Published monthly by the University Neighbourhoods Association
Volume 2, Issue 4
APRIL 18, 2011
Bookstore Staff Spends Day Shoeless for Good Cause
Hold on Housing Plan Hits UBC Staff Plan was for faculty and staff to ‘co-develop’ 73 homes on campus with UBC; UBC is concerned about only first generation of owners enjoying benefit
Shoeless UBC Bookstore Staff (from left to right): Michael Guimond, Jenny Fuentes, Debbie Harvie, Rebecca Irani, Anna Li, Ruzzle Co. For story see Page 2.
UBC Land Use Plan Passes Test in Victoria Process to amend land use plan rules and regulations was long but ultimately successful; new UBC plan has been in effect since March 1st A lengthy process of amending the rules and regulations regarding land use planning has ended satisfactorily for the University of British Columbia.
The Campus Resident has learned the provincial government has approved a new set of rules for UBC called the Land Use Plan (LUP). This LUP will serve to oversee land use planning decisions at UBC instead of the old Official Community Plan. A government source indicated the LUP came into effect March 1st by way of a ministerial order signed in Victoria. Ministerial approval of the LUP follows approval of the plan by the UBC board of governors January 13th, while board
approval in turn came after a long but well-managed public consultation process conducted by UBC lasting from July, 2010 until the end of November. Oversight for land use planning at UBC became a provincial government concern in March, 2010 following a break-down in relations between UBC and Metro Vancouver. Metro Vancouver had previously approved the Official Community Plan, which went into effect in 1997. UBC LAND continued on Page 5
Promontory Groups Go to Hospices Effort is being made to understand Canadian culture; three hospices are visited in last month or so A determined effort to become accustomed to Canadian mores around death and dying by Asian-born residents of the Promontory apartment building at UBC has taken root of late. A spokesperson for the Promontory Mothers group said in an interview that groups of up to 13 residents per group have visited three hospices in the last month or so in the presence of one of the most prominent members of the Chinese business community in Vancouver. A group visited the Simon KY Lee Senior Care Home, a multi-level care facility managed by S.U.C.C.E.S.S.,
and two other groups visited the Canuck Place Children’s Hospice. The mostly Asian-born residents of the Promontory have not dropped their objection to UBC building a hospice next door to where they live, the spokesperson for the Promontory Mothers group said. However, “we are making a sincere effort” to understand Canadian culture. “We think hospices are valuable facilities.” The spokesperson—who wished not to be named because she has suffered “so much personal abuse” since the hospice issue arose in January—said the prominent member of the Chinese
community in Vancouver who accompanies Promontory groups to hospices has visited the Promontory 11 times in the last few months to counsel residents on how best to handle the predicament in which they find themselves. “Some residents have sought counseling. We find the comments of some (opposed to us) to be very hurtful,” she said. The Asian-born resident of the Promontory said, “We are aware of the fact that not all the people who stay in the hospice will die in the hospice. When we visited the Canuck Place Children’s Hospice, we were told by the staff there that some parents will put their sick kids in the hospice while they take a vacation. It is a very humane facility.” HOSPICES continued on Page 3
A group of faculty and staff members at UBC have expressed disappointment in a University decision to put a hold on ‘co-development’ on campus. With UBC as partner, the faculty and staff members had hoped to build their homes on a plot of South Campus land called Lot 22. By developing the homes with UBC as managing partner and avoiding developer’s profit, sales and marketing commissions, 73 co-developers and their families stood to save up to 10%– 20% off the appraised value of a home depending on prevailing market conditions. UBC spokesmen say the University enacted a hold on co-development since it was decided only “the first generation of owners” stood to gain from it. Spokesmen say that UBC, which is trying to assist staff purchase homes on campus, decided this leads potentially to a them-versus-us mentality among some faculty and staff—which would not be conducive to good staff relations. The second-thoughts UBC is having about co-development comes almost seven years after it got into the co-development business on campus. Since 2004, UBC has enjoyed success in co-development, helping faculty and staff build 198 co-developed homes in four strata-title complexes on campus. Organization of the fifth co-development of 73 homes on Lot 22 got underway in the summer of 2010 with a fall Open House drawing hundreds of prospective owners—all UBC employees. The four co-developments successfully completed to date came on stream in the following order: Hawthorn Green in 2004; Logan Lane in 2005; Clement’s Green in 2006; and Keenleyside in 2008. • Hawthorn Green consists of ten three-bedroom town houses, each with a secondary suite; • Logan Lane consists of 61 townhouses, nine of them with secondary suites. 35 of these townhouses have three bedrooms and 26 have two bedrooms. • Clement’s Green consists of 55 apartments. 32 of them have three-bedrooms and 23 have two bedrooms. • Keenleyside consists of 72 apartments. 32 of them are three-bedroom suites and 40 are two-bedroom. HOLD continued on Page 3
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THE CAMPUS RESIDENT APRIL 18, 2011
Local Jazz Man Makes ‘Bean’ Jump on Fridays Paul Keeling on keyboard is host; he is joined by some of the best jazz musicians in Vancouver Paul Keeling, a well-known Canadian jazz musician, has moved onto campus to live with his family, and on alternating Friday afternoons (4:30 PM6:30 PM), Paul has the Bean Around the World coffee shop in the Old Barn Community Centre jumping to some of the most exciting jazz sounds around. Paul, wife Tara and four-year-old daughter Louise moved to the UBC campus two years ago when Tara secured a faculty position at UBC in the department of Environmental Science. Paul says, “I’ve been hosting a series of jazz duets on Fridays at the Bean Around the World in the Old Barn with myself on piano (keyboard) and featuring different guest artists—the best jazz musicians in Vancouver.” Paul includes among these artists guitarist Bill Coon, bassist Adam Thomas and tenor saxophonist Steve Kaldestad. “There are many others. We’ve done several weeks now and have generated quite a buzz.”
