T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F B R I T I S H C O L U M B I A V O L U M E 5 0 | N U M B E R 8 | S E P T E M B E R 2 , 2 0 0 4

UBC REPORTS2 UBC in the News 3 Michael Smith Legacy 5 Medical Expansion 6 Campus Growth 9 Byers Comes Home

If called upon to write that proverbialessay about how she spent her sum-mer vacation, an uncommon one inMalawi, Africa, Madeleine Lyonswould undoubtedly tell of attendingfive funerals in 10 days – each deathattributed to AIDS.

“AIDS is beyond a crisis, it’s beyonda pandemic, it’s beyond anything wehave words for,” says Lyons. “There isdeath everywhere.”

Entering her second year of Arts atUBC, the just-turned 19-year-old wasone of 20 undergraduates from acrossCanada who participated in the 57thWorld University Service of Canada(WUSC) Summer Seminar. The projectpaired students with their Malawiancounterparts to carry out research on

HIV/AIDS or sustainable agricultureand learn about Malawi’s strategy formeeting the United Nations’Millennium Development Goals inthese areas.

It was Lyons’ first time outsideCanada, and it offered a profound first-hand look at poverty, racial and genderinequality, and the AIDS epidemic. She calls it “the most unbelievable eye-opening experience of my life.”

During her six-week stay, thedelightful and determined Lyons interviewed project leaders from bothgovernment and non-governmentalorganizations (NGOs) responsible forHIV/AIDS initiatives. She visited hospitals, clinics and maternal healthcentres to examine gender and equalityissues affecting HIV infection as well aspost-infection health care. And shespent 10 days living with a Malawianfamily in Dezda, a rural village decimated by the epidemic.

“Youth in these villages don’t existanymore – AIDS has wiped them out,”says Lyons, who stayed in a rusty tin-roofed hut with a married 50 something couple, their adult missionary son, and two 18-month-old grandchildren orphaned when theirAIDS-stricken mother died of a secondary infection a week after theircaesarean birth. The couple had alsotaken in three girls, aged 12, 14 (who is eight months pregnant) and 15, allorphaned by AIDS, as servants.

Located in southeastern Africa,Malawi’s population is estimated at11.6 million; the average life expectan-cy for the total population is 38 years.Malawi has one of the highestHIV/AIDS infection rates in the world,with conservative estimates pointing to15 per cent of the adult population –one in seven – infected.

“There is a lot of pressure to keep itquiet within the country,” Lyons says.“In the cities, you can actually say theword ‘AIDS.’ But in the villages, youcan’t ask people if they have AIDS. You use the word ‘illness’ but itbecomes pretty apparent what theyhave when you see shingles, a common

AIDS in Africa: Up Close and Very Personal

“I saw things I never thought I’d have to watch. By the end, I couldn’t. It violatedevery single one of my code of ethics. The whole time this was happening to her, asthe stones hit her, her face remained blank. She was embarrassed, you could see itin her eyes; ashamed of herself, ashamed that I was seeing this.”

opportunistic infection, covering theirfaces and their children dying.

“They have no testing in ruralareas. And in urban areas, nobodygoes because nobody wants to knowthe truth. Without anti-retrovirals, it’sa death sentence.”

The UN Millennium DevelopmentGoal for HIV/AIDS is to stop andbegin to reverse the number of newinfections. The Malawian governmentpromotes abstinence as the most effective method against the spread of HIV, while the church, a powerfullobby in the country, refuses to support the use of condoms.

Upon her arrival, Lyons was givennine condoms to distribute.

“Many of our Malawian counter-parts made a very obvious point ofthrowing them away, saying they werepracticing abstinence,” she explains.“Later on in the program, however,they would be in bed with theirboyfriends. It isn’t having sex that isthe problem, but saying one thingpublicly and doing another privatelyjust exacerbates the disease.”

In Malawi, the average age of aperson’s first sexual experience is 15.Often this experience isn’t a choice buta reality of economic circumstances,especially in rural areas, as youngorphaned girls use transactional sex asa means of generating income to sup-port themselves and any siblings leftunder their charge, or cultural tradi-tion. Fisi (“hyena” when translated),for example, is a sexual education rit-ual in which a group of young girlswho have had their first menstrualperiod or are soon to be married are“initiated” with intercourse (often

unprotected) by the same man, a dis-guised figure who strikes in the dark.

Not surprisingly, six women forevery one man are infected.

While the Malawian governmentrecently received $100 million from the Global AIDS Fund to support ananti-retroviral drug program, thesedrugs are distributed from only onehospital in the country and are currently given only to people in veryadvanced stages of the disease. Lyonssays more money, more drugs and theinfrastructure to distribute them aredesperately needed.

“Anti-retrovirals are almost a miracle drug. They’re not a cure; butwhen mothers go on them, they canactually look after their kids; kids canactually go to school instead of working. You stand a chance at breaking the poverty cycle, breakingthe hold of this disease.”

In recent news reports, a senior UNofficial warned that sub-Saharan Africawill have 20 million HIV/AIDSorphans by 2010.

“There would be groups of 20 or 30kids at the side of the road, playingwith footballs they had fashioned outof plastic bags that had been melted,”she says of the orphans. “Or theywould be skipping with ropes madeout of grass. There are so many ofthem, there is nothing for them to do.”

As in the case of the family withwhom Lyons stayed, many femaleorphans are taken in as servants andwork from dawn to midnight, cooking,cleaning, washing, gathering firewood,tending to younger children and tochickens, goats and cows.

“These girls were so badly treated,not by the grandparents, but by theother five grandchildren who came tovisit. I saw them kicking dust in theface of the young girl who was preg-nant as she knelt. They spit on her;they threw rocks at her.

“I saw things I never thought I’dcontinued on page 9

UBC student gets intense first-hand look at HIV/AIDS epidemic during summer seminar in Malawi. B Y E R I C A S M I S H E K

Madeleine's Malawian family included her amayi (mother) and the woman's two 18-month-old grandsons, Prince and Praise, orphaned when their AIDS-stricken mother died of a secondary infection a week after their birth.

Lyons was taught to prepare nsima, a traditional Malawian dish made from maizeflour and water.

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Highlights of UBC Media Coverage in August 2004. C O M P I L E D B Y B R I A N L I N

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NEXT ISSUE: SEPTEMBER 2, 2004

Thunderbird Grounded for NowAfter six years of planning, designand construction on its human-powered helicopter, a team of faculty and students at UBC couldn’t get the machine off theground at a recent attempt to break the current world record.

“It was a no-go,” UBC engineering department spokesper-son Sherry Green told The Globeand Mail. “They had technical difficulties.”

