UBC Media Coverage Summary – 02/18/2016

The Media Coverage Summary 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
Globe and Mail: B.C. budget won’t help families trying to buy a home in Vancouver: experts
Globe and Mail: B.C. budget splashes money around for all, except those who need it most
National Post: Medical journal yanks study that questions safety of HPV vaccine
Global News: What’s killing babies in Canada’s North?

Op-Eds
Vancouver Sun: Opinion: It’s time for UBC faculty, staff and students to stand up for change

Local News
CTV News: B.C. budget falls short of addressing affordability crisis: experts
CBC News: UBC president search continues despite recent turmoil
CBC News: Budget 2016: B.C. property buyers to disclose citizenship
CBC News: UBC researcher uses lynx and bobcat photos to study changing habitats
Vancouver Sun: TED 2016: Warming huts will bring high design to Skaha Provincial Park
Vancouver Sun: Push to collect foreign buyer data has pitfalls, experts say
Metro News: MSP premiums not ‘entirely fair’, Premier Clark admits
24 Hours: Vancouver, UBC to test VeloMetro rides
24 Hours: UBC hosts youth braille showdown
24 Hours: B.C. moms give birth later than rest of Canada
North Shore News: How busy families can stay connected
Kelowna Now: Professors create tool to help measure B.C. drinking water quality
Castanet: Recipient out of this world

UBC Sports
The Province: Americas Rugby Championship: UBC trio called into Canada camp

International/National

Globe and Mail: B.C. budget won’t help families trying to buy a home in Vancouver: experts
Measures introduced in the B.C. budget will do little to allow more families to buy their first homes, according to UBC real estate economist Tom Davidoff. “It is like bringing a penknife to a gun fight,” said Davidoff. “The impact will be pretty darn minimal.” Globe and Mail

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Globe and Mail: B.C. budget splashes money around for all, except those who need it most
Columnist Gary Mason criticized B.C.’s budget for not doing enough for the disadvantaged and for ignoring critical housing issues. The article included UBC policy professor Paul Kershaw’s concern that a young person now needs 23 years to save a downpayment for an average home in Metro Vancouver. Globe and Mail

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National Post: Medical journal yanks study that questions safety of HPV vaccine
The medical journal Vaccine has removed a study that cast doubt on the safety of Gardasil, a vaccine for the human papillomavirus. The paper was co-authored by two UBC researchers. National Post, Metro News

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Global News: What’s killing babies in Canada’s North?
Infant mortality rates are high in Nunavut, where babies are more than four times more likely to die before their first birthday than babies elsewhere in Canada. UBC clinical geneticist and professor Laura Arbour is part of a study that’s looking into the causes. Global News

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Op-Eds

Vancouver Sun: Opinion: It’s time for UBC faculty, staff and students to stand up for change
In an op-ed, UBC professors Jonathan Ichikawa and Carla Nappi called on UBC community members to play more active roles as advocate for change in light of recent events at the university, saying: “[W]e not only have the right to ask for change, but the responsibility to enact it. We need to work together to enact change across the university.” Vancouver Sun

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Local News

CTV News: B.C. budget falls short of addressing affordability crisis: experts
Experts say B.C.’s budget fails to address the issues underlying Vancouver’s overheated housing market. In a Canadian Press article, Tom Davidoff with UBC Sauder School of Business called the measures “ill-thought-out, kind-of-nothing proposals.” CTV News, 680 News, Castanet

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CBC News: UBC president search continues despite recent turmoil
UBC’s vice president of external relations, Philip Steenkamp, says UBC’s search for a new president continues. The search committee aims to shortlist candidates in early March and name a new president by June. CBC News

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CBC News: Budget 2016: B.C. property buyers to disclose citizenship
UBC policy professor Paul Kershaw believes the measures announced in the B.C. budget will do nothing to resolve the high cost of housing, which is becoming a problem not just in Vancouver but province-wide. He also said the budget does not help people struggling to find affordable, adequate accommodation. CBC News, The Tyee

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CBC News: UBC researcher uses lynx and bobcat photos to study changing habitats
A UBC masters student is studying whether climate change is pushing out B.C. lynx and bobcats to territory farther north. With snow levels falling and spring coming earlier, the quality of snow is changing, the student noted. This could open up new areas for bobcats to move into. CBC News

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Vancouver Sun: TED 2016: Warming huts will bring high design to Skaha Provincial Park
Two wooden structures installed outside the TED conference in Vancouver are meant to be warming huts for Skaha Provincial Park. They were designed by UBC architecture and wood science students, along with other B.C. students. Vancouver Sun

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Vancouver Sun: Push to collect foreign buyer data has pitfalls, experts say
Collecting citizenship data on foreign buyers could produce superficial data that doesn’t reveal underlying forces in the market, says UBC history professor Henry Yu. He noted that some individuals could get around this requirement by using proxy buyers or corporations to buy property. Vancouver Sun

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Metro News: MSP premiums not ‘entirely fair’, Premier Clark admits
UBC population and public health professor Kim McGrail commented on B.C.’s Medical Services Plan premiums scheme. McGrail noted that other provinces fund health care from general revenues instead of “regressive, flat rate, head tax-like payments.” She added that MSP premiums make up just a small part of overall health care funding in B.C. Metro News

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24 Hours: Vancouver, UBC to test VeloMetro rides
UBC Vancouver will be the pilot site for VeloMetro’s vehicle-sharing service starting September. The pedal-powered, electric-assisted transports are single-occupant rides resembling a smart car and electric bicycle. 24 Hours

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24 Hours: UBC hosts youth braille showdown
Twenty visually impaired children will compete this Friday at UBC in a number of tasks including reading comprehension, proofreading and spelling. 24 Hours

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24 Hours: B.C. moms give birth later than rest of Canada
New Statistics Canada data shows that B.C. women have children later in life than in any other province. This trend highlights the “massive unaffordability problem for young British Columbians,” according to UBC public health professor Paul Kershaw. 24 Hours, Vancity Buzz

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North Shore News: How busy families can stay connected
UBC research suggests that children’s relationships with peers and adults have greater impact on their well-being than socio-economic status. “Making homes, schools and community settings places of belonging and caring is important for children’s thriving,” said lead author and UBC professor Anne Gadermann. North Shore News

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Kelowna Now: Professors create tool to help measure B.C. drinking water quality
UBC Okanagan engineering professors Solomon Tesfamariam and Rehan Sadiq have developed a tool for smaller areas coping with problems in their aging drinking water infrastructure. The tool will help decision makers understand how to collect important data about their system and to renew that system effectively. Kelowna Now

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Castanet: Recipient out of this world
Recipients of the UBC Centennial honorary degrees include astronaut Roberta Bondar, economist Dambisa Moyo and water scientist David Schindler, who will be recognized during UBC Okanagan’s graduation ceremonies June 9-10. Castanet

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UBC Sports

The Province: Americas Rugby Championship: UBC trio called into Canada camp
Three players from UBC are part of the Canadian team playing Americas Rugby Championship: centre/wing Brock Staller, hooker Alex Mascott and lock Sam Clark. The Province

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