Paul Keeling plays keyboard with Evan Arntzen on saxophone in Friday jazz session at Bean Around the World in the Old Barn Community Centre Many local residents may not know the Bean Around the World is a licensed establishment (with Granville Island beer on tap), and is what Paul Keeling calls “a great place to grab a beer, listen to some cool music, and walk home.”
Make sure you register early to ensure a place in your favourite class! don’t forget
shopping week April 26 - May 2, 2011 - try select classes for free! Tuesday April 26 7am
Wednesday April 27
Thursday April 28
Friday April 29
Tai Chi 8 - 9am
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Hatha Yoga 9 - 10am
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Monday May 2 Bootcamp 7 - 8am
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Bootcamp 7 - 8am
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Youth Karate & Kobudo 10-15yrs 3:30 - 4:25pm Children’s Yoga 4 - 5pm
5pm 5:30pm 6pm 6:30pm 7pm
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for more information phone 604.827.4469 for a full list of classes see www.oldbarn.ca
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He says, “There is nothing quite like it in the area, and the live jazz is an exciting development, unique on the UBC campus.” The summer schedule runs every second Friday- April 29, May 13, 27, June 10, 23, July 8, 22, Aug 5, 19. It will convert
to weekly sessions when UBC students return in the fall. Please check the UNA e-newsletter for dates and performers.
UBC BOOKSTORE continued from Page 1
UBC Bookstore is supplier of TOMS shoes; for every pair of TOMS shoes bought, a pair is sent to a child in the developing world A line of shoes called TOMS has come on the market at the UBC Bookstore, and for every pair of TOMS bought at the bookstore, a pair goes to a child in the developing world. An American traveler and entrepreneur, Blake Mycoskie, created TOMS Shoes (standing for Tomorrow’s Shoes), and staff at UBC Bookstore recently went shoeless for a day to commemorate the initiative of Mr. Mycoskie in assisting children in the developing world. So, visit the UBC Bookstore, check out TOMS Shoes and ask to hear from a staff member the inspiring story of Mr. Mycoskie who has donated tens of thousands of new shoes to children in the developing world from the profits of selling TOMS shoes to affluent consumers in the developed world.
Along with TOMS Shoes, No Sweat clothing, Books for Africa, 100% biodegradable bags, used/rental and ebooks and serving Fairtrade coffee, UBC Bookstore is committed to supporting UBC’s overarching sustainability goals.
Students at UBC Okanagan stand shoeless in support of TOMS project
THE CAMPUS RESIDENT APRIL 18, 2011
page 3 Published by:
Published monthly by the University Neighbourhoods Association
A Year in the Life of Campus Residents A year of publishing a community newspaper by the University Neighbourhoods Association concludes with this issue of The Campus Resident. Since the first issue of The Campus Resident in May, 2010, a number of significant issues have come to the fore in the residential community on campus. Metro Vancouver conceded oversight in land use planning at UBC to the provincial government; the Wesbrook Village commercial centre in South Campus came on stream; UBC completed its Land Use Plan, etc. However, no more significant issue came to the fore than the one about whether UBC should build a hospice next to the Promontory building or elsewhere on campus. Neighbour has clashed verbally with neighbour; petitioners have canvassed the neighbourhood for signatures (one petition urging UBC to stay with the Promontory choice of location, another petition urging UBC to choose another location); some residents have criticized the University Neighbourhood Association for asking UBC to consider a site other than the Promontory; and so forth. Some might characterize this as an unfortunate development—somehow undermining the idyllic calm among campus residents that prevailed earlier. We counter this gloomy view with the claim that community spirit on campus—de-
spite the turbulence—has never been better. Obviously campus residents care about the community in which they live, and this concern for their community has come to the surface, albeit it in somewhat testy debate—and what a debate! Who would have thought in May, 2010 that a set of beliefs about death and dying wholly unusual to the mainstream set of Canadian beliefs would be grounds— or not be grounds, depending on your point of view—for UBC to delay its plans for building a hospice next door to the Promontory. Yet, this contrast of viewpoints came into sharp repose in January when the great majority of residents of the Promontory—most of then Asian-born—expressed outrage that UBC would announce its plan for an endof-life facility next to where they live. As part of this debate, we have continued to encourage the flow of letters, and you will find more Letters to the Editor in this issue (Pages 4-5). We shall also carry on expressing our opinion as we have expressed it to date; and finally we shall collect the news without fear or favour. Nothing contributes more to the moral health and spirit of a community than the free flow of information through it. We consider the prospects for a vibrant, tolerant and inclusive residential community never to have shone brighter at the University of British Columbia.
HOLD continued from Page 1 Hawthorn Green, Logan Lane and Clement’s Green stand in the Hawthorn Place neighbourhood in mid-campus. Kennleyside stands in the Wesbrook Place neighbourhood in South Campus. Units in Keenleyside, a three story wood-frame project, sold at approximately $459,500 and $565,600 for two bedroom units (910 square feet) and three-bedroom units (1,120 square feet) respectively. This was approximately 12.4% less than the prevailing market price at the time of completion. UBC spokesmen say this discount to market prices creates affordability and is a benefit to the UBC employee, subject to the employee and family remaining in the home for five years. Should a sale occur before five years, UBC will ‘claw back’ a portion of the sale. Lisa Colby, a senior campus planner, told a housing forum at UBC April 4th that over the seven-year lifetime of the co-development program to date, co-development prices have come in “ten per cent to 20%” less than prevailing market prices. Ms. Colby told the forum UBC was concerned that this discount to market prices was working only to the advantage of “first generation” co-developers. No requirement forces faculty and staff to sell their co-developed units to other faculty; in other words, they may sell into the market. For example, a co-developed home at Clement’s Green recently went on the market. Paul Young, director of design and planning, UBC Properties Trust, told The Campus Resident that “less than half a dozen” re-sales have taken place in the
co-development program since 2004. Nassif Ghoussoub, a UBC governor, told a meeting of governors April 5th that codevelopment is the only plan in place at UBC where the University materially helps faculty and staff acquire homes on campus. Professor Ghoussoub chairs a Housing Action Plan task force studying ways to improve housing affordability on campus for faculty, staff and students. Professor Ghoussoub said the co-development hold would extend at least until the housing task force completes its mandate a year or more from now. Ms. Colby said there is no guarantee the current model of co-development will survive the housing task force study. A half dozen faculty members stood at the forum to say how disappointed they were with the UBC decision to put a hold on Lot 22 co-development.