More than 160 students at UBC’smechanical engineering departmenthave worked on the ThunderbirdProject since its inception in 1998,but only six to 12 people, headed byteam leader Mike Georgallis, workon it at any one time.

Rescue Bots Save the DayA robot armed with toilet-bowlbrushes recently won the UBC engineering department’s annualrobotics contest.

The robots, designed as “rescue-bots,” had to rescue astranded doll at the bottom of a pretend cliff.

The contest is the students’ finalexam for the course.

“It counts for marks and bragging rights for several years,”

physics professor Andre Marziali toldThe Vancouver Sun.

The robots use sensors and special filters to recognize parts of the courseand computer programs written by thestudents to tell them what to do. Noremote controls allowed.

Jeff Young, head of UBC’s physics and astronomy department and one of the judges said he hopes the contestlets people know that physics can be fun. “It’s not just drudgery and hard work.” ■■

The 2004 UBC United Way Campaign kicks off with agreat BBQ later this month on Wednesday, Sept. 22. Aburger and pop costs only $5 at SUB from 11:30 a.m. -1 p.m. and all proceeds go to the United Way of theLower Mainland, an umbrella organization that pro-vides funding to a number of community organizationssupporting social services across the Lower Mainland.

“Come out and join us for the Kick-off BBQ,” saysStan Auerbach, a lecturer with the Faculty of Education,who will chair the campaign this year. “We have somesurprises up our sleeves and we guarantee you'll have agood time.”

As in previous years, volunteers were busy in Augustplanning the campaign activities.

Put Another Fiver on the Barbie . . .UBC United Way Campaign kicks off Sept. 22

Bentall, chairman of the BusinessFamilies Centre at UBC.

“The norm of someone working for a company for their lifetime is disappearing,” Bentall told The Globeand Mail. “From both the male andfemale side, there’s a tremendous drive to have more flexibility in theircareers.

“Those two forces are causingmore and more people to say ‘Hey,let’s start something on our own.’ ”

Virtual OceanUBC researchers have devel-

oped a “new locomotion inter-face for swimming and floating ina virtual reality ocean,” reportsthe San Jose Mercury News.

Showcased at a recent comput-er graphics conference in LosAngeles, the innovation involvessuspending a “swimmer” andtracking his movements. A com-puter-generated animation of theswimmer is then projected on ascreen.

The swimmer wears a virtualreality display over his head andsees a simulation of the ocean —with waves reacting to the move-ment and refracted sunlight. Hecan even hear the sounds of waterslashing and sea birds calling.

UBC Second Most CitedUBC researchers are the secondmost cited scholars in Canada,according to a ranking of cita-tions in scholarly scientific andtechnical journals.

UBC came in behind theUniversity of Toronto with 17investigators identified as highlycited in leading journals such asNature and Science.

UBC placed 19th amongNorth American public universities inthe rankings.

“This is a remarkable achievement,and illustrates how UBC research iscontributing to discovery everywhere,”said UBC VP research IndiraSamarasekera told the Vancouver Sun.

Balancing Business and FamilyMore and more couples are opting forthe flexibility of getting into businesstogether because of the financial andfamily benefits, according to David

Thanks to the generosity of the campus community,last year’s campaign exceeded the goal of $500,000 by$11,000. “We want to continue to build on that out-standing success by increasing the awareness of UnitedWay throughout the campus,” says Auerbach.

“One way of doing this is increasing the number ofvolunteers in the campaign. This is a great opportunityfor staff, faculty and students to build their leadership,public speaking and event planning skills.”

For more information on the campaign, the kick-offevent or how to get involved, contact Liz King, UBCUnited Way Campaign Coordinator, at 604-822-8929(UBC-UWAY), e-mail united.way@ubc.ca or check outthe Web site at www.unitedway.ubc.ca ■■

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Peter Hudson, pilot of the Thunderbird Project, trained three years for the test.

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The curving coloured ribbons of glassthat stretch across the 36-metre-widefront window tell the whole story.

If you’re able to read DNA sequences,that is.

The swirling design represents theDNA segment that was the focus of thelate Michael Smith’s Nobel Prize-winningresearch. A UBC professor of biotechnol-ogy, Smith devised a way to re-programsegments of DNA, a process called site-directed mutagenesis. The discoveryearned him the 1993 Nobel Prize inChemistry. The colourful glazing – thefirst window of its kind in a NorthAmerican building – is a visual highlightof the Michael Smith Laboratories(MSL) that will be officially opened Sept. 24.

“Michael Smith not only made anextraordinary contribution to science, he also encouraged young scientists tolearn and discover,” says UBC PresidentMartha Piper. “I can think of no morefitting legacy than to have this group ofstellar scientists brought together in astate-of-the-art facility.”

Smith’s dream was to create a uniqueinterdisciplinary centre dedicated togenomic research and located at theheart of campus. Now, almost twodecades later, his vision has been realizedwith a $30-million lab that covers 7,500sq. metres adjacent to the UBCBookstore.

“I remember Michael had a model of the building on his desk when I firstcame here,” says microbiologist BrettFinlay, UBC Peter Wall DistinguishedProfessor whom Smith recruited in 1989.

Finlay is one of 15 principal investiga-tors and approximately 225 people whowill work in the three-storey buildingwhen it is at full capacity. Many of theresearchers have been associated withUBC’s Biotechnology Lab which Smithfounded in 1987. Scientists in the labhave been recognized with numerousnational and international researchawards.

“This is a remarkable group of academic investigators whose researchdiscoveries have crossed scientific disciplines in extraordinary ways andwho represent international leadership inbiotechnology,” says Phil Hieter, MSLdirector. “A distinguishing feature ofMSL scientists has been consistent development of new technologies toanswer important biological questions. It would be no surprise if UBC’s nextNobel Prize came from this lab.”

A replica of Smith’s Nobel Prize medal and his picture will be featured in a special alcove in the ground floorpublic lobby.

Other building features include ateaching lab directed by David Ng, whoprovides outreach programs to approxi-mately 2,000 Lower Mainland highschool students annually. There is also a100-seat lecture theatre that is electroni-cally linked to other UBC teaching sites,a multipurpose room, and an atriumoffering common social space for scien-tists and research staff.

The building is the first on campus touse Voice Over IP, a technology thatallows voice and data to travel on the

same infrastructure so that researcherscan plug in computers anywhere in thebuilding, giving greater mobility betweeninterdisciplinary labs and lowering oper-ating costs. In addition, the building willbe part of UBC’s high-speed wireless net-work.

Researchers have had significantinput into the design of their workspace.

Electrical engineer Robin Turner, whodevelops new spectroscopic methods inbiotechnology, will be working in a laserlab built to his specification.

