nations, Métis and Inuit. Information Credit: UBC First Na-tions House of Learning.

Musqueam Elder Larry Grant, Blanketing Ceremony. Photo Credit: Don Erhardt.

Aboriginal graduates gather at the UBC First Nations Longhouse for the First Nations House of Learning Graduation Celebration. Photo Credit: Don Erhardt.

Molly Billows, Graduating Student Speaker. Photo Credit: Don Erhardt.


Biodiversity in your backyard

With over 5,000 species in the world, la-dybird beetles (aka ladybugs or ladybee-tles) are one of the most recognizable and beloved insects in our gardens. The most common species in North America is the seven-spotted ladybird beetle, which has a shiny red (or orange) oval body with seven black spots (three on each side and one down the middle near the head). The colourful markings on ladybird beetles tell predators “stay away, I taste awful!” because—when threatened—ladybirds secrete a foul tasting, poisonous bodily fluid from the joints of their exoskel-etons. In many cultures, interactions with ladybird beetles are believed to bring good luck. To gardeners and farmers these inter-actions are more than good luck because ladybird beetles help control pests; they are a great alternative to using chemical based insecticides, pesticides and other potentially dangerous products. These predatory insects, used by the City of Vancouver as pest management, feast on aphids and other soft plant-eating insects that damage your garden in both in their larval and adult stage. How can you encourage ladybird bee-tles to come to your garden to feast on those pesky aphids? Growing pollen rich flowers or plants not only attracts lady-

bird beetles but a variety of insects that help fight pests. This is because these in-sects like to eat pollen as well as aphids. If you are struggling to attract ladybird beetles with flowering plants alone, you can purchase them at the larval stage at select local garden centers. At the Beaty Biodiversity Museum, you can learn more about ladybird beetles by visiting the feature exhibition Shutterbug where they are found in many of the pho-tographs on display by Ian Lane. Fami-lies can enjoy games of ladybird bingo and snap selfies in the dress-up area. There’s more! On Saturday, August 29th, come for a Bug Hunt with En-tomological Assistant Curator, Karen Needham. You’ll discover the fascinating creatures living right under our noses and enjoy hands-on activities showing exclu-sive techniques, tips and cool bug facts. For adults 19+, mark your calendars for Friday, September 4th, for special feature event “Bugs and Beer”, where you’ll help the planet by feasting on our most sustainable food source, insects, all washed down with Big Rock Brew-ery Grasshopper Wheat Ale. This event is free for members or with purchase of membership. More info: beatymuseum.ubc.ca/talks-events. The next time you see a ladybird bee-tle—whether you see it as a cute insect to your liking or a creepy critter to your disgust—consider whether it’s a friend or foe. In the Collection: See Shutterbug before it closes on Sep-

Charles LeungAdministrative Assistant at the

Beaty Biodiversity Museum

----

tember 6, 2015. Visit beatymuseum.ubc.ca/shutterbug.

UBC Botanical Garden hosted 100 din-ers for the Taste of Terroir long table din-ner on July 16. Guests learned how soil play a role in the taste of food in celebra-

tion of the International Year of Soil. The Garden also has a lot of great workshops coming up with special discounts for the UNA as well as drop-in tours which are free for UNA members. Learn more about tours and workshops at www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/learn.

Ladybird beetles may be your garden’s best friend

Joy of drawing: ‘Visual Feast’ for all ages

UNA participants of Draw Down Vancouver 2015 at The Old Barn Community Centre.

Painting of Japanese meal by Vancou-ver artist Catrina Megumi Longmuir who grew up in Japan.

The Old Barn Community Centre was one of 30 locations for

Vancouver Draw Down 2015

Alayna EwertUNA Parks and Recreation

Program Coordinator

On Saturday, June 20th, the Old Barn Community Centre hosted a food-in-

spired drawing workshop as part of the city-wide festival of the arts called Van-couver Draw Down 2015. Draw Down, an annual one-day celebration, features workshops at various venues through-out the Vancouver area with one goal in mind: get people drawing! The event en-courages people of all ages and abilities to tap into their creative side and enjoy the process and pleasure associated with drawing as opposed to focusing on skill and technical ability. The Old Barn partnered with local

artist Catrina Longmuir to facilitate the creation of unique food- themed draw-ings by members of our community. Ms. Longmuir explained why she had chosen Visual Feast: Food Inspired Picture-Sto-ries as the theme for the workshop. “I felt that this was a universal theme that we hoped people could relate to and could share with one another. By recall-ing a childhood meal experience and also by limiting art materials to crayons and watercolours, we hoped folks would channel their ‘inner child’ and not worry about drawing skills, but rather just have fun with the process!” Ms. Longmuir, the daughter of a Cana-dian father (a member of the foreign ser-vice) and Japanese mother, grew up in Ja-pan and enjoyed most of her meals there

in the kitchen of her Japanese grandfa-ther. In an interview, she showed an im-age of her painting ‘Okosama Lunch’, “which is really like a ‘Kids’ Meal’.” The artist said, “This particular paint-ing (see photo) has a title at the top that says ‘Hambaagu-Lunchee’ in Katakana writing. Hambaagu, as opposed to Ham-baaga, is when you get the burger with some sauce (likely Worcestershire and ketchup combo flavour) instead of ham-burger with a bun. The other items on the plate are: a very shiny breakfast sausage with ketchup, some fries, usually a much more perfectly shaped lump of rice and fries and spaghetti as well…Oh, and al-ways a friendly flag.” She added, “This food is not necessarily food I loved, but I remember this kind of plate fondly, as ‘Okosama Lunches’ were ubiquitous in Tokyo when I was growing up. I think there was also a respect and honoring of children in Japan that I felt. ” The event was held outdoors, and the warm, sunny weather was an added bo-nus! The diversity in age, culture and ability made for a fantastic community collaboration, and the finished products were displayed outside the Old Barn to create a vibrant ‘Community Cookbook’. The Old Barn is looking forward to hopefully becoming a Draw Down part-ner again next year and seeing more members of our community “get drawn in!”

Ladybird beetle. Photo Credit: Ian Lane.


EVENING

MUSIC SERIES

IN THE

PARK

5:30-7pm

FRIDAY JULY 24 - IONA GREEN PARK

FRIDAY AUGUST 7 - MUNDELL PARK

WALTER GAGE RD, CHANCELLOR place @ UBC

BRING A PICNIC AND ENJOY SOME FREE LIVE MUSIC WITH YOUR NEIGHBOURS IN UNA PARKS!

WEBBER LANE AT Birney ave, WESBROOK place @ UBC

FEATURING JENNY RITTER

FEATURINGCHRIS RONALD

www.myuna.ca

Campus Resident Volume 6 Issue 7, July 2015

Documents

Transcript of Campus Resident Volume 6 Issue 7, July 2015