A35 Automotive near future will be electric KELOWNA
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Friday, January 29, 2016 • kelownacapnews.com
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JOINING ELITE SWIM TEAM KELOWNA AQUAJET JOSH ZAKALA TAKES NEXT BIG STEP IN SWIMMING CAREER............ A23
EATING DISORDER AWARENESS
UBC interim president Martha Piper and Okanagan College president Jim Hamilton shared the stage to talk about the impact of post-secondary institutions on the Okanagan, at the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Thursday..
UBCO exceeding expectations Alistair Waters awaters@kelownacapnews.com
Ten years ago, just before her retirement as the 11th president of UBC, Martha Piper spoke to the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce. For 25 minutes, she expounded on the great things she expected to happen here as a result of the university opening its new campus in the city. Looking back a decade later, Piper says she was not optimistic enough. Speaking to the Chamber again on Thursday—now as interim UBC president after being brought back for one year while the university seeks a replacement for Arvind Gupta who quit as president in 2015—Piper said in 2005 she had no idea how successful UBC Okanagan, as it became known, would be. “I did not anticipate the
welcome UBC would get in the Okanagan,” she said. “Community ownership of the (UBCO) campus has been stunning.” Speaking to the Kelowna Capital News later, Piper credited support from all parts of the community, including local government, business and the public, for the success of UBCO in its first 10 years. During her remarks at the Chamber of Commerce luncheon, Piper said the success of the university here can be seen in four very tangible ways: • a $400 million doubling of the size of the campus including buildings and infrastructure • a tripling of the actual floor space available on campus • a quintupling of the number of student residences and • an increase in student numbers to 8,400 now compared
with 3,500 in 2005. On top of that, UBCO has seen its research budget grow to $18 million from $7 million. Piper said she is “always surprised” by the quality of the students and faculty here, noting one Kelowna student was recently awarded a prestigious internship at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN, an international leading research organization and operator of the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. In another move, a highly regarded professor who specializes in the study of soils was lured away from McGill University in Montreal to take a position at UBCO. “His work could have taken him anywhere in the world,” said Piper. “But he chose to come here.” Piper, who as UBC president in 2004 chaired the B.C. Progress Board that recommended UBC or
SFU expand into the B.C. Interior, said she believes the replacement of Okanagan University College in Kelowna has helped UBC as a whole not only garner more international attention but has also helped it recruit high-level faculty both here and at the larger Vancouver campus. In a recent listing of the top 800 universities in the world, UBC was ranked 34th and in North America, it is ranked sixth among public universities, just a point behind the University of Washington. “We are really, really good,” said Piper. “But let’s be honest, we could be better.” She said she expects the university will get better here over the next 10 years, working with the community and with Okanagan College. Jim Hamilton, president of
SEE UBCO A9
KELOWNA WOMAN TALKS ABOUT HER RECOVERY ........................A6
CHALLENGE A KELOWNA MOM WANTS TO SHOW IT’S POSSIBLE TO NOT BE WASTEFUL................................A3
ENTERTAINMENT BC SINGER EARNING ACCLAIM IN LATIN MUSIC.........................A29
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