“These labs are highly programmedspace with features customized to theresearchers’ work so that scientists canmove in and start work right away,”

UBC’s New State-of-the-Art Facility

says Ron Turner, project manager, whowas a childhood friend of one of Smith’ssons. In those days, he regarded the sci-entist as “just some guy inBirkenstocks.”

MSL researchers, representing five fac-ulties, explore organisms ranging fromworms and mice to trees.

They include neurobiologist TerrySnutch whose work may lead to newtherapies for migraines, stroke and car-diovascular disorders, and chemical engi-neer Charles Haynes who looks at thebehaviour of biomolecules and how syn-thetic surfaces can be tailored for medicaland industrial application. MSL associatedirector Brian Ellis, an expert on geneti-cally engineered food, studies how plantsadapt to environmental stresses such asfungus, insects and temperatureextremes. Hieter analyzes genes involvedin cancer and other human diseases.

The lower floor of the MSL willhouse the UBC Bioinformatics Centre.Directed by Francis Ouellette, the 450-sq. metre-facility will house fiveresearchers and approximately 70 students, post-doctoral fellows, andlab workers when fully operational.

Bioinformatics integrates computers,software tools, and databases to addressbiological questions, particularly in thefields of genomics and proteomics.

The MSL represents the UBC compo-nent of the Centre for IntegratedGenomics, a collaboration of UBC andthe BC Cancer Agency.

Funding for the MSL has been provided by Canada Foundation forInnovation, the B.C. KnowledgeDevelopment Fund and private donors.

For more information on the MichaelSmith Laboratories, visitwww.biotech.ubc.ca. ■■

B Y H I L A R Y T H O M S O N

The combination of mass destruc-tion and human drama that hasmade so many Hollywood disastermovies box office hits, has alsoproven to be a winning formula fora UBC Science course.

With 1,200 students expected toenrol this year, the earth and oceansciences first-year course on TheCatastrophic Earth – NaturalDisasters is one of UBC’s most pop-ular elective courses. You could callit an academic blockbuster.

While many courses start off withlarge enrolments, then lose studentsafter classes start, enrolment in EOS114 usually increases by 100 stu-dents in the first few weeks. Talkabout rave reviews.

“Students like it because we makedisasters fun,” says Prof. RolandStull, the course’s creator and leadinstructor.

“We firmly believe that sciencedoesn’t have to be boring. Webelieve we can teach the science ofdisasters – the physics, the dynamicsand those things – yet keep the

whole thing exciting.”With the aid of dramatic film

footage, photos, statistics and newsclips, students are taken on a wildtrip through the science of earth-quakes, volcanoes, landslides,storms, tsunamis, meteor impactsand mass extinctions.

Although no longer part of thecoursework, in previous years, Stulleven had students watch Hollywooddisaster movies to critique them forscientific accuracy. (Just in case youwere wondering, The Core gets athumbs down, and The PerfectStorm a solid thumbs up.)

Sarah Chan and Samantha Tsang,both 2nd-year Arts students, signedup for the summer 2004 session ofEOS 114 on the recommendation ofa friend who had taken the course.They say they liked it so muchthey’ll pass the recommendation onto others – but they’re not ready tojump ship from Arts to Science – yet.

“The course was well taught andit put a lot of things into perspec-

Disaster Course a Hit with StudentsB Y M I C H E L L E C O O K

continued on page 4

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The late Michael Smith envisioned a unique lab at the heart of campus.

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There are simply too fewAboriginal people employed inthe forestry sector in B.C., espe-cially considering that more than80 per cent of Canada’s FirstNations are located on forestland, according to Ron Trosper,the latest faculty member ofForest Resource Management inthe Faculty of Forestry.

Of more than 3,000 registeredprofessional foresters in B.C.,only 12 of them, or 0.4 per cent,are of Aboriginal ancestry.

Armed with a PhD fromHarvard and the experience offounding the Native AmericanForestry Program at NorthernArizona University, Trosper, ofSalish and Kootenai ancestry, isdetermined to change that. As anassociate professor of aboriginalforestry he will participate indeveloping the faculty’sAboriginal Forestry Program.

“This is an exciting academicfocus for the faculty,” says deanJack Saddler.

And a prudent one. Prior to1994, only three Aboriginal stu-dents were known to have gradu-ated from the faculty. Since then,22 have completed their studies,including some at the master’sand PhD level.

“There is an urgent need toincrease the role of Aboriginalpeople in managing and caring forthe land,” says Trosper. “Recentcourt decisions are indicating thathuge changes are in store inAboriginal participation inforestry, yet there are still manybarriers to Aboriginal students

who wish to pursue post-second-ary education.”

One of Trosper’s main goalswill be increasing university-levelresearch with First Nations com-munities, without losing sight ofproper research protocols thatrespect traditional culture andpractical needs.

“There is a long history of dis-possession in how the industryand researchers have worked withAboriginal people,” says Trosper.“It’s important to realize that FirstNations people don’t rejectadvances in technology and sci-ence – in fact, they embrace them– but there’s a very different wayin which they see the world.

“The forest is surrounded in asocial context, and to Aboriginalpeople, it’s obvious that living in,modifying and taking care of theforest are one and the same. Youcan’t manage the forest withoutgetting to know the people.”

Trosper has hit the ground run-ning since he arrived in Vancouverin July. He and Saddler havealready travelled up to HaidaGwaii off B.C.’s northwest coastto meet with community leaders,government officials and industryrepresentatives.

When asked what attracted himto UBC, he pointed to the stronggraduate program at the faculty.He wants to see more Aboriginalpeople pursue advanced degrees sothere is a “permanent presence”of Aboriginal people in academia.

“There is great potential forUBC to be a leader in Aboriginalforestry education,” he says. ■■

Harvard-EducatedNative American ScholarJoins UBC ForestryB Y B R I A N L I N

tive,” Chan says. “In the media,you’re told the wrong things aboutdisasters. It’s very stereotyped. Inthis course, you learn the truth.”

Chan and Tsang also say they’llnever watch Hollywood disastermovies in quite the same way again.

“It’s a lot of fantasy,” Tsang says. “But now we can be critical of it

on the basis of scientific informa-tion,” Chan adds.

But didn’t all that talk of massdestruction leave them feeling a lit-tle paranoid?

“Yeah, living in Richmond, a lit-tle bit,” Chan laughs. “If there’s anearthquake, we’re going to be thefirst to go.”

Launched four years ago, EOS114 is taught by a “dream team” ofseven specialists in specific disasterswho’ve all had first-hand experiencein the field. Stull, for example, is aweather expert who used to chasestorms in Oklahoma when he was auniversity student.

