In-Sight Publishing

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): The Peak (Simon Fraser University)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2014/09/08

A new course offered this fall by two SFU professors will open entrepreneurial avenues to undergraduate students in all faculties.

The 200-level introductory course, BUS 238: Introduction to Entrepreneurship and Innovation, emphasizes cooperative, team-based approaches to entrepreneurship and innovation. Available to any student who has 12 or more credits, the course will make upper-division business classes accessible.

Taught by Sarah Lubik, lecturer in the Technology Entrepreneurship@SFU program, and Andrew Gemino, professor of management information systems, BUS 238 demonstrates that you don’t have to take courses in business fundamentals — such as finance or accounting — to learn about entrepreneurship at SFU.

For the duration of the course, Lubik and Gemino intend to bring in multiple guest speakers from differing disciplines to discuss team-based approaches. As of yet, the guest speakers have not been confirmed.

Lubik told The Peak, “The course looks at empowering students in understanding themselves as entrepreneurs and innovators. It looks at studying problems, going deep into problems.”

According to Lubik, this type of course instruction will allow all students to develop basic, core skills necessary for any innovator or entrepreneur. “This course is important because entrepreneurship and innovation skills are important no matter what faculty you are in, no matter what you think your future is,” Lubik said.

She added that the course will help students develop “the ability to come up with an idea that actually meets needs [as well as] the ability to execute on an idea and to iterate, and to pivot.”

In addition to these benefits, Lubik said the course is important for the university and its students because it brings together all of the different faculties involved in entrepreneurship and innovation. “It is open to everybody, regardless of faculty,” she said.

According to Lubik, one of the most important skill sets in entrepreneurship and innovation relates to the ability of people to work in a team and cooperate to succeed at an entrepreneurial goal.

“The reason I keep saying ‘team’,” she told the Georgia Strait, “is because traditionally, business schools have tried to teach entrepreneurship to business students, not realizing that as soon as you get out into the real world, you’re going to be working with people who don’t speak that language — who are completely different from you.”

Lubik emphasized the importance of involving students who have the ability to work across disciplines because of the challenges — such as communicating in different languages — that are encountered in different fields.

In such situations, it becomes important to find a common language or conversational style which allows everyone involved to bridge disciplinary jargon. 

She concluded, “No matter what your discipline or interests are, entrepreneurship and innovation skills will give you greater flexibility, more value for many potential employers and the security of knowing you have the ability to create and seize your own opportunities.”

License

In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at www.in-sightjournal.com.

Copyright

© Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing 2012-2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. All interviewees and authors co-copyright their material and may disseminate for their independent purposes.

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen, Chris Spangenberg, and Leah Bjornson

Publication (Outlet/Website): The Peak (Simon Fraser University)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2014/09/08

Widower Powel Crosley has gone back to school at University of Alberta to study the rare form of ovarian cancer that killed his wife.

After taking introductory courses in biochemistry and oncology, one of Crosley’s professors asked him to do lab research alongside masters and doctoral students. Recently, he was awarded $50,000 in grants to continue studying granulosa cell tumour of the ovary, or GCT.

“[My wife’s] motto was: the answer lies in the lab,” said Crosley. “She was pretty persistent about things she believed in. And so I’m just basically completing her mission.”

With files from Canadian Press

U of T student successful on the world stage

University of Toronto fourth year history and political science student and research fellow of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Council of Canada, Jozef Kosc, made waves in the foreign policy world this summer at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris.

In addition to researching economic development policies for the OECD Observer, Kosc was published in international journals such as Atlantic Voices and The Journal of Political Studies.

He intends to serve his country in the future through work in the Canadian Foreign Service. “Having met diplomats during my time abroad, their duty, drive, and perseverance are qualities I’ve come to strongly admire,” Kosc said.

With files from The Varsity

Campaign raises awareness of mental health issues

The Canadian Federation of Students — Nova Scotia (CFSNS) launched Mental Health Matters this week, an awareness-raising campaign to improve mental health services for university students.

The CFSNS expressed concerns over a lack of services on campus, which can negatively impact students. This is especially important for first years, who face stress from a plethora of issues, such as being away from home, student debt, personal relationships, and their studies.

According to David Pilon, program leader for Special Mental Health Services at Capital Health, 75 per cent of mental health illness starts before the age of 25, meaning university students are particularly vulnerable.

With files from Global News

License

In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at www.in-sightjournal.com.

Copyright

© Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing 2012-2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. All interviewees and authors co-copyright their material and may disseminate for their independent purposes.

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): The Peak (Simon Fraser University)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2014/09/02

Using an online survey entitled “Being Ethnic: Third Generation Italian Identity in Vancouver,” SFU research associate, Eva Sajoo, has moved one step closer to understanding the implications of being a third generation Italian immigrant in Canada.

Sponsored by the Institute for Diaspora Research & Engagement and the Centre for the Comparative Study of Muslim Societies and Cultures, the research project conducted various interviews with Italian-Canadians in order to better understand how they describe their identity and sense of community.

Sajoo’s preliminary results indicate that third generation immigrants may have an increased interest in their lineage than prior generations, who often distance themselves from what they see as their parents’ old country.