HOSPICES continued from Page 1 The spokesperson said Asian-born residents of the Promontory do not object to a hospice being built at UBC—they just don’t want it built immediately next to the Promontory. “The site adjacent to the Botanical Garden would be fine with us if surrounded by trees. The site at 16th Avenue and East Mall would also be fine.” She said, “We are supportive of the valuable facility. However, we can’t overcome the fear of living too close to the dying and death overnight. If UBC has other places to built a hospice where no pain will be imposed on its neighbours, then why not?”
University Neighbourhoods Association #202-5923 Berton Avenue, Vancouver, BC V6S OB3
Editor & Business Manager
John Tompkins 604.827.3502 JTompkins@myuna.ca
Life and Death at The Promontory New life as well as present and future death are inescapable parts of everyday living in our condominium community; other communities are surely like ours By David J. Jones The Promontory at Hawthorn Place is a six-year-old concrete tower standing 18 stories high, containing 95 residences. Let’s say each apartment hosts two residents. That makes 190 people living in the building. My friend John (not his real name), is a 40-year veteran owner of many apartment buildings in cities across North America, including two large apartment towers on the Lower Mainland that are each 35 years old. John estimates that on average about three or four residents die in their apartments of natural causes each year. Applying my friend John’s rule of thumb to The Promontory, it is highly likely death by natural causes will occur there with the passing of more time. From my own experience of condominium living, I know that some of these deaths will be slow in coming as debilitating diseases can take years to claim a life. The net effect is to cause the apartments where these people reside to become a temporary hospice. Here, palliative care is given by close relatives and spouses, often with the help of professional caregivers who attend regularly until the sad day when they are no longer needed. What this adds up to is a situation where, let’s say, four of the condominiums in the building experience natural death each year, while four, or maybe more, other apartments house residents in various stages of palliative care that might continue for several years more. That’s about eight of the apartments in, say, The Promontory, where death is a subject foremost in the thoughts of the afflicted and in the thoughts and actions of the other apartment’s occupants who provide the care. These care givers are often other healthy family members, the very same people you meet and acknowledge in the elevator each day. Put another way, there could be up to eight percent of the 95 residences in use as temporary palliative care facilities at any time. As the years pass and the buildings age, many of the apartments in the building will have been the final resting place of a previous owner. New owners move in where deceased owners once lived. The new owners live their daily lives in precisely the same space occupied earlier by the unknown departed. So life goes on; indeed it does. In our building recently,
a young wife became pregnant and now raises her baby in an apartment here. By so doing she began a renewal of life while being succoured equally well by the same condominium building and its human community that also cares for its soon-to-be-departed. And so it is that close physical proximity to new life as well as present and future death become inescapable parts of everyday living in our high rise condominium community. I expect most other towers are just like ours in this regard. In such circumstances, operation of a small hospice for 15 people located a few feet from The Promontory will make little difference to the daily drama of temporary palliative care leading to death that will happen every day among residents living within The Promontory tower itself. Condominium residents who fear the proximity of death should reconsider carefully how they deal with their fear. Staying put at The Promontory, for example, with or without the proposed hospice so feared by some residents, or moving to a different condominium building somewhere else, will not give them the peace of mind they seek. Moving to a newly opened condominium may temporarily relieve their aversion and fear of human frailty and death, but with time, aging of the new building and its aging and sometime dying occupants will cause their fear to reappear. From my experience, I observe death of some residents by natural causes in our building as a part of living in a densely populated condominium tower that houses the whole spectrum of life from the newly born to the soon to die. Renewed study of the suitability of the vacant land adjacent to The Promontory for the site of the Order of St John’s Hospice may show new reasons to move the hospice. If the proposed hospice is moved, its departure will not stop some residents in The Promontory from dying of natural causes in their apartments. Natural death and dying feared so much by some Promontory residents if it comes from a proposed hospice next door, will continue unabated among a small percentage of The Promontory residents living in dwellings scattered among all the 95 residences within their building. David J. Jones is a Hampton Place resident
Note from the Editor Starting in the May issue, a letter to the editor should not exceed 400 words and should be sent as an exclusive to The Campus Resident (i.e. do not send copies of the letter to a dozen others simultaneously). We will edit letters for reasons of legality, taste and clarity. We will
also edit for reasons of novelty. E-mail letters to jtompkins@ myuna.ca with name and address and also telephone number in case we need to verify authorship. April letters to the editor start on Page 4.