The instructors are supported byan army of TAs who also staff anEarth Course Assistance Centre dur-ing the term to give students one-on-one help.

The goal of the course is to teachstudents how and when natural dis-asters occur, how to recognize them,how to identify hazards, the sciencebehind them, and what students cando to ensure their own safety andplan their lives. Things “like wherethey might and might not want tobuy a house, like probably notalong the shoreline of Florida

Disaster Course a Hit with Students

because a hurricane or storm surgewill wipe it out,” Stull says.

Despite his obvious enthusiasmfor the course, Stull says it’s notmeant to make light of the oftendevastating natural occurrences thathappen around the globe on a dailybasis.

“I tell the students every day thatour business is to help save livesand reduce economic losses,” Stullexplains. “Even so, this is our fieldof study and we’re excited about it,so we teach it with the same excite-ment, but I let people know we’renot insensitive.

“I think the students feel that.They can tell that when there’s areally good storm or earthquake,we get excited about it.”

Originally conceived as a way toincrease enrolment in the depart-ment, the course is also designed toadvertise related courses in thefield, and encourage undeclared stu-dents to consider earth and oceansciences as a major.

The approach has been so suc-cessful that it’s even spawned aspin-off. Dinosaur’s Earth (EOS116) was launched last year afterstudents raved about the segment ofEOS 114 on mass extinction.

The popularity of EOS 114 doesn’t surprise Stull.

“Everyone is interested in disas-ters,” he says. But, he adds, if stu-dents learn one thing from thecourse, it should be that science isfun – and they should choose wherethey live very, very carefully. ■■

Prof. Ron Trosper will help develop the Aboriginal Forestry Program at UBC.

continued from page 3

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School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Director

The Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, invites applications and nominations for the position of Director of the School of Rehabilitation Sciences.

The individual selected should have doctoral level qualifications or equivalent and a strong background in Occupational Therapy or Physical Therapy. He or she should also be familiar with the nature of practicein Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy, teaching and administrative experience and an academicreputation commensurate with a leadership role in the School. The individual selected will be expected tohave a clear commitment to a framework for education and research that emphasizes the relationshipsamong disciplines and between research and clinical practice.

As of 2004, the School offers two-year master’s programs in Occupational Therapy and in Physical therapy and advanced graduate programs in rehabilitation (MSc, PhD, and MRSc, an on-line master’sdegree). The School has strong interprofessional links with other departments in the University and with both practice communities.

This is a full-time tenured position which is subject to final budgetary approval. Academic rank and salaryis commensurate with qualifications and experience. The anticipated start date is January 1, 2005.

UBC hires on the basis of merit and is committed to employment equity. We encourage all qualified persons to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents of Canada will be given priority.

Letters of application accompanied by a curriculum vitae, three recent publications and the names of three referees should be submitted by September 30, 2004, and directed to:

Dr. Gavin C.E. Stuart, MDDean, Faculty of MedicineRoom 317, Instructional Resources CentreUniversity of British Columbia2194 Health Sciences MallVancouver, B.C. Canada V6T 1Z3

T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F B R I T I S H C O L U M B I A

F A C U LT Y O F M E D I C I N E

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LanguagesCultures & Travel

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Writing Centre

UBC StudentsWork study positions are available at the UBC WritingCentre. For information, call 604-822-1986. Application deadline: Sept 15.

Faculty of MedicineExpansion: The FactsIn March 2002, the provincialgovernment announced itsplan to ease B.C.’s doctorshortage by almost doublingthe number of medical schoolstudents to 224 in 2005.

Curently B.C. has the low-est per capita ratio of placesin medical school to popula-tion in any Canadian provinceor territory.

This year, UBC’s Faculty ofMedicine launches a system ofdistributed medical educationwith UBC students taught atthree new facilities: theUniversity of Northern BritishColumbia’s (UNBC) NorthernHealth Sciences Centre;University of Victoria’s (UVic)Medical Sciences Building andUBC’s Life Sciences Centre(LSC). The facilities representa provincial government capi-tal commitment totalling $134million, which includes $110million for the UBC portion.

In the 2004-05 academicyear, 200 students will beadmitted to the Faculty ofMedicine, with 152 studentsadmitted to the Vancouver-Fraser Medical Program onUBC campus; 24 students tothe Northern MedicalProgram (NMP) at UNBCand 24 to the Island MedicalProgram (IMP) at UVic.

Students in the NMP andthe IMP will spend the firstfour months of the MDundergraduate program inVancouver and the remainderof the first two years in thenorth or on Vancouver Island.In the third and fourth yearsof the program, students willhave a range of experiences inthe north and on VancouverIsland and will also haveopportunities through UBC’snetwork of 96 affiliated teach-ing hospitals and health facili-ties throughout B.C.

All three new facilities haveIT infrastructure that is linkedwith BCNet’s high speedbroad band network to sup-port the distributed e-learningmodel. ■■

UBC medical student MichelleTousignant, 14 years old at thetime, was there visiting her fatherwho was part of the UnitedNations Assistance Mission. Shesays watching the Red Cross inaction during the conflict strong-ly influenced her decision tobecome a doctor.

The 24-year old has just start-ed her first year of UBC’s medicalundergraduate program, one of24 students admitted to theIsland Medical Program (IMP) –part of the Faculty of Medicine’sexpanded medical education pro-gram (see sidebar).

“I have always had a strongpull towards health and healing,”says the well-travelledTousignant, who says she grewup as a “military brat.”

“I was truly inspired by what I saw – it was a big driving forcefor me,” she says.

After high-school graduation in Belgium, she traveled toHonduras to work in rural health clinics and hospitals and“loved it.”

University of Victoria will be Home forWidely Travelled Student

A kinesiology grad fromUniversity of Victoria, Tousignantwas attracted to the IMP becauseshe felt she had roots – for thefirst time in her life – onVancouver Island and because shewould be learning with a smallgroup of students, an experienceshe had enjoyed as an undergrad.

Students in the IMP and theNorthern Medical Program arerated on a rural suitability indexas part of the admissions process.Tousignant’s interest in ruralareas has much to do with herlove of outdoor activities, espe-cially skiing and snowboarding.

“I’m going into medicine with areally open mind in terms ofwhere I’ll end up,” she says. “I’mlooking at smaller communitiesclose to ski hills, but who knows,I may change my mind more thanonce in the course of my studies.”

As an IMP student, she willspend the first four months ofmedical school at UBC’sVancouver campus before movingback to the Island as part of theIMP’s first class. ■■

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Visiting Rwanda inspired Michelle Tousignant to pursue medicine.

