UBC This Week | Oct. 16, 2008

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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.

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Recent UBC Media Releases

Upcoming Event Highlights

Visit UBCevents, UBC’s new campus-wide calendar: www.events.ubc.ca

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


UBC People

Balance and Blowup: An analysis of the current financial crisis

UBC experts from the Departments of Economics and Political Science will form a panel to discuss the factors leading up to the global financial crisis. What went wrong? What went right? What do we need to fix?

Panelists will include:

Prof. Paul Beaudry, Dept. of Economics, Canada Research Chair in Macroeconomics and Bank of Canada Research Fellow
Prof. Mick Devereux, of the Dept. of Economics and Bank of Canada Research Fellow
Prof. Angela Redish, Dept. of Economics, former Special Advisor to the Bank of Canada and Canada’s leading monetary historian
Asst. Prof. Yves Tiberghien, Dept. of Political Science and leading comparative political economist

Date: Oct. 21
Time: 12 – 1 p.m.
Place: Victoria Learning Theatre, Irving K. Barber Learning Centre

This free event is hosted by Faculty of Arts.

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New awards recognize UBC staff contributions

UBC’s staff recognition awards program has been expanded at UBC Vancouver and UBC Okanagan as part of the University’s Focus on People initiatives.

In addition, the President’s Service Award of Excellence (PSAE), will now be open to staff exclusively.

The ten $2,000 new awards, added to the five $5,000 PSAE awards, increase the annual total value of UBC staff recognition awards available to $45,000.

“Growing staff numbers at our Vancouver and Okanagan campuses have increased the need for staff recognition opportunities,” said Lisa Castle, Associate Vice-President of UBC Human Resources, who announced the awards at the recent Health Symposium at UBC Vancouver.

The new President’s Staff Awards will recognize the personal accomplishments and contributions of staff at the Vancouver campus in three categories: leadership and creativity, enhancing the UBC experience, and global citizenship. Annually, a total of up to six awards will be distributed, with up to two winners in each category.

UBC Okanagan also recently created their Staff Awards of Excellence program and celebrated their first recipients at their Town Hall in August.

Nominations for the PSAEs will commence in February, while nominations for the new staff awards will commence in late spring.

For more information, visit www.ceremonies.ubc.ca/staffawards.

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2008 International Gairdner Symposium at UBC

The 2008 International Gairdner Symposium, an event recognizing leading medical researchers in biomedical science, will be held at UBC’s Life Sciences Centre.

Dr. Alan Bernstein, Executive Director of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise, will present a lecture entitled Global Science for Global Challenges and Dr. Gary Ruvkun, professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School, will present a lecture entitled The Small RNA Pathways of C. Elegans.

Date: Monday, October 20, 2008
Time: 4 – 6 p.m.
Place: Lecture Theatre 1, Life Sciences Centre
2350 Health Sciences Mall
Info: Free admission, no registration required, no reserved seating
Call (604)875-3535

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UBC Engineers Without Borders honours international day

In honour of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, UBC Engineers Without Borders (EWB-UBC) will host a lecture entitled Africa and the Twin Tragedies of Global Inequality given by George Roter, co-founder of EWB Canada.

Date: Oct. 17th
Time: 5 p.m.
Place: Room 2020, 2332 Main Mall, Fred Kaiser Building

Presented by Amnesty International in collaboration with organizations including EWB-UBC, a conference entitled Ending poverty: the right to human dignity will be held to explore poverty as a human rights issue and discuss the responses needed locally and globally.

Date: Oct. 17
Time: 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Place: Maritime Labour Centre, 1880 Triumph Street, Vancouver
Info: No admission, pre-registration required.
Contact Don Wright at dwright@amnesty.ca or 604-294-5160

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History department holds retreat

The UBC Dept. of History will halt classes between Oct. 16-17 to hold a two-day retreat for history professors, student representatives –both graduate and undergraduate — and external facilitators.

Department head Prof. Danny Vickers says faculty members aim to further student engagement building upon 2007 initiatives that saw increased opportunities for undergraduates to conduct original research assignments and take part in small group seminars.

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School of Engineering hosts Okanagan symposium

UBC School of Engineering will host Fuelling the Economy of the Future, a symposium in engineering, science and technology.

Discussion topics will include: how to create passion in students, how to empower teachers, professors and mentors to inspire students, and how to connect educators, students, and industry.

The symposium will also feature: a keynote video presentation by Dr. Carl Wieman; a panel discussion with representatives from NSERC, industry, university, college and K-12; a presentation of New Zealand’s initiative to promote careers in technology, engineering, and science; and focus groups engaging students, educators, industry, and the public including permanent residents and new Canadians.

Date: Oct. 24
Time: 9 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Place: Hollywood Rd. Education Services
1040 Hollywood Rd, Kelowna, B.C.
Info: http://web.ubc.ca/okanagan/engineering/fef.html

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UBC professor discusses early childhood research

UBC’s Prof. Clyde Hertzman, Director of Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP) will give a lecture entitled The State of Children’s Development in British Columbia.

Hertzman will report on HELP’s most current results of early childhood research and highlight the emerging themes that can guide communities and government in building an effective system of support for young children and families.

Date: Oct. 22
Time: 4 – 6:30 p.m.
Place: SFU Harbour Centre
Info: Q & A to follow.

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Civil engineering professor honoured for aquatic conservationCivil engineering professor honoured for aquatic conservation

Prof. Emeritus Ken Hall, with the Dept. of Civil Engineering and the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability at UBC, has received the Murray A. Newman Award for Excellence in Aquatic Conservation from the Vancouver Aquarium.

Hall has 38 years of research experience on water quality, environmental contaminants, wastewater treatment, and environmental impacts.

For more information, visit http://www.engineering.ubc.ca/news/2008/oct9.html.

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Faculty of Education premieres videos by Vancouver youth and UBC grad students

UBC Faculty of Education will host a premiere video screening of stories that aren’t told by mainstream media with narratives that aim to foster more inclusive and socially just communities.

Directed by Asst. Prof. Michelle Stack, Dept. of Educational Studies, the project will present three two-to three-minute long videos and other short works created by Vancouver high school students and UBC graduate students.

Date: Oct. 18
Time: 2 p.m.
Place: Room 310, Scarfe Building, 2125 Main Mall
Info: 822-9101 or michelle.stack@ubc.ca

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UBC Food Services launches Wescadia

UBC Food services will host an open house to introduce Wescadia Catering, their full catering service offering custom menu planning and event coordinating.

Date: Oct. 23
Time: 2 – 5 p.m.
Place: Arbutus Room, Ponderosa Centre
Info: www.catering.ubc.ca