page 4
THE CAMPUS RESIDENT APRIL 18, 2011
Letters to the Editor Proud to be Canadian I am proud to live in a province and country that is prosperous, peaceful and free to the extent that families will split themselves in order to afford their children the privilege of growing up Canadian, with all the rights and obligations that implies. I am embarrassed at the outrageous, holier-than-thou reactions of a fading elite who seem to believe new Canadians should be seen but not heard. Immigrants, such as some condo-owners at the Promontory, are a source of economic, cultural and intellectual wealth. It is wrong to imply that we accept immigrants for their benefit alone. Canada-bound migration is a key mechanism by which we secure the continued prosperity of our wonderful country. Mark Weinberg, Hawthorn Place
The Hospice Controversy The UNA Board made a mistake in taking sides in the hospice controversy and polarized the residents. A Hawthorn resident of Asian descent, sent an email to the UNA, UBC and The Campus Resident accusing supporters of the Promontory site of harassing a resident, also of Asian descent, to sign the petition. In an email to all concerned, this man denied that he was harassed and said his name was used without his knowledge. All such antics have no place in a civilized community. The biased reporting of the hospice issue in the February issue of the paper, Campus Resident, divided the community even further. The community paper is paid for, including the editor’s remuneration, by the tax dollars of all the residents of University Town*. As such it should serve the whole community and not cater only to the concerns of a small group of Promontory residents and their supporters associated with the UNA. To ensure accountability, we suggest that the editorial content of the paper be reviewed before printing by an editorial board composed of the editor, an elected UNA board member and a community representative nominated by the community at large and not selected by the UNA Board alone. In addition, all editorials and opinion articles should be bylined to pinpoint responsibility. Are the views expressed in the newspaper reflective of the views of the UNA Board, the publisher, and therefore of the community that elected the directors or simply the views of the editor? In its March issue, the editor continued to spin the news by proclaiming “estimated 100 in favour; about 400 against.” It appeared those who oppose the Promontory
site had won. Only toward the end did he mention that those campaigning against the Promontory site had had a two-month head start while those campaigning for the Promontory site had just begun and was still ongoing. The article then concluded that “the 3,000-member UNA has resolved to ask UBC to do precisely what the Promontory group has asked.” Did the 3,000 “unconsulted” members really support the UNA resolution? Was the UNA Board speaking for the whole community? Clearly not. In the same issue, the UNA Board’s open letter claimed that its resolution was passed to delay UBC’s decision on the hospice. This is a bit disingenuous. If the Board meant only that, it should have said: “urge UBC to delay approval of the hospice site to provide opportunity for further discussion” and NOT: “to reconsider the choice and… consider selecting another site.” Finally, we believe the “silent majority” has been needlessly provoked by the UNA’s resolution and the paper’s biased reporting. In the exercise of freedom of expression, it may help for the UNA to remember that not everyone who questions a UNA decision is a trouble maker. Nor is anyone who disagrees with the views of a minority group a racist. The constitutional commitment to free speech allows “even hurtful speech on public issues to ensure that we do not stifle public debate.” Residents United for Hospice (RUFH), Hampton Place ** * The editor’s remuneration is also paid for in part by advertising revenue he generates in his further role as Business Manager ** The Campus Resident finds the RUFH name misleading: all residents are united for a hospice; but not all residents want it built beside the Promontory
In support of proposed location As a resident of Hawthorn Place and a retired member of the medical faculty, I want to express my strong support for having the proposed hospice facility on the UBC campus and, in particular, for positioning it near Hawthorn Place, on the site which has been identified next to The Promontory. This location would put the hospice next to Rhododendron Woods, the Botanical Garden, and the stadium where both ambulatory and wheelchair residents might be taken in warm weather. The hospice will be a quiet and unique resource for education of health care providers of all kinds, and for research about the process of dying and how to best care
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for and comfort those in the last stages of life, as well their families. This facility in the midst of the ongoing activity of university life would in no way infringe upon the desirability of Hawthorn Place as a place in which to live. It will be an extremely important resource for the residents of the whole Westside of Vancouver since it will be the only hospice in the area. Since Coastal Health will be running the facility, it will be available to adult individuals who need hospice care from throughout that health district, and because it will be affiliated with the University, it will contribute to improving the care of hospice patients and their families. It is fitting that a hospice should be found in a location where life continues to thrive around it and in a setting where youth and education represent hope for the future. The concerns expressed by some of my neighbours in Hawthorn Place are not really a reflection of Canadian culture where generosity of spirit, volunteerism and multiculturalism prevail. When people move or immigrate to Canada it is expected they will become part of the “Canadian way”. As an immigrant myself, I am committed to the open and accepting society we have here and to making this country a good place to live for anyone willing to contribute. Multiculturalism does not work when immigrants form enclaves, fail to assimilate, and put their energies into trying to make their adopted country take on values that do not belong in Canada. The danger is obvious: every group that comes here will expect their own transplanted values to prevail. France and the U.K. have, significantly, declared multiculturalism a failure because too much change has been demanded of the home society by newcomers. I want to express very strong support for the hospice being situated on the site which had been identified after thoughtful search and consideration. I urge the UBC Board of Governors not to allow a small group, even though they have very strong feelings, to sway overall University policy. It is a dangerous precedent since many other groups will also expect the same special treatment in the future. I also urge better and more timely community engagement and communication by both the UNA and UBC as issues like this arise - for instance, alerting residents to the availability of petitions, so they know how to express their views. It would have been useful to know that there were two petitions to sign and how to do so. As our ‘U Town’ grows, there will be many opportunities to improve communication. In addition, of course, there are lessons to be learned. Judith Hall, UBC Professor Emerita of Pediatrics and Medical Genetics, Hawthorn Place
Great dismay It was with great dismay that I read about the issue of the Hospice location at UBC. The lack of compassion and consideration for the people who are dying and for their grieving relatives, frightened me. I would rather live next door to a peaceful hospice with (imaginary) dead spirits than having to live next door to 400 mean-spirited people that are alive. When I will have to sell my house and move into an apartment, the ones at UBC would have seemed like a natural choice for me. However, after reading about the
