UBC News Digest

Apr 18, 2002

The UBC News Digest is a weekly summary of news stories about UBC
people, research, learning, community, and internationalization
initiatives. News Digest past
issues are also available on-line.

Apr. 18, 2002

Celebrate Research lecture series: Archaeology
in Arcadia — Excavating Ancient Stymphalos

Since 1994 teams from the University of British Columbia students
and local labourers have been carrying out archaeological excavations
at the site of ancient Stymphalos in the mountains of Arcadia in
southern Greece. Their work and findings will be the subject of
Archaeology in Arcadia: Excavating Ancient Stymphalos, the latest
in the university’s Celebrate Research lecture series.

Prof. Hector Williams will discuss the innovative geophysical search
techniques that enabled the team to identify what lay below the
surface over much of the site — without digging. Their excavations
have revealed a cross section of life in a small Greek city from
about 350-140 BC as well as revealing later resettlement in early
Roman times. Temples, sanctuaries, a theatre, a gymnasium, fountain
houses, city walls and gates and a variety of houses have all come
to light as well as a variety of burials, human and animal, that
inform us about the local inhabitants.

All members of the community are invited to the lecture, Thursday,
April 25 at 4 p.m., in the Dodson Room of the Main Library. A reception
will follow.

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Marchak brings human rights, terrorism expertise
to Liu Centre

Former Dean of Arts and Professor Emerita of Sociology Patricia
Marchak has joined the Liu Centre for the Study of Global Issues
as a Fellow.

Drawing on her expertise in human rights issues and terrorism,
Marchak will focus on bringing leading scholars to UBC to discuss
their work on these and other global issues.

She is organizing two conferences for the Centre. The first, entitled
State Terrorism and Other Crimes Against Humanity: Moving Toward
Explanations, takes place May 3-4, 2002 at the Liu Centre, and will
focus on the root causes of terrorism. Topics slated for discussion
range from genocide prevention initiatives in Rwanda to the break-up
of the USSR and its impact on Chechnya and other states. For more
information, visit the Liu Centre website at www.liucentre.ubc.ca.

Another conference, scheduled for November 2002, will address evolving
international norms and law on human rights.

Marchak is the author of numerous books including God’s Assassins:
State Terrorism in Argentina in the 1970. She is currently writing
a book on strategies for coping with crimes against humanity perpetuated
by former regimes.

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Student development awards announced

Coordinator of the Native Indian Teacher Education Program Sheila
TeHennepe, senior UBC administrator Byron Hender and Graduate Student
Society administrator Joydeep Sengupta are among the winners of
this year’s student development awards.

TeHennepe, Hender and Sengupta were named recipients of the Margaret
Fulton Individual Award recognizing individuals on campus who have
made a significant contribution to students’ lives.

The English Dept. received the Peter Larkin Award for its graduate
program in English. The revised program is designed to balance high
standards for academic excellence while effectively preparing students
for the academic marketplace.

The Alfred Scow Award went to the Electrical and Computer Engineering
Dept.’s Electro-Mechanical Engineering Program (EMEC). Since its
inception in 1994, the multidisciplinary program’s combination of
coursework, project work, and co-op work terms has resulted in a
near 100 per cent placement rate for graduating students finding
jobs.

Established in 1998 by the Campus Advisory Board on Student Development
(CABSD), the awards recognize contributions to the student experience
and learning environment at UBC. The board comprises representatives
from across campus.

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University mourns loss of agricultural science
leader

The Agricultural Sciences Faculty and the larger UBC community
are mourning the passing of Prof. Jim Shelford (March 4, 1944 –
April 6, 2002). He joined the faculty in July 1972.

Throughout his life Shelford expended enormous effort and time
helping young people. At UBC, he was the Animal Science professor
students most often sought for academic advice. He also dedicated
a great deal of time helping students obtain financial aid and for
years served on, or chaired, scholarship committees both within
the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and at the University-wide
level.

In his final years, Shelford gave much time and energy to the establishment
of the UBC Dairy Education and Research Centre in Agassiz, B.C.
This facility, a unique partnership of UBC and Agriculture &
Agri-Food Canada, was developed to serve both the dairy industry
and UBC students. The centre is fast becoming a leading international
dairy research facility for animal behaviour, nutrition and reproduction.

In consultation with Shelford and his family, the Faculty of Agricultural
Sciences has arranged to establish an endowed scholarship that will
provide financial assistance to undergraduate and graduate students
studying topics related to dairy production. For more information,
contact Michael Anhorn, 604-822-5924 or Prof. Jim Thompson, 604-822-2794.

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Militzer named new Dofasco chair holder

Metals and Materials Engineering Assoc. Prof. Matthias Militizer
has been named the new holder of the Dofasco Chair in Advanced Steel
Processing.

The Chair is currently valued at $1.7 million over five years and
was established to further research on advanced high-strength steels.
One of the most exciting applications of this research is the eventual
replacement of conventional steel in automobiles, which would reduce
vehicle weight, increase safety, lower emissions and improve fuel
efficiency.

The Dofasco Chair is part of UBC’s Centre for Metallurgical Processing.
It was first held by UBC’s VP Research, Indira Samarasekera, and
was created by an initial gift from Dofasco Inc. and matching funds
from UBC.

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UBC on-line Masters program gives teachers worldwide
high-tech opportunities

With the launch of a new on-line graduate degree program today,
UBC is set to help educators around the globe harness the teaching
potential of the Internet and other new technologies.

UBC’s Master of Educational Technology (MET) is Canada’s first
distance education degree in educational technology to be offered
fully on-line, and the first on-line distance education degree in
the world to be offered in Spanish and English.

UBC has teamed up with Mexican university Tec de Monterrey, a world
leader in distance education, to offer the joint degree. It is aimed
at educators, teachers and support staff in schools, colleges, universities
and informal and adult education work sites — especially those
in remote locations — who want to increase their knowledge of new
technologies and learn how to effectively incorporate them into
lessons, classrooms and other work contexts.

The program will prepare them to use technology in their teaching,
with a special focus on on-line learning and the use of new technologies.

"Issues related to the use of technology in teaching and learning
are at the forefront of many education discussions. UBC and Tec
de Monterrey have worked together to produce a program that will
help people to explore productive ways of thinking about and using
these new technologies in the classroom," says Prof. Jim Gaskell,
MET Coordinator in UBC’s Faculty of Education.