Few Canadian Teenagers were Witness to the Horrors of Rwanda’s 1994 Bloody Civil War

B Y H I L A R Y T H O M S O N

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Construction is booming at UBC with more than $600 million in institutional and housing projects underway.Projects range from student housing to galleries andresearch centres as well as town homes and condominiumsin four of the eight campus neighbourhoods that compriseUBC’s residentially oriented University Town.

Approximately 80 per cent of construction is for academic purposes with major funding from the CanadaFoundation for Innovation, B.C. Knowledge DevelopmentFund and the provincial government’s Double theOpportunity Fund that supports a plan to double the number of students graduating each year in computing science and engineering.

Here is a sampling of some current construction anddesign projects:

1. The UBC Life Sciences Centre is a fast-tracked construction program that will provide more than 40,000sq. metres of interdisciplinary research and education facilities and help UBC’s Faculty of Medicine reach its goal of almost doubling the number of graduating medical students by 2010.

Scheduled completion: August 2004-May 2005Capital budget: $109 million

2. The Irving K. Barber Learning Centre will retain theheritage core of the Main Library, add approximately18,000 sq. metres of new building and more than 4,000sq. metres of renovated floor space. The centre – fullyequipped to support wireless technology – will offer astate-of-the-art storage and retrieval system.

Scheduled completion: May 2005 (Phase 1) November 2006 (Phase 2)

Capital budget: $68 million

3. The Michael Smith Laboratories and UBCBioinformatics Centre is a 7,675-sq.- metre, four-storeyleading edge laboratory that will help UBC continue itsnational leadership in the field of genomics. The buildingname honours the memory of the late Michael Smith, UBCprofessor, 1993 Nobel laureate and founder of UBC’sBiotechnology Lab.

Scheduled completion: September 2004Capital budget: $30 million

4. The Aquatic Ecosystems Research Laboratory is a5,752-sq.-metre four-storey facility that will bring threeexisting research units under one roof: the UBC FisheriesCentre, The Institute for Resources, Environment andSustainability and the B.C. Fisheries Research Unit.

Scheduled completion: June 2005Capital budget: $15 million

5. The Multi-user Facility for Functional Proteomics willbe attached to the existing Biomedical Research Centre.This new facility will provide space for a cluster of threemulti-user facilities including the UBC FluorescenceActivated Cell Sorting Facility and a mass spectrometer.

Scheduled completion: December 2004Capital budget: $7 million

6. The Institute for Computing, Information andCognitive Systems/Computer Science is a fast-tracked proj-ect designed to strengthen and create new interdisciplinaryresearch links among computer science, electrical, comput-er and mechanical engineering, medicine and health care,educational technology, psychology, commerce, processindustries and utility systems. The facilities will be directlyconnected to the existing Centre for Integrated ComputerSystems Research building.

Scheduled completion: December 2004Capital budget: $40 million

7. The Fred Kaiser Building, formerly the Electrical andComputer Engineering Building, is an 8,900-sq.-metrefacility that will house the Faculty of Applied Science’sElectrical and Computer Engineering departments. Thesite, between Main Mall and an inner courtyard framed bythe existing MacLeod and Civil Engineering/MechanicalEngineering buildings, will link Main Mall and the CheezFactory through an interior atrium, which will also serveas the new main entry for the Engineering precinct.

Scheduled completion: February 2005Capital budget: $26 million

8. The Chemical and Biological Engineering Buildingsupports the provincial government initiative to double the number of graduates in Engineering and Science. The11, 500-sq.-metre building provides a replacement facilityfor the Chemistry and Biological Engineering Departmentand a new facility for the Clean Energy Research Centre.

Scheduled completion: September 2005Capital budget: $38 million

6 | ubc reports | september 2, 2004

TIMEPIECE 1925

Semi-permanent buildings (left to right, Agriculture, Arts, Auditorium, Administration) under construction. Dogged by financial constraints in 1925, nine buildings, all of wood-frame and stucco construction were classed as “semi-permanent” and designed to last 25 to 40 years “if necessary.” (As of 1996, most were still in use). ■■

Cranes Flying for Academic / Resid

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ubc reports | september 2, 2004 | 7

Residential Growth Spurt B Y H I L A R Y T H O M S O N

The brainchild of UBC PropertiesTrust, the innovative approachstems from UBC housing policy,which makes leased university landavailable to qualified employeeswhen they come together in groupsof at least ten owners. Faculty andstaff co-developers can realize sav-ings, depending on market condi-tions, as high as 30 per cent throughthe elimination of typical projectmanagement and marketing costs.

Logan Lane homes, scheduled forcompletion in June 2005, start at$356,200 for a 2-bedroom garden home.

Co-development housing initia-

tives are a key sustainability strategyin UBC's University Town plan,whose goal is for 50 per cent of newresidential market and non-markethousing to serve faculty, staff andstudents.

For Judith Hall, professor of pediatrics and medical genetics, thechance to live within walking distance of work and diverse cultur-al, social and recreational venues –in UBC's extraordinary natural set-ting – was too good to pass up. Sheis one of 10 faculty and staff whodeveloped Hawthorne Green, thefirst co-development housing project of 10 homes, which were completed

Co-Development Helps CampusCommunity Build a Sustainable Future

9. The new five-storey $17 million Dentistry Buildingwill serve as a gateway to the University BoulevardNeighbourhood, part of University Town. The approxi-mately 11,000-sq.-metre building includes above- andbelow-ground parking, ground floor retail space, a newstate-of-the-art dentistry clinic on the second floor andadditional university office space.

Scheduled completion: September 2005

10. Almost 2,000 units of student housing will be avail-able with the construction of Marine Residences, a six-building complex. The UBC Properties Trust developmentincludes retail space and a one-storey Commons Blockbuilding with a reception area, ballroom, fireside lounge,exercise room and other amenities. Phase 1 is currentlyunderway and includes 600 beds.

Capital budget: $138 millionScheduled completion date: Phase 1- August 2005

11. Residential housing includes a variety of condo-miniums and town homes located in the Hawthorn Placeneighbourhood in the mid-campus area. Promontory,developed by Polygon, is an 18-storey tower that will bethe most westerly high-rise in Vancouver. Reflections andJourney, two developments by Adera, comprise almost 160condominium units in the same neighbourhood.

In addition, developer Ledingham McAllister is creatingWestchester and Somerset, a group of 40 town homes inthe heart of Hawthorn Place.

12. At Chancellor Place, Intracorp is developing morethan 170 apartments, condominiums and town homes,including Chancellor House and Argyll House.

UBC Properties Trust, together with Polygon HomesInc., initiated the relocation of fraternities from their exist-ing leased land sites onto the UBC Campus at 2280Wesbrook. The relocation provides seven new fraternityhouses with accommodation for approximately 240 stu-dents.