conflicts and lack of grace exhibited by the members of the University neighbourhood, it’s no longer an option for me. I am an immigrant myself, but have always tried to integrate and have never expected Canada to adapt to my old cultural attitudes that don’t fit within the mainstream of Canadian culture. As a fairly new immigrant one cannot expect the new homeland to be exactly like one’s original country. Some things will be easy to accept and others might feel foreign and incomprehensible. I don’t believe that Canada can support every single cultural tradition as part of multi-culturalism. To illustrate my point, I miss hearing the church bells on Sunday mornings that were so much a part of my first country’s cultural tradition, but this is just not possible in a country with so many diverse religions and traditions. My advice to new immigrants is this: • Enjoy the freedoms of speech and religion that Canada offers. • Get to know Canadians from different ethnic backgrounds to truly understand them. • Be tolerant and gentle to people of other cultures. • Don’t create a physical ghetto, as this is neither necessary nor desirable in our multi-cultural society. Finally, I firmly do not believe that real estate values will decrease because a hospice has been built next door. The majority of Canadians do not believe the superstitions surrounding ‘bad spirits’. I have lived on the West Side for thirtyfive years and have found that real estate values have always remained strong and will continue to be so, provided that people buy property to live in instead of regarding them as a short term investment. West Side Vancouver resident
Two questions for residents Let us dispense with all this hypocrisy around the Hospice issue. Promontory residents’ only sensitivity is to the ‘perceived’ drop in property values. There is a simple way to measure this hypocrisy. Ask the UBC Board of Governors to conduct a poll of all UNA residents with just two questions. Question 1: “If you or a member of your family is struck with a terminal disease, will you make use of the essential services that are provided by a hospice in caring for the terminally ill?” I guarantee the UNA the resounding majority of its population will say, Yes. Question 2 “Then, on whose backyard do you want UBC to put this hospice that you will surely use during your lifetime?” Forget about cultural sensitivity and helpless women and children. Money alone is driving this NIMBY’sm. Would it be culturally insensitive for a Canadian immigrant (like me) to say that, taking into consideration the cultural sensitivities of Asians to the reality of death, they should all be denied access to such institutions where the smell of death prevails as hospitals, doctors’ offices and hospices? Thank you to Linda Redmond, Pat Carney, Eleanor Laquian and Thomas Beyer for so eloquently stating the facts in the March issue of The Campus Resident. Ayesha Laher, UBC resident LETTERS TO THE EDITOR continued on Page 5
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THE CAMPUS RESIDENT APRIL 18, 2011 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR continued from Page 4
Mainstream Chinese beliefs A recent article in the Georgia Straight weekly newspaper by an educated Chinese person and community leader clearly and accurately explains the proper (mainstream) Chinese cultural belief about hospices, one that indeed allows for the planned UBC hospice to be located close to family residences. The arguments in this article offset some of the biased nonsense that is currently being propagated elsewhere. Obviously, calling the chosen site the ‘Promontory site’ is misleading as it is land that belongs to the University, not to the Promontory, and it was sitting there (empty) before Promontory was built. Anyone buying into the new complex had every opportunity to exercise their misunderstandings of proper cultural beliefs prior to buying. Also, the argument by the UNA ESL committee (clearly seeking to please a few rather than be fair to all) that we are doing something to ‘a few’ is ludicrous. Indeed, the opposite is true. The intention to build a hospice is one that will serve many in a very positive way for a very long time—the researchers, the people who need the service, their families, their friends and the community as a whole. Let’s educate these objectors about what a hospice is instead of giving in to their questionable beliefs. If the University supports these beliefs by moving the planned site, instead of making every effort to educate the residents of the Promontory, it will clearly demonstrate that UBC is now motivated only by money and profits and no longer has any respect for the sciences nor for the arts, nor for history, nor for our Canadian cultural beliefs, including the beliefs of our first nations people. Finally, it will demonstrate that the University supports beliefs which are not mainstream Chinese cultural beliefs. If UBC decision-makers are influenced by this group of people, it will do more harm than good. As a Canadian, a local resident and property owner in Vancouver Point Grey and at UBC for a combined total of 43 years, I will be deeply offended if UBC chooses to ignore the beliefs of long time owners, residents and taxpayers, which just happen to jive perfectly with mainstream Chinese cultural beliefs. Both promote recognition of the end of life as part of life, and hospices as an extremely valuable service to those in that stage of life and to their friends and families. In our culture, as in the Chinese culture in this century, science and ongoing research are valued, and should be facilitated in every reasonable way. Mariette West, Chancellor Place
“When my turn comes...” As a journalist/researcher at The New York Times Beijing Bureau in China from 1984 to 1990, and as a researcher/ coordinator of the Asian Immigration Project at the UBC Institute of Asian Research from 1991 to 2000, I have learned
a lot about Chinese culture and beliefs. I know that Chinese people care for their dying elders. Thus I find it puzzling that some residents, mostly Chinese, in the Promontory are objecting to a hospice in their neighbourhood. The remark of a Chinese objector quoted in this newspaper (January) even seemed cruel: “In China we build hospices very far away. It takes you two to three hours drive to get to the place of death.” Why do I prefer to have the proposed St. John’s Hospice nearby? Because I believe that to locate the hospice in a far away place is like burying the sick and the dying before they are dead. I feel it is barbaric to banish them to oblivion to await their time there –alone and unseen. I have lived in Hampton Place since 1993 and hope to spend the rest of my life here. If I have family or friends in the hospice, I would visit them often as I would like to be visited when my turn comes. Not only should the hospice be nearby so it’s easy for residents to visit but it should be integrated into the living community. As one neighbor said: “To isolate the hospice from the living is an attack on the dignity of elderly people who have served society for so long and deserve our respect. It is heartless to cast them aside at a time when they most need the love and support of family and friends.” Eleanor R. Laquian, Hampton Place
UBC LAND continued from Page 1 Highlights of the Land Use Plan include approval for: • a new neighbourhood called Acadia East running adjacent to proposed Musqueam development of ‘Block F (formerly part of Pacific Spirit Regional Park) on the eastern border of campus; • an expanded Wesbrook Place neighbourhood (mainly on land vacated by the demolition of BC Research Corporation buildings); and • an expanded Hawthorn Place neighbourhood (mainly around Stadium Road). Other highlights include zoning of UBC Farm as ‘Green Academic’, meaning it is not available for housing development save possibly a small residential college for land sciences students; and designation of a patch of land called ‘Gage South’ (currently used mainly as the UBC diesel bus depot) as an ‘area under review’. UBC students wish Gage South to be retained for student-oriented purposes whereas UBC originally planned market-rental housing there. A series of government and UBC spokespersons have said that once the amended Land Use Plan was approved (as it now is), consideration would be given to discussing the issue of governance at UBC. Ida Chong, the new minister in charge of local government initially approved a UBC governance study when
she was community services minister in 2005-2006, but no study materialized. You may access the Land Use Plan on line (www.planning.ubc.ca). You may also obtain hard copies of the plan from UBC campus and community planning.
