UBC This Week | Oct. 12, 2007

Oct 12, 2007

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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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Upcoming Event Highlights

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

UBC students win big on CBC’s Dragons’ Den

PeerFX Inc., formed by Sauder School of Business students, was featured on Dragons’ Den, CBC TV’s venture capital show, on Oct. 8. The team received votes of confidence from three of the five Dragons, translating into significant venture capital funding for the team.

PeerFx is an online peer-to-peer foreign currency exchange service, the first of its kind. The service enables retail users to swap currencies with each other, rather than an institution, saving 80 per cent or more in transaction fees.

To view the Dragons’ Den video, visit www.cbc.ca/dragonsden/pitches_2.html. For more information on PeerFX, visit www.peerfx.com.

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UBC nursing lecturer receives award

Cathy Ebbehoj, School of Nursing Lecturer, has been awarded the 2007 Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) Canada Award of Excellence. The award honours an AWHONN Canada member who has demonstrated excellence in the care of women, mothers, newborns and families.

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Exhibit opening initiates dialogue

UBC School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture students have prepared an exhibit to showcase student design work exploring possible renovations to existing buildings and the rejuvenation of landscapes. Issues they address include an aging arts building and its precinct, vertical housing, classroom complexes, security facilities, the hybridization of existing academic buildings, University Boulevard and opportunities for sustainable design in public space.

The exhibit runs from Oct. 15-19 in the lobby of the Frederick Lasserre Building, 6333 Memorial Road.

For more information, visit www.apsc.ubc.ca/news-events/index.

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UBC student wins computer science award

Samantha Leung, a third-year UBC computer science major, has won the inaugural Orbital Technologies Award in Computer Science at UBC. This cash award is given by Orbital Technologies, a Vancouver-based software development firm, in recognition of Leung’s academic achievement and community contributions.

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UBC student organization launches art exhibition

The Asian Canadian Cultural Organization (ACCO) is a pan-Asian AMS student club which focuses on the Asian Canadian experiences and identities. The members are holding an interactive art exhibit in the UBC Student Union Building Art Gallery from Oct. 15 – 19, with a kick-off on Oct. 15 at 5 p.m. Outpost: Asian Canadians Reframed is the result of UBC and SFU volunteers hitting the streets to collect people’s perceptions of Asian Canadians on Post-it notes.

For more information, visit www.ubcacco.com.

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Supporting high seas conservation

Assoc. Prof. Ussif Rashid Sumaila spoke to members of the United Nations, the Deep Sea Conservation Coaltion, Marine Conservation Biology Institute, Greenpeace and other representatives in a briefing for the G77 Forum at UN headquarters in New York City. The briefing focused on the state of the world’s oceans and implications for developing countries. Comprising 130 developing nations, the Group of 77 is the largest intergovernmental organization of developing states at the UN.

For more information, visit http://marineconservationblog.blogspot.com. To view the briefing, visit www.un.org/webcast/

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Visiting Fellow speaks on the Tale of Genji

UBC’s Centre for Japanese Research and the Department of Asian Studies will host a lecture by Royall Tyler, Visiting Fellow from the Faculty of Asian Studies, Australia National University. Tyler will lecture on the Japanese Tale Of Genji, arguing for its place as a classic piece of world literature.

The lecture will take place on Oct. 12 from 4:30 – 6 p.m. in Room 120 of the C.K. Choi Building.

For more information, visit www.iar.ubc.ca/centres/cjr/index.html.

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Explore your planet with UBC

UBC’s Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences and the Pacific Museum of the Earth will celebrate National Earth Science Week on Oct. 13 with a special museum open house and an evening of discussion. The museum will offer guided tours of permanent exhibits, plus hands-on activities.

The evening discussion will be on The Science of Climate Change, led by Assoc. Prof. Phil Austin, Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences.

Admission is free. The open house runs from 10 a.m.- 5 p.m., followed by the lecture and discussion from 5:30 – 7 p.m. For more information, visit www.eos.ubc.ca/resources/museum.

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Prepare today… survive tomorrow

Vancouver Fire & Rescue Emergency Preparedness Lieutenant Michael Smith will lead a free workshop on how to prepare for a natural or manmade disaster at 7 p.m. on Oct. 16 at the Old Barn Community Centre, 6308 Thunderbird Boulevard.

For information and registration, contact Smith at 604-665-6072 or mike.smith@vancouver.ca.

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Undergraduate students encouraged to participate in neuroethics society

The Neuroethics Society is an interdisciplinary group of scholars, scientists, students and clinicians who share an interest in the social, legal, ethical and policy implications of advances in neuroscience. The Society invites undergraduate students in relevant fields to join as members, and to submit papers for the Neuroethics Society Undergraduate Writing Prize competition offered in collaboration with the Penn Bioethics Journal (PBJ). Papers on any aspect of neuroethics written by undergraduate students are eligible.

For more information, visit www.neuroethicssociety.org/news/news.html.

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Experience Futuristi at UBC

Bellaluna Productions and Theatre at UBC invite the public to Futuristi: three days of Italian avant garde theatre from Oct. 11 through to Oct. 13 at 7:30 p.m. The Futurists laid the foundation for the Modernist movement between 1909 and 1939. A century later, Futuristi offers an evolution of theatre, music, painting, spoken word, dance and film at the Frederic Wood Theatre.

Tickets are $20/$14/$8 at 604-822-2678. For more information, visit www.theatre.ubc.ca.

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CIFAR asks the next big question

To celebrate its 25th Anniversary, The Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) will host public forums across the country to get Canadians talking about big questions the world will face in coming years that advanced research can help solve.

CIFAR will ask Vancouver the following questions:

  • How do microbes change the world? Curtis Suttle, UBC Assoc. Dean of Science and expert on ocean viruses
  • What makes people happy? John Helliwell, UBC Economics professor emeritus and economics pioneer
  • How do nature and nurture consort? Bryan Kolb, founding father of behavioural neuroscience

The event will be held at the Scotiabank Theatre, 900 Burrard St. at 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 1. Doors open at 4 p.m. Seating is limited; free registration is now open.

For more information, visit www.thenextbigquestion.ca/Pages/Rsvp/Default.aspx. 

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AUREO conference held at UBC

The Association of University Real Estate Officials (AUREO) held their annual conference at UBC earlier this month. Over 200 delegates attended the three day conference, hosted by UBC Properties Trust (UBCPT), with speakers such as Robert Lee, Chair of UBCPT; Prof. Stephen Toope, President of UBC; and David Strangway, founder, Chair and CEO of Quest University.

AUREO was established in 1983 as an informal organization of about 25 institutions. Its nearly 200 member institutions now represent most major universities in the United States and Canada, with the mission to advance the common interests of colleges and universities relating to real estate administration.