The Media Coverage Summary gets a new look today after a minor redesign to deliver a cleaner look. This newsletter is compiled from media clips Monday to Friday by UBC Public Affairs. Sign up for other Public Affairs e-mail services at http://news.ubc.ca/media-resources/digital-subscriptions/.
International/National
India and China have most deaths from pollution
Meet the doggy flying squad
Antidepressant Effexor linked to postpartum bleeding in study
Study mapping bobcat, lynx movements in the Peace Region
UBC board votes to keep fossil fuel investments
We only need one Silicon Valley. Vancouver has its own strengths
UBC staff acted in good faith when responding to sex assault allegations: report
New mortgage rules not only solution for Canada’s red-hot real estate market: academics
Scalia’s judicial philosophy in sharp contrast to SCC
Op-Eds
Tuesday, Feb. 16: UBC’s link to big discovery
Local News
MSP premiums are ‘unfair’ and ‘inefficient’ says health policy expert
Brandt Louie, Vikram Vij get honorary UBC degrees
UBC’s Perch Restaurant closes
Will today’s B.C. budget have any real effect on the Metro Vancouver real estate market?
New mothers sought for study at UBCO
UBC Sports
Celtics’ Olynyk to serve as ambassador for UBC as Thunderbirds host CIS tourney
International/National
India and China have most deaths from pollution
A UBC study has found that air pollution led to more than 5.5 million deaths in 2013, with more than half of the deaths happening in India and China. Household air pollution, from cooking with wood, is a particular issue in rural areas in developing countries, noted study author and UBC professor Michael Brauer. Wall Street Journal, Weather.com
Meet the doggy flying squad
The UK Daily Mail highlighted a show that will test dogs’ cognitive abilities and culminate in the dogs attending “flight school.” UBC professor Stanley Coren has criticized the show, saying “Given that we would not expect a human three-year-old to be able to fly a plane, I would not expect that a dog could do so either.” Daily Mail, The Independent, Sky News
Antidepressant Effexor linked to postpartum bleeding in study
Healthday featured a new study that showed the antidepressant Effexor could increase a pregnant woman’s risk of excess bleeding following labour by more than 70 per cent. The research, led by UBC professor Gillian Hanley, involved more than 300,000 Canadian pregnancies. Death from excessive bleeding is rare but still remains a risk, Hanley said. Healthday
Study mapping bobcat, lynx movements in the Peace Region
UBC Okanagan scientists are asking the public to report sightings or submit images of bobcats or lynx in the Peace Region as part of a study on the effect of climate change on the large cats’ habitats. “Historically, bobcats and lynx have been typically separated by snow depth,” noted TJ Gooliaff, a biologist training at UBC. Alaska Highway News
UBC board votes to keep fossil fuel investments
The UBC board of governors rejected calls from students and faculty to divest its holdings in the fossil fuel industry, creating instead a low-carbon investment fund. The decision was criticized by campus-based advocacy group Divest UBC. The group called for “strong, dramatic action on climate change now.” CBC News, Huffington Post, CTV News, Globe and Mail
We only need one Silicon Valley. Vancouver has its own strengths
A Globe and Mail article calls for Vancouver to embrace its unique identity instead of trying to be Silicon Valley. The article notes, among other things, that Vancouver isn’t a financial capital or a med-tech or social mecca, but has unique assets such as UBC, “a leading research university in sustainability and clean energy.” Globe and Mail
UBC staff acted in good faith when responding to sex assault allegations: report
UBC staff who handled sexual assault allegations made against a student acted in good faith but response was delayed due to human error and lack of clarity, according to a report by an independent reviewer hired by UBC. The university also announced plans to establish a stand-alone sexual assault policy. Despite the findings, one of the complainants in the sex assault investigation said she will be filing a human rights complaint against UBC. Globe and Mail, Global News, CBC News, Huffington Post, Vancouver Sun, The Province
New mortgage rules not only solution for Canada’s red-hot real estate market: academics
The new measures to cool hot real estate markets like Toronto and Vancouver was the focus of a CBC News story. The article mentioned UBC economist Joshua Gottlieb, who called for increasing housing supply whether it’s through building more high-rises in residential neighbourhoods or levying extra taxes on owners of vacant properties. CBC News
Scalia’s judicial philosophy in sharp contrast to SCC
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and Canada’s high court have dramatically different approaches to constitutional interpretation, UBC law professor Joel Bakan told iPolitics. Scalia, who died Saturday, was a staunch advocate of originalism, which results in a “conservative instrument… that’s really out of whack with the times,” Bakan said. iPolitics
Op-Eds
Tuesday, Feb. 16: UBC’s link to big discovery
UBC physics and astronomy professor William G. Unruh highlighted the UBC link to the announcement last week of the detection of gravitational waves by the LIGO collaboration. He particularly noted the contributions made by a former student, Matt Choptuik and Choptuik’s PhD student, Frans Pretorius. Vancouver Sun
Local News
MSP premiums are ‘unfair’ and ‘inefficient’ says health policy expert
Steve Morgan, a professor of health policy in the School of Population and Public Health at UBC, says collecting medical premiums is outdated, and that raising taxes by 1.5 per cent would cover the $2.3 billion worth of MSP premiums the government currently collects. CBC News, Yahoo
Brandt Louie, Vikram Vij get honorary UBC degrees
Vancouver businessman Brandt Louie and restaurateurs Vikram Vij and Meeru Dhalwala are among the 13 recipients of UBC’s Centennial honorary degrees this year. Other honorees include astronaut Roberta Bondar, journalist Chantal Hébert and hockey Olympian Hayley Wickenheiser. Vancouver Sun, Ottawa Citizen
UBC’s Perch Restaurant closes
UBC’s AMS Student Society has shuttered Perch, an upscale, non-profit restaurant that opened just six months ago, citing lack of traffic. Vancouver Sun
Will today’s B.C. budget have any real effect on the Metro Vancouver real estate market?
Ahead of today’s budget announcement, B.C. economists led by Tom Davidoff, a professor at the UBC Sauder School of Business, urged the Premier to address the flow of capital from outside Vancouver into vacant homes. News 1130
New mothers sought for study at UBCO
Nichole Fairbrother, a UBC psychiatry professor is exploring whether mothers experience thoughts of harming their babies, either by accident or on purpose. The study is inviting participation from Okanagan residents. Kelowna Daily Courier
UBC Sports
Celtics’ Olynyk to serve as ambassador for UBC as Thunderbirds host CIS tourney
Kamloops’ own Kelly Olynyk, the Boston Celtics forward, will be the UBC Thunderbirds ambassador as the school hosts the Canadian university men’s basketball championship, reports the Canadian Press. UBC is hosting the tournament March 17-20. Yahoo, Winnipeg Free Press