Cut-a-thon for Clean Water- Japan & Africa Eliane Staff Walk for Water Get a Haircut, an AVEDA Hand Ritual Massage, and help Eliane staff reach their pledge goals, all for a minimum $35 donation! Staff from the Eliane salon will be walking 6km on April 27th, which is the average distance that women in East Africa have to walk to bring back water. And that’s not necessarily clean water. With the help of AVEDA and WaterCan, Eliane Hair and Spa will be donating money to provide clean water and basic sanitation to some of the poorest countries in the world. This year, the need for clean water and basic sanitation has arisen in Japan. Eliane is happy to answer the call for them, too. Call to book your April 24th appointment today! Spend a portion of the long weekend receiving a fabulous spa experience with the benefit of immediately helping those in need! For more information, visit: www.iwalkforwater.ca, or call the salon at (604) 222 - 1511.
Are you looking to be more involved in your community? The Old Barn Community Centre needs adult volunteers for a variety of its spring & summer programs!
Chess Club • English Conversation Club Canadian Social Studies Workshops Story Time • Walk Now!
The
for more information visit www.oldbarn.ca or email programs@oldbarn.ca
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Local Girls Gain Gold in Hockey Tourney Mikayla Ogrodniczuk and Zoe Todd are both residents of the UNA and both are avid hockey players UNA residents Mikayla Ogrodniczuk (see left circle in photo) and Zoe Todd (right circle) won gold at the U16 BC Cup tournament held March 31 to April 03, 2011 at 100 Mile House. Mikayla and Zoe were on Team Fraser Valley which beat Team Greater Vancouver 4-1 for the Cup. The two girls were selected for Team Fraser Valley at one of the five tryout camps held by BC Hockey in early January 2011. Tryout camps were held all over BC to select 120 girls for the six BC Zone teams which competed for the U16 BC Cup in 100 Mile House. Team Fraser Valley who won gold at the U16 BC Cup tournament
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS Parking on the street contrary to the direction of traffic is a violation of the Motor Vehicle Act and your vehicle could be towed away.
Clean Up After Your Dog
in Public Spaces
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UNA Residents Enjoy Earth Day Event
A family enjoys an educational Shuffle Board game at the BC Hydro Power Smart booth The University Neighbourhoods Association (UNA) held its first Earth Day event on the afternoon of Saturday, April 16th outside the Old Barn Community
Centre. A popular stop was the UNA Plant Stewards booth where children could make planters using soil made from UBC com-
Patrick Moore and UNA residents making planters from soil made from compost
Compost display showing different stages of development from kitchen scraps to soil
post and view a compost display. Families enjoyed playing a game of Power Smart shuffle board at the BC Hydro Power Smart booth. Residents brought
e-waste to the e-waste drop-off and folks could sign up for a walking tour of campus neighbourhoods at the Campus and Community Planning booth.
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Sustainability Corner Energy Conservation at Home If you stopped by the BC Hydro Power Smart booth at our recent UNA Earth Day event, you learned about ideas and incentives for reducing your energy consumption at home. You might not have learned just how important your choices are to BC’s future energy plans. In an earlier column, I noted that BC’s Clean Energy Act will require 66% of projected future electricity demand to be met through conservation efforts. This laudable target will allow BC Hydro to continue to produce some of the cleanest, hydro generated energy in North America without having to purchase or develop fossil fuel based generating capacity. To meet this target means that BC Hydro will be depending on you to make significant energy conservation choices at home. What do those choices look like? According to a recent study, it might not be what you think. The study found that survey participants tended to focus on curtailment (e.g., turning off lights) rather than efficiency improvements (such as switching to energy efficient appliances) when asked to identify effective ways to conserve energy. Further, participants tended to slightly overestimate the benefits of low energy saving activities (switching to a lower wattage bulb or using a laptop instead of a desktop computer) and significantly underestimate high energy saving activities (such as changing settings on your washer and dishwasher or air drying clothing). To find out more, you can access the full article at www.pnas.org/content/107/37/16054. There are two important lessons from these findings. The first is that armed with good information, you should be able to achieve significant energy savings at home. The second is that the commonly held assumption that saving energy necessarily means sacrificing something is not always true. For example, a simple but significant change you can make is to switch your washer from “hot wash, warm rinse” to “warm wash, cold rinse”,
Ralph Wells which does not cause any inconvenience. In fact, many people use only cold water for washing, generating further savings. Choosing Energy Star rated products is also a smart choice that will conserve energy. Of course, other smart choices such as lowering your thermostat in winter or air drying clothes do require some level of sacrifice, but awareness that these choices make a real difference might influence your desire to make these choices. You will also benefit by lower electricity bills – something that will become more significant as our electricity rates increase in the coming years. You can expect more help in reducing your energy consumption in the future. Smart meters will soon be installed in all BC homes, allowing the potential for tracking your home energy consumption in real time, rather than just on your monthly bills. The UNA-UBC Community Energy and Emissions Plan will identify potential retrofit opportunities for your home and strata building. But you don’t need to wait - you can start saving money, and doing your part to keep BC’s energy green and affordable by instituting smart changes at home right now. Find out more at www.bchydro.com/guides_ tips/green-your-home.html. Be sure to check out Power Smart incentives while you’re there. For example, you could earn $75 dollars by reducing your energy use by 10%.
SUSTAINABILITY TIP Are you a UNA resident who would like to provide a practical tip on how each of us can contribute to sustainability? Be sure to submit your idea to the UNA Sustainability Contest at sustainabilitycontest@myuna.ca. The author of the tip selected will receive a $25.00 gift certificate (courtesy of Save-On) for use in our local Save-On Supermarket and at the end of the year there will be a significant prize for the year’s winner. This month we feature a BC Hydro Power Smart tip:
Resist the urge to check your baking often: every time you open your oven door, you lose about 20 per cent of the oven’s heat. Look through the oven window instead. WE ACKNOWLEDGE THE PARTICIPATION AND SUPPORT OF ONE OF OUR COMMUNITY’S PARTNERS IN SUSTAINABILITY, WESBROOK PLACE’S SAVE-ON SUPERMARKET.