UBC Properties Trust plans and oversees the construc-tion of large institutional buildings on campus. For moreinformation on these facilities, visitwww.ubcproperties.com. Information on housing sites can be obtained through the commercial developmentcompanies responsible for construction. Information onUniversity Town can be found atwww.universitytown.ubc.ca. ■■(with files from UBC Properties Trust)

k u d o sThe winning hand that feeds UBC. UBC Food Services achieved the culinary equivalent of a hat trick during the summer, winning three food industry awards.

During its annual conference, the Canadian College and University FoodService Association (CCUFSA) presented UBC with the association’s ShineAward for excellence in teamwork, food service, and hospitality.

The conference also marked the first time UBC Food Services entered ateam in the annual CCUFSA Culinary Challenge – and took first place. In thegruelling two-day competition against three other schools (SFU, NorthwestCommunity College and Brigham Young University), the UBC team of StevenGolob (residence chef at Vanier’s), Rob Van Raes (Sage Bistro), and ChrisSingleton (Sage Bistro) produced an internationally themed three-course mealand provided nutritional information for their menu.

Dishes they prepared included vanilla and black pepper marinated prawnsand scallops paired with quinoa salad, pea sprouts, fresh roti and mango salsa;ahi and wild salmon served with grilled purple yam tiles with a sake watermelon butter reduction; and blackberry honey-glazed barbequed peachwith brandy mascarpone cheese and maple syrup liquor sauce.

Adding to Food Services’ list of summer successes, executive chef PiyushSahay brought home a silver medal from a North America-wide culinary competition, held at the University of Massachusetts. The competition focusedon Spanish, Thai and Indian cuisine. ■■

last month."For me working on campus has

been a life-long pursuit. This co-development gave me the chanceto be part of what I consider to be a great experiment in building community," said Hall.

Faculty and staff interested inhearing more about joining or starting a co-development groupare invited to contact UBCProperties Trust.

Please e-mail: jhindle@ubcproper-ties.com or call 604-731-3103.

For more information onUniversity Town please visitwww.universitytown.ubc.ca ■■

The Institute for Computing, Information and Cognitive Systems.

The UBC Life Sciences Centre.

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8 | ubc reports | september 2, 2004

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COMPLETE

ubc reports | september 2, 2004 | 9

Michael Byers knows that any storywritten about him is likely to start offlike this: he left Canada more than adecade ago to pursue an academiccareer in international law and globalpolitics, first in England at Cambridgeand then Oxford, followed by a five-year stint at Duke University inDurham, North Carolina where heheaded up the university’s highly regard-ed Center for Canadian Studies. Duringthat time, he gained an internationalreputation for his contributions to pub-lic and foreign policy debates and issuessuch as human rights and arms control.

“Anna Maria Tremonti at the CBC called me a poster boy for theCanadian brain drain,” Byers laughs.“But Canada has always been home.I’ve been living out of the country forthe last 12 years but I felt a strong pull back.”

That pull, in large part, was thepromise of a new era for Canada on the world stage.

“Canada is uniquely placed as a rolemodel for the rest of the world as towhat is possible in terms of a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic social welfare statethat can co-operate with other countriesin a constructive, multilateral way,” says Byers.

Observing the post-9/11 world andCanada’s role in it from south of theborder has been professionally excitingbut personally difficult for Byers. Part ofhis reason for moving to Vancouver isthe feeling that he can best help Canadarespond to emerging global issues fromhome.

Judging from his first few weeks atUBC, Byers, 38, hasn’t been content toslip quietly back across the 49th parallel.

Since arriving in Vancouver earlierthis summer with his wife, two youngsons and a new Canada Research Chairin global politics and international law,he has written for the Globe and Mail,appeared on CTV’s Canada AM andgiven numerous interviews. In his low-key but highly persuasive style, he’s beenraising issues such as the effects climatechange could have on Canada’s bilateralwater treaty with the U.S. and on ship-ping activity in the Northwest Passage.

Watching him at work in his shadyoffice at the Liu Centre, dressed casuallyin dark khakis and comfortably worngolf shirt, Byers looks and sounds verymuch like Mr. West Coast. He’s alreadydone the Grouse Grind, he’d love tospend more time on the beach with hislaptop writing, and he and his wiferecently bought a Toyota Prius gas-elec-tric hybrid car that they “hope will senda tiny signal to car manufacturers thattimes have changed.” He has justreturned from a five-week writingretreat and is keen to talk about hismove to Vancouver.

Before he can do that, Byers excuseshimself to take a call from a nationalnewspaper reporter in Toronto. He slipseasily and eloquently into a conversa-tion on missile defence. He laughs oftenand even playfully scolds his caller forfailing to read an article he’d penned onthe issue a few weeks earlier for thereporter’s paper.

Byers knows the media game. You

give interviews – even two-minute onesat 5 a.m. in the morning – you makegood contacts, you write editorial pieceswith a fresh and informed perspectivethat hasn’t been heard before, and youuse your expertise to tell stories journal-ists can’t.

Byers does it because he wants mediato know he’s here at UBC and availableto talk. He sees it as an integral part ofhis role as a public intellectual who con-tributes “in a meaningful way to long-term thinking” by identifying the issuesthat are going to be big a few yearsdown the road and providing possibleanswers.

The public outreach work also com-plements Byers’ goal of shaping the LiuInstitute into a powerful intellectualthink tank like the Brookings Institution[the renowned, oft-cited think tank in

Washington, D.C.] and, in the process,put UBC on the world map as a hugelyinfluential public policy university.

“That’s how I see the Liu Institute. Iwould want it to be at the forefront ofall the major foreign policy debates inCanada in the future as well as some ofthe truly global debates regardless ofwhether they involve Canada in anysubstantial way.”

Byers grew up in Ottawa speakingEnglish and German (his mother was afirst-generation immigrant) but his pas-sion for international law and globalpolitics was nurtured in the unlikelylocale of rural Saskatchewan. As heexplains it, the summers he spent on his grandparents’ farm as a boy were a valuable prerequisite for his futurestudies.

“Anyone who spent a lot of time ona farm in southern Saskatchewan dur-ing the 1970s and early ‘80s knew thatthere was a world out there, partlybecause Canadian farmers are acutelysensitive to the importance of interna-tional trade,” Byers explains.

“And I also have childhood memo-ries of watching B-52 bombers fly over-head from U.S. bases on the circuit upto the Arctic in case war broke out. Ifyou think about it, Canada was rightsmack in the middle of the Cold War,with the U.S. on one side and the SovietUnion on the other, and Stoughton,Saskatchewan was in the centre ofthat.”

