UBC News Digest

Nov 21, 2003

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.

Nov. 21, 2003

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UBC board hears initial consultation proposal
for South Campus

On Thursday, November 20, the UBC board of governors received a
proposed Consultation Plan Outline that maps out the process for
engaging community groups in the development of the initial South
Campus Neighborhood Draft Plan. Moodie Consultants Ltd., a firm
with extensive community planning experience in projects with multiple
stakeholders, developed the outline, which anticipates that the
neighbourhood plan will be developed by May 2004. South Campus is
one of eight neighbourhood areas that make up UBC’s emerging
University Town.

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UBC wins National Wildlife Federation green campus
award

UBC is the only Canadian university out of thirteen to win the
National Wildlife Federation Green Campus Recognition award for
exemplary work in demonstrating sustainable practices during the
2002-03 academic year. UBC is being recognized for its efforts to
open more green buildings, and for the $35 million EcoTrek program
making mechanical and electrical upgrades to university buildings
and infrastructure. EcoTrek is the largest energy retrofit of its
kind in Canada.

The annual award recognizes work by students and administrators
to green their campus and considers projects to design green buildings,
conserve energy, preserve landscape for wildlife and develop environmentally
preferable purchasing policies.

For more details: http://www.nwf.org/campusEcology/dspYearbook.cfm

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UBC computer science students beat top U.S. technology
schools

Beating out more than 80 other teams from Canada and the United
States, including the traditionally dominant teams from Stanford
and Berkeley, three teams of students from the UBC Department of
Computer Science took first, third, and fourth places respectively
in the 2003 Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Programming
Contest in Portland, Oregon.

The annual five-hour competition presents teams with programming
problems they must solve using C, C++ and Java. Using only one computer,
each team is given nine problems to solve. UBC’s first place
team was the only team to complete 8 of the 9 problems. The top
UBC team now moves on to the World Finals in Prague, The Czech Republic,
in March 2004.

For more information about the contest and the final standings
visit: http://www.acmcontest-pacnw.org/

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Three UBC music students advance in Metropolitan
Opera auditions

UBC music students took three of the four spots at the recent western
Canada auditions for the Metropolitan Opera. Rhoslyn Jones, Justin
Welsh and Neema Bickersteth will advance to the next round of auditions
in Seattle February 29, 2004.

The purpose of the National Council Auditions Program, sponsored
by the Metropolitan Opera, is to discover new talent for the Metropolitan
Opera, to assist exceptionally talented opera singers, and to search
for possible participants in the Young Artist Development Program.

Rhoslyn Jones will be a featured soloist in the UBC School of Music
performance of Orff’s Carmina Burana on Nov. 29. She will also be
cast in the title role in Manon, The UBC Opera Ensemble’s fully
staged opera in March 2004. Justin Welsh performs the role of Sarastro
and Neema Bickersteth performs the role of Pamina in the UBC Opera
Ensemble production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute (Dec. 10 through
14 at the Chan Centre).

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Dermatology program gets pharmaceutical boost

Galderma Canada, a leading pharmaceutical company, has provided
an unrestricted grant to UBC to support both teaching and research
in dermatology. Totalling $50,000, the Galderma Canada-UBC Dermatology
grant will be awarded to Jerry Shapiro, clinical professor of medicine
in the Division of Dermatology. Prof. Shapiro is an international
expert in hair disorders and the director of the UBC Hair Research
and Treatment Centre at the Vancouver General Hospital and the Vancouver
Coastal Health Research Institute.

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Architecture professor receives U.S. award for
environmental service

Raymond Cole, professor in the Environmental Research Group (ERG)
at UBC’s School of Architecture, was awarded the Green Public
Service Award by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) at a gala
awards ceremony held during the Greenbuild International Conference
and Expo, in Pittsburgh, PA. last week.

As leader of the ERG, Cole spearheaded the development of one of
the predecessors to the LEED Green Building Rating System-Building
Environmental Performance Assessment Criteria (BEPAC) for commercial
buildings in British Columbia, Canada. His tireless efforts to develop
a standard of green building measurement for Canada has led to the
formation of the Canada Green Building Council and future adoption
of the LEED standard.

Cole was selected as North American Association of Collegiate Schools
of Architecture Distinguished Professor for "sustained commitment
to building environmental research and teaching" in 2001, and
in 2003 he received the Architectural Institute of British Columbia
Dalrymple Memorial Award for Community Service.

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David Dodge presents development education award
to UBC club

At the 57th World University Service of Canada Annual Assembly
in Ottawa last month, the UBC-WUSC student club was presented with
the Local Committee Award for 2003. Student Syma Khan received the
award on behalf of the club from David Dodge, Governor of the Bank
of Canada.

Dodge recognized UBC’s annual Africa Awareness Symposium,
which features speakers on Africa and ends in a cultural night called
Afro-Fest. UBC students also organize an annual Global Fest, an
event that allows participants to learn about several different
regions in one night.

WUSC local committees are run by volunteers who work on development
education and sponsor refugee students. The UBC WUSC committee was
founded right after World War II and is one of the oldest student
clubs at UBC. The university offers three scholarships each year
for sponsored refugee students to help fund their entire undergraduate
education.

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December 9 seasonal concert for UBC staff and
faculty

All staff and faculty are cordially invited to attend a seasonal
concert on Tuesday, December 9, 2003, from 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.
at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts.

Performers include the University Singers, the Cascades Brass Quintet
and the UBC Opera Ensemble. Tickets for this free concert may be
picked up at the Chan Centre Ticket Office 12 to 5 p.m. (Monday
– Saturday) starting Saturday, November 29, 2003.

More information: Contact the Ceremonies Office at 604-822-2484