Ethnographic Films Feature at The Old Barn, MOA Venues UNA is co-sponsor; some of the most exciting anthropology films in world shown UBC celebrates the fifth annual international festival of anthropological film at the Museum of Anthropology (April 30, 3 PM-6 PM) and at the Old Barn Community Centre (May 1, 10 AM-5 PM). Hosted by The Ethnographic Film Unit at UBC and co-sponsored by the University Neighbourhoods Association, the festival gathers some of the most exciting new anthropology films the world has to offer. The Gala Opening, in the Michael Ames Theatre at MOA, will feature the festival jury prize winning films and the outstanding films produced by this year’s student members of the Ethnographic Film Unit. Films being showcased on the Sunday Main Stage range from scenes of a Japanese Funeral, to Irish memory cards
for loved ones who have passed away, to Thailand red-shirt activists cursing the government by pouring real human blood on the doors to their parliament. For the less squeamish the festival showcases a set of films on the search for personal identify through depictions of German ‘cowboys’ who love the wild west, a group of Swiss who live as though they are Lakota Indians, and an international group of trekkers travelling the famed Inca Trail in South America. Also showing will be a brand new film from The Ethnographic Film Unit, Small Nets in a Sea of Change, a tragic tale of what happens when large industrial fisheries takes charge. These films, and a half dozen or so more other short films, go far beyond the typical journalistic view to an in-depth explication of the people and cultures being displayed. For more information please contact charles.menzies@ubc.ca
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Composted Food Scraps Serve to Make Topsoil for Children’s Garden Food scraps from plants grown in garden are turned into compost; compost in turn is converted into topsoil for garden A grateful group of campus children has begun making good use of the load of topsoil UBC delivered to their garden in early March. The Children’s Garden lies adjacent to the Old Barn Community Centre, and ev-
ery year for the last several years, UBC building operations has donated a ton of first-class topsoil for the children to use in growing plants which they later sell at Saturday morning markets beside the Old Barn. Last year, proceeds of the Saturday markets yielded $900 in income, which the children donated to charity. As well as serving to generate income for charities, the markets serve to sustain an important cycle of events on campus. Consider the fate of plants grown at the Children’s Garden in topsoil provided by UBC and then bought at a Saturday morning market by residents living in one
of the dozen or more buildings on campus subscribing to a composting collection program run jointly by UBC and the University Neighbourhoods Association. Scraps left from these plants will go via the collection system to a South Campus composting facility where they will be turned into topsoil through the addition of dead leaves, grass and other organic waste material. Some of this topsoil will go to the Children’s Garden where new plants will grow in it. Patrick Moore, a UNA volunteer, who supervises the children in their garden, said, “We certainly appreciate UBC’s
From left to right: Patrick Moore, UNA volunteer; Brendan Elder, UBC employee, and Grazyna Rougeau, UBC building operations
Caitie and Liam Feeley work in the Children’s Garden at the Old Barn Community Centre
donation of the compost and their work in developing the composting initiative. It is a wonderful opportunity for UNA residents to make a positive contribution to the environment and double satisfying because UBC is also returning some of the compost to our community.” A UNA committee called the Plant Steward’s Committee looks after the Children’s Garden, and if you wish to know more about it, you may contact Mr. Moore (an associate professor in the UBC department of anthropology) at pjmoore@interchange.ubc.ca). Mr. Moore says, “Activities for children and their families are a major concern of the committee. We create and maintain the fruit trees, bushes and gardens as a place where community members can come together to grow things, visit, buy some food or just enjoy a beautiful day. We currently have eight families who participate as Plant Stewards and others who are interested in participating are welcome to contact us either through the UNA programs office or by contacting me directly.” Community members are also welcome to participate on an informal basis by coming to the garden sales, which are usually on Saturdays at 11:00 AM once crops start maturing towards the end of May. Ralph Wells, UNA sustainability manager, advises that as well as the Children’s Garden, UBC donates top-soil from South Campus to the Community Gardens also run by the UNA. In a letter to members of the Community Gardens’ committee, for example, committee chair Heather Friesen noted that two loads of compost soil were dropped off in the middle of April. For more information on the UBC/ UNA composting program that makes this initiative possible, please contact Mr. Wells at RWells@myuna.ca
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Tapestry Wesbrook Exec Expresses Delight at Site Being ‘Sealed’ To be ‘sealed’ by the British Columbia Seniors Living Association is to receive its Seal of Approval; seal is granted only after independent quality review A clearly-delighted John Fleming, general manager of Tapestry Wesbrook, reacted enthusiastically to his seniors’ residence at the University of British Columbia being ‘sealed’ recently. To be sealed in the world of seniors’ residential sites province-wide means to receive an approval rating called the ‘Seal of Approval’ from the British Columbia Seniors’ Living Association (BCSLA). Mr. Fleming and Amber de Souza, assistant general manager, accepted the Tapestry Wesbrook Seal of Approval in a March 23rd ceremony at Tapestry on Wesbrook Mall in South Campus. A number of other seniors’ residences in the province received their Seals of Approval at the same time. Following the ceremony, Mr. Fleming told The Campus Resident that going through the Seal of Approval process was helpful to Tapestry as a new community “as it worked as a team building project to ensure everything was in place and tested. “It provided a timeline for us to ensure that all our company policies were in place and that our managers and staff are fully versed in their content.
From left to right: John Fleming, Tapestry Wesbrook general manager; Amir Hemani, president of British Columbia Seniors’ Living Association, and Amber de Souza, Tapestry Wesbrook assistant general manager “It was especially helpful to us as we had just opened our doors and this project was the catalyst to ensure that we were fully in compliance with the Seal-of-Approval criteria, but also with our own company standards. It was also very rewarding to go through the process and to get it 100% correct on the first inspection.” Addressing about 70 industry executives, elected officials and Tapestry residents at the ceremony, BCSLA president Amir Hemani said seniors seeking quality retirement living homes should look for communities which qualify for the Seal of Approval, an
independent quality review program launched by the BCSLA three years ago. “The Seal of Approval rating will help seniors and their families identify the very best retirement communities in B.C.,” said Mr. Hemani. To obtain the BCSLA Seal of Approval, a seniors’ residential community must complete both an internal self assessment and independent external review. Successful communities meet multiple criteria in five areas: safety measures, infection control, staff training, resident services, and assisted living supports. Mr. Hemani said BCSLA members sup-
port the Seal of Approval—which has been awarded to 67 residences in British Columbia to date—as a way to publicly demonstrate their excellent service, professional integrity, and industry leadership. He expected the Seal of Approval program to raise standards throughout the industry as communities strive to earn the designation. Elected officials at the Tapestry ceremony included MLAs Moira Stilwell (Vancouver-Langara) and Margaret MacDiarmid (Vancouver-Fairview), both Liberals and both doctors.