After finishing high school, Byersreceived his BA from the University ofSaskatchewan in 1988, both his LLBand BCL from McGill University in1992, and his PhD from CambridgeUniversity (Queens’ College) in 1996.For the next three years, he was aresearch fellow at Jesus College, Oxford(where he met wife Katharine) as wellas a visiting fellow at the Max PlanckInstitute for Comparative Public Lawand International Law in Germany.

In 1999, he joined the faculty ofDuke’s law school. While he was there,Byers invited Lloyd Axworthy, thenCEO of the Liu Institute, to lecture.They quickly realized they had commonacademic interests and Axworthy invit-ed Byers to Vancouver. With the link toUBC established, Byers spent a month

The Return of the NativeAfter more than a decade abroad, international law expertMichael Byers has come home to western Canada. But willthe new academic director of the Liu Institute for GlobalIssues see the world differently now that he’s far from thecentres of political power? B Y M I C H E L L E C O O K

on campus in April 2003 and arrivedpermanently in July.

Like many who return home after along absence, Byers has great expecta-tions for his native land.

He thinks Canadians have the poten-tial to significantly influence future glob-al debates because we’re well respectedworldwide, we’re multilingual, we’revery close to U.S. but we’re not the U.S.and we’ve maintained a degree of inde-pendence in international affairs. Aboveall, he adds, we’re incredibly wealthy –not in raw dollars but in terms of ournatural and intellectual resources.

But will working on the West Coastaffect his access to the key decision mak-ers, power brokers, academics and jour-nalists he worked with in Washington,London and Ottawa?

“For the first time in decades, B.C.has become politically significant in fed-eral politics – every student and staffmember here at UBC is now politicallysignificant. Ottawa is paying attention tous and that’s a huge opportunity to exer-cise influence, not just in voting but alsoin terms of demanding action on issues,”Byers says, adding that he will still havea few geographic adjustments to make.

“I have to keep East Coast hours tobe here when journalists in Washington,New York, Toronto and Ottawa startworking on their stories. I have to behere and they have to know I’m here.And I have to be here before people inEurope go home at night.

“But the other exciting dimension isI’m now in the Asia Pacific, a part of theworld that I don’t know very well –yet.”

Right now, in the waning days ofsummer before students return to cam-pus and classes start, writing is whatByers is thinking about most. You cansee he’s passionate about it. The topichas come up several times in the conver-sation. He’s a regular contributor to theLondon Review of Books and newspa-per op/ed pages, and he thinksVancouver is the perfect place to dowhat he loves best.

“To be honest, I’m looking forwardto spending a lot of time writing withthe rain falling outside. There are a lot ofthings I want to write and a lot of thingsI want to say,” Byers says. ■■

have to watch. By the end, I couldn’t.It violated every single one of my codeof ethics. The whole time this washappening to her, as the stones hit her,her face remained blank. She wasembarrassed, you could see it in hereyes; ashamed of herself, ashamedthat I was seeing this.”

Lyons, whose volunteer activitieshave included work with theCanadian Red Cross, War ChildCanada and Save the Children, hopessharing her insight of the HIV/AIDSepidemic will inspire youth in her owncommunity to get more involved.

“I always had a passion for theissue, but how can you really get thatacross based on things in a textbookor statistics? Now that I’ve seen thesethings, I can show people the pic-tures. I can explain what it feels liketo walk down the street, to see theorphaned children, to not see anyadults, to see five funerals in 10 days.

“AIDS has become such a catas-trophe that each and every person inthe world, HIV-positive or not,Canadian or Malawian, needs to dotheir part, somehow needs to takeaction.” ■■

AIDS in Africa continued from page 1

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Michael Byers, new Canada Research Chair in global politics and international law.

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10 | ubc reports | september 2, 2004

Introducing Argyll House East – a limited collection of

cityhomes and apartments that back onto a green belt next to the historic Iona

Building at UBC. You’re close to the Chan Centre, the UBC Botanical Gardens

and the Nitobe Garden where you can take in Japanese tea while enjoying the

beautiful surroundings. Homes at Argyll House East can be as large as 2600

square feet. And, when you compare the cityhome prices to the cost of other

homes of comparable size in West Point Grey, you get a lot of value which

means that you really can relax and enjoy the views of your new backyard... and

your new living room.

But, with only 11 cityhomes and 31 smartly designed single level apartment

homes and penthouses to choose from, your opportunities to own a home at

Argyll House East are limited.

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A new point of view.

NEWS TV | RADIOUBC Public Affairs has opened both a radio and TV studio on campuswhere you can do live interviews with local, national and internationalmedia outlets.To learn more about being a UBC expert, call us at 604.822.2064 andvisit our web site at www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/experts/signup

AlumniB Y B R I A N L I N

UBC physics grad Jeremy Hilton is convinced he’s part of an elite teamdestined for something great – something that will revolutionize theway we live.

Four years into his first full-time job, Hilton is now Director ofIntellectual Property at D-Wave Systems, a Vancouver-based companyspecializing in quantum computing technology.

Hilton has helped D-Wave file almost 100 patents related to quantum computing, more than the number of patents filed by indus-try giants IBM, NEC and the U.S. Department of Defense combined.

Co-founded in 1999 by UBC physics PhD Geordie Rose with thehelp of his UBC mentor, venture capitalist Haig Farris, D-Wave hasearned a reputation in the field as a serious contender in the race tobuild the first quantum computer in the world, an achievement thathas been likened to electricity in the 1830s.

D-Wave was the first quantum computing start-up to receive ven-ture capital backing, having impressed local and national investmentfunds. D-Wave recently became the first quantum computing company to receive financing from a top-tier US venture capital fund. At US$8 million, the financing led by Silicon Valley venture fund Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and including investment from the $60 billion British Columbia Investment Corporation, solidified thecompany’s leadership role in the field..

Hilton and Rose have no doubt of the feasibility of the device thatpromises to blow all traditional computers right out of the water.Using quantum mechanics, the rules that govern all matter and energy, to accelerate computation, quantum computers are theorizedto outperform any conceivable conventional supercomputer.

“We know it’s going to work,” says Hilton. “It’s just a matter of time.”

Both avid athletes – Hilton was on the UBC Varsity swim team and Rose has won numerous national wrestling titles – they learnedmore than just physics at UBC.

“I learned to think outside the box,” says Hilton. “The ability to be creative in solving problems is invaluable.”

Rose’s eureka moment happened in Farris’s entrepreneurship classat the business school. “We got to meet and speak to people who weresuccessful Vancouver-based entrepreneurs, such as Norm Francis ofPivotal and Paul Lee of Electronic Arts,” says Rose. “And my reactionwas ‘I can do that!’”

