UBC Reports | Vol. 54 | No. 2 | Feb. 7, 2008
Highlights of UBC Media Coverage in January 2008
Compiled by Basil Waugh
UBC Astronomer Produces First Detailed Map of Dark Matter in a Supercluster
UBC astronomer Catherine Heymans has created the most detailed map yet of dark matter, the mysterious substance that fills space between galaxies.
Heymans and her colleagues used the Hubble Space Telescope to map dark matter at a better resolution than has ever been achieved before.
Heymans is a postdoctoral fellow in the Dept. of Physics and Astronomy. USA Today, BBC and Canadian Press reported her findings.
Popular Osteoporosis Drugs Triple Risk of Bone Necrosis
A UBC study has found that popular osteoporosis drugs nearly triple the risk of developing bone necrosis, a condition that can lead to disfigurement and incapacitating pain.
The research, reported by United Press International, Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, CTV and CBC’s ‘The National,’ is the largest epidemiological study of bone necrosis and bisphosphonates, a class of drugs used by millions of women worldwide to help prevent bone fractures due to osteoporosis.
“Given the widespread use of these drugs, it is important that women and their doctors know the risks,” said principal investigator Mahyar Etminan of the Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluation at UBC and Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute.
Pop Culture Roundup: Starlet in Distress and ‘President Bling-Bling’
The National Post’s coverage of January’s two major pop culture stories – Britney Spears’ hospitalization and French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s supermodel romance – featured media commentary by UBC English professor Gisele Baxter.
Baxter said young stars like Spears often suffer in making the transition from adolescence to adulthood in the glare of the spotlight. She cited actress Drew Barrymore, who weathered years of drug addiction after her role in E.T. before finding success and stability more recently.
In the case of Sarkozy, Baxter said the President has quickly chosen a partner likely to thrive in the role his former wife rejected. “I suppose romantics might say they simply met and fell in love, but that’s too convenient. It almost seems Hollywood invented the couple.”
Shad K: Canada’s Best Rapper
UBC arts student Shadrach Kabango is “Canada’s best rapper,” according to a column in the National Post, Vancouver Sun and Montreal Gazette by arts critic Ben Kaplan.
Known as Shad K, the Kenyan-born MC said he is closely following the elections in Kenya and hoping to communicate that with his growing crowds.
CBC Radio 3 called 2007 “the year of the Shad.” In January, the 25-year-old began a cross-Canada tour with Halifax rapper Classified.
Clarification
The Dec. UBC Reports described the late Dr. Frank Calder as “the first Status Indian elected to Canada’s Parliament.” In fact, Calder – who became a B.C. MLA in 1949 – was the first Aboriginal elected to any parliament in Canada. The nation’s first Aboriginal MP was the Hon. Leonard Marchand, Sr., who served in the House of Commons from 1968 to 1979 and later as a senator from 1984 to 1998. Both Calder and Marchand are UBC alumni.