Building Brings Wesbrook Space for Offices The third in a series of ‘Granite Terrace’ buildings will give the commercial centre emerging at Wesbrook Place a more solid footing in the office market. UBC Properties Trust recently released details of its plan to build Granite Terrace III in Wesbrook Village, and these details reveal it to be a threestorey commercial building with retail spaces on the main level and office spaces on the upper two floors. Expected to take about a year to build, Granite Terrace III will follow Granite Terrace II into the office market. Granite Terrace II, which opened in 2010, houses the Royal Bank of Canada on the ground floor and a series of offices—including the offices of the University Neighbourhoods Association—on two upper floors. Granite Terrace 1 became the first of this series of buildings to open, which it did at the end of 2009. It consists of the Save-On-Foods supermarket and a residential building.
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A Whale of a Welcome By Scott Steedman
85-foot blue whale, the biggest in Canada, now on display The iconic blue whale skeleton that hangs in its entranceway is drawing visitors to the new Beaty Biodiversity Museum —and helping to open the campus to the wider community. It is a spectacular sight that is rapidly becoming a landmark on campus. It is 25 metres long, floating in the air with its mouth open, frozen in the act of taking a giant gulp. Ever since it was officially unveiled in May 2010, the longest blue whale skeleton in Canada—and the biggest freehanging skeleton in the world—has been attracting sightseers from far and wide. And now it’s drawing all sorts of people to the rich collections of the newly opened Beaty Biodiversity Museum below it. “Many people don’t realize that there’s a lot more here than the whale,” says Lindsay Burlton, lead interpreter and volunteer coordinator. That is because the rest of the museum—over 20,000 square feet of exhibition and storage space containing more than two million specimens of animals, plants and fungi from around the world, plus a high-definition theatre and a teaching lab—is underground, hidden beneath a green roof overgrown with grass (the museum building has other innovative sustainability features such as a water channel that supports aquatic plants and insects while helping reduce storm-water surges). All that is visible from the street is the stunning Djavad Mowafaghian Atrium, a two-storey glass gallery that showcases the whale and leads visitors into the museum proper. But word is getting out that there are wonders down below. The museum, which opened its doors in October 2010, now has more than 200 member families, many of whom live on campus and come regularly, attracted by the public programming which now includes regular film screenings, tours and lectures as well as family events like puppet shows (every
weekend), story time and craft activities (every day the museum is open, i.e., Wed– Sun), scavenger hunts and the discovery lab, where children can get hands-on experience with the museum’s collection. School groups from all over the Lower Mainland are also becoming regular visitors. The pupils stand in awe beneath the whales massive mouth while interpreters introduce them to these mysterious sea creatures, the largest animals that have ever lived. “Of course, the kids are priceless,” says Sheila Byers, a volunteer who lives in False Creek. “You can see their brains turning. They love the whale. But so do the adults!” She mentions that they have many retired visitors too, like a recent group from Tapestry Wesbrook, the campus’s first seniors community. The museum has more than forty volunteers helping the paid staff with programming and interpretation. Some live on campus; others come from as far away as the Fraser Valley. “It’s a unique place,” says Byers, who is particularly interested in marine invertebrates and who also volunteers at the Vancouver Aquarium. “If you have a passion like mine, there is so much here, there is nowhere else like it that is open to the public.” Burlton agrees that many of the museum’s members and volunteers have unusual passions. “We get people who are crazy about fungi, crazy about mosses or spiders. Some commute from Richmond, Coquitlam; others are grad students living on campus. The Beaty is unique if you’re passionate about plants or fossils or whatever it may be.” “I think of the museum as the latest library at UBC,” says Andrew Trites, the marine mammologist who located the skeleton for the museum. “And our librarian is the whale; she greets people as they come in. Then they see some of
Hands on summer family activities at the Beaty Biodiversity Museum
Beaty Biodiversity Museum Project Manager, Wesley Wenhardt and Museum Director, Dr Wayne Maddison (right) in the underground collections examining a golden eagle the other amazing things, and leave having learnt something new and wonderful.” The whale is a magical sight at night, when it is lit from beneath and seems to float in space, says Trites. “In the evenings, you see families walking on campus, coming by to see the whale. They leave fingerprints on the glass.” A few weeks ago Trites—who lives on campus, in Hampton Place—was walking home when he was stopped by two elderly women. ‘Where‘s the whale?’, they asked me. They’d obviously never been on campus before, but they’d heard about this wonderful thing to see.” Trites sees the Beaty Museum as another sign that the university is opening its doors to the wider community. What used to be a number of obscure research collections reserved for academics is now a public place of learning where everyone, from toddlers to retired people, can
come and learn about the natural world. “The whale gets people in the door, then they discover all these other amazing specimens,” he says. Wayne Maddison, an expert in jumping spiders and the director of the museum, agrees that the blue whale skeleton has become the institution’s flagship. “It’s a singular animal,” he says, “And a great way to talk about how the whale fits into mammal evolution; it’s related to the hippo and deer. And it excites the kids, who are the right people to jazz about biodiversity with. They don’t just like cool things, they see how important and interconnected it all is. We want to instill that message at an early age.” Please visit www.beatymuseum.ubc.ca or phone 604.827.4955 for information. Reprinted from UBC Campus and Community Planning Newsletter, February, 2011
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