Already armed with a strong contingent of UBC alums – nine outof 22 full-time staff are UBC grads – Rose says he won’t hesitate tohire some more. “UBC folks always live up to our expectations.They’re extremely well trained compared to grads from other university and colleges.” ■■

ubcr5008_01sept04 9/1/04 12:02 PM Page 11

ubc reports | september 2, 2004 | 11

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As an American tourist visitingCanada, just one day in Vancouverwas enough to convince Jason Woodthat it might be a nice place to live.The teen from Texas liked the look ofthe city.

Back in his hometown of SanAngelo, a west Texas community of90,000 people deep in the heart of oiland ranch country, Wood starteddoing some research and liked what hefound out.

Vancouver’s film industry appealedto the avid movie buff and UBC hadan award program for internationalstudents that could help him study inthe city he had found so picturesque.

Four years later, Wood, 18, is backin Vancouver as the first Americanrecipient of an International Leader ofTomorrow (ILOT) Award.

Wood is one of 12 students world-wide to receive an ILOT award tostudy at UBC this year. The awards –each worth about $23,000 annuallyand renewable for up to three years –help outstanding international studentswho couldn’t otherwise afford post-secondary education. The awards pro-gram is the largest of its kind at aCanadian university. It is funded byUBC’s International Student Initiative(ISI) which was launched in 1996 toincrease the number of internationalstudents on campus from a range ofcountries.

UBC has been offering ILOTawards since 2001 to help attract someof the world’s brightest young mindsto campus. Since then, 39 studentsfrom 29 countries have benefited fromthe program. This year, more than 145applications were considered.

Wood, who will study commerce atthe Sauder School of Business, doesn’tseem fazed by the fact that he’s the firstU.S. student to receive the award. Afterall, he’s worked hard to get here.

Karen McKellin is the associatedirector of ISI and a member of theILOT awards committee who choseWood. She says he was selectedbecause of his high academic grades,his extracurricular activities whichincluded working as the editor of hishigh school newspaper and co-editorof his school’s yearbook, and his clearbut unusual professional goals.

“Jason is completely interested in acareer in the movie business and hasmade consistent choices to supportthat,” McKellin says. “The feeling ofthe committee was that this was a verydeserving young man from an eco-nomically disadvantaged backgroundwho worked after school at his localmovie theatre.

“He’s combined his love of filmwith a profound interest in learning thebusiness of films – how to promotethem, how they get to be blockbusters– and he’d done his research to see thatwe had a movie industry here inHollywood North.”

Wood, whose own movie prefer-ences range from indie films to “pop-corn” blockbusters, says he consideredgoing to NYU or UCLA – schools inthe world’s top two movie productioncentres. In the end, he opted forVancouver.

He hopes to complement his com-merce courses with electives in filmstudies and Chinese (when he was inhigh school, Wood spent a month inChina with his grandmother who wasteaching English there). While inVancouver, he’s also looking forwardto experiencing different cultures,checking out places like Chinatown,and learning to kayak.

Wood is one of only a few of hisclassmates to leave Texas for post-secondary education, and the only per-son out of his graduating class of 770

A Texan on Campus

to choose to study in Canada. “Most people from San Angelo stay

in Texas and most go to Texasschools,” he explains. “My grandpar-ents wanted me to stay in Texas, butmy mom and stepdad have been sup-portive. San Angelo is not a place withlots of opportunities for younger peo-ple, so they’re all excited for me. Formy birthday, my grandmother evenordered stuff online from the UBCbookstore.”

Wood says he’s never been awayfrom his family for any great length oftime and he’ll miss them and his friends– but one thing he won’t miss is thehot, dry Texas weather.

“In Vancouver, I’m looking forwardto starting something new, the sceneryand the weather,” Wood says.

Hopefully, he packed an umbrella. ■■

By merging two departments, UBCREC is now bigger and better to servethe UBC community. The dynamicsport and recreation program givesstudents, faculty and staff the chanceto get active and get involved throughintramurals and league sports, events,tournaments, personal fitness, infor-mal/drop-in activities, instructionalprograms and outdoor recreation.

With a record number of 22,429 participants last year, programmanager Kavie Toor says UBC REC has the biggest intramurals program in the country. More than 30 per cent of all first year students participate. Toor says statistics show first-year participantshave a higher grade point average (70.74 per cent) than non-partici-pants (68.51 per cent) – more proof that exercise is good for you! ■■

UBC REC Bigger and Better

Texan Jason Wood’s love of movies led him to Vancouver and UBC.

First American recipient of International Leader of Tomorrow Award. B Y M I C H E L L E C O O K

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12 | ubc reports | september 2, 2004

Dr. Judith Hall is one of ten new University Town residents.

She and nine fellow UBC faculty and staff just finishedbuilding and moving into their new townhouse complex,Hawthorn Green. Located in UBC’s mid-campus neighbourhood, each townhouse has its own self-containedrental suite providing new opportunities for both ownersand students to live and work on campus. This landmarkinitiative is unique in North America and symbolizes whatUniversity Town is all about: community, culture and academic pursuit.

Faculty and staff interested in hearing more about joiningor starting a co-development group, are invited to contactUBC Properties Trust.

Please e-mail: jcraig@ubcproperties.com or call 604-731-3103.

For more information on University Town please visitwww.universitytown.ubc.ca

U N I V E R S I T Y T O W N 6 3 2 8 M E M O R I A L R O A D , V A N C O U V E R , B C V 6 T 1 Z 2 W W W . U N I V E R S I T Y T O W N . U B C . C A

Co-development housing is a key sustainability strategy in UBC’sUniversity Town and also addresses UBC’s commitment that 50per cent of new residential market and non-market housing is for people who work or study on campus.

Co-development housing involves a group of future homeownersapplying to lease land from UBC to create new townhouses orapartment condominiums. Because the co-developers are ultimately the owners, depending on market conditions, savingsas high as 30 per cent can be realized through the elimination of typical project management and marketing costs.

On behalf of the co-developers, UBC Properties Trust, UBC’sproperty management arm, arranges for the purchase of landfrom the university, plan and design the project, apply for thenecessary approvals, arrange construction financing, and hire allof the necessary project consultants to complete the final construction of the project.

Hawthorn Green is UBC's first co-development plan and thefirst of its kind in North America. Construction is underway onthe second co-development, Logan Lane Townhouses, a 61-unitproject in the Hawthorn Place mid-campus neighbourhood.

C O - D E V E L O P M E N T I N A N U T S H E L L

U N I V E R S I T Y T O W N

A S U S T A I N A B L E F U T U R E

Full-time Clinical Geneticist, Part-time Housing Developer.

Judith Hall, Co-developer & Professor of Pediatrics and Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia.

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