Sajoo initially observed her brothers showing an increased interest in personal roots, and after expanding into other ethnic groups, began to see a trend. When she spoke with Mauro Vescera, the director of the Italian Cultural Centre (Il Centro), he noted the same phenomenon in Italian immigrants, which sparked a collaboration on the study.

Sajoo told The Peak that the study involves a brief online survey. “We are asking third generation Italians — anyone whose grandparents came to Canada from Italy — what Italian identity means to them,” she said.

Sajoo continued, “The most important question is how they describe themselves. Do they think of themselves as primarily Italian, Italian-Canadian, Canadian, or something else?  We are trying to understand what factors affect how a person relates to their family history in constructing their own sense of identity.”

She also noted the variety in immigrant communities across the country, saying that “this study attempts to provide some insight into how identity evolves over time in one community.”

The Italian Cultural Centre will use the research to adapt to the changing needs of their community. Sajoo said, “Ultimately, the results will not only tell us something about Italian-Canadian youth in Vancouver, but will be a point of comparison for future studies of other communities.”

She concluded, “The research is important because we live in an increasingly mobile, globalized world. Diaspora groups — communities which live in one country but retain some kind of connection to their country of origin — are going to be increasingly common.

“As a result, understanding how individuals preserve parts of one identity while also participating and belonging to their local community is going to be of ongoing interest.”

The online survey will be open until the end of September, with results likely published by the end of the year.

License

In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at www.in-sightjournal.com.

Copyright

© Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing 2012-2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. All interviewees and authors co-copyright their material and may disseminate for their independent purposes.

Author(s): Jonathan Pabico, Melissa Roach, and Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): The Peak (Simon Fraser University)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2014/09/02

Former UBC kinesiology professor charged with voyeurism

Former professor of kinesiology at the University of British Columbia, James Rupert, faces charges of voyeurism based on accusations of observing and recording nudity in private places without consent. He began in-court proceedings on August 19 and will appear once more on September 16.

According to UBC spokesperson Lucie McNeill, “The University of British Columbia remains one of the safest academic communities in North America [. . .] We are committed to maintaining a secure and respectful environment for all, and we investigate and address all incidents that threaten the safety of our students, faculty or staff.”

With files from The Ubyssey

Film program at UFV explores First Nations culture

The University of Fraser Valley has recently established a program called the Lens of Empowerment, aimed at using film to celebrate and accurately represent First Nations culture, the Sto:lo nation specifically.

The project not only aims to teach students how to create their own films, but also to change the focus of film as a medium in regards to First Nations representation, which in the past has been stereotypical in nature. These films are meant to promote a more clarified view of the Sto:lo as a diverse culture.

With files from The Cascade

U of T researches link between insomnia and old age

Research from the University of Toronto looks to explain the connection between age and the ability to get a good night’s sleep.

Findings show that the loss of a specific cluster of inhibitory neurons in animals is responsible for sleep disruption. The number of these neurons found in humans decreases with age.

“These findings may one day lead to novel treatments for insomnia and other patterns of sleep disruption in old age, thereby improving quality of life,” said U of T researcher Andrew Lim.

With files from University of Toronto Media Room

License

In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at www.in-sightjournal.com.

Copyright

© Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing 2012-2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. All interviewees and authors co-copyright their material and may disseminate for their independent purposes.

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): The Peak (Simon Fraser University)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2014/07/21

SFU health sciences professor Julian Somers recently released new findings that demonstrate the effectiveness of supported housing in assisting those with drug addictions and mental illness in Vancouver neighbourhoods.

Conducted by Somers along with the Mental Health Commission of Canada, the five-year study provided apartments to participants throughout Vancouver. Results showed that the situation of formerly homeless people improved both in a financial sense and in overall health.

These improvements included fewer emergency department visits, reduced time spent in institutions due to criminal convictions, improved quality of life, and less time on the streets. Overall, these indicate an across-the-board improvement caused by the new interventions that were introduced by the study in Vancouver.

The research showed that the costs of providing these individuals with housing and support versus leaving them on the street where they may end up in shelters, emergency rooms, and jails, were roughly equivalent.

For every $10 invested in providing housing, there was an average savings of $8.55 in avoided use of social services.

In discussing the overarching research program, Somers stated, “We conducted some experiments to try to discover effective housing and support models for people who had been excluded from existing services.”

The study looked at 500 participants who had been homeless for roughly 10 years — people that were chronically homeless and oftentimes experiencing mental illness.

Analyzing each individual’s mental status, Somers said, “The most common diagnosis that people met criteria for was schizophrenia. The majority also had significant problems with substance abuse.”

Somers described the living conditions for the participants of the study: “The housing itself is market housing. It isn’t the house that is built for homeless people or anything of that sort.  It is just regular housing from the existing stock. And in order to make that work, people are provided with support.”

Somers continued, “[That support can manifest as] a team, individuals with different expertise, or, if individuals do not have needs that warrant that, they could be a case manager.”

A large aspect of the research was giving people some choice in their circumstance.  Somers explained, “It is client-centered in the sense that it gives people choices in [. . .] getting involved in health or mental health treatment. It also gets them involved in places around their home.”

Somers spoke to the importance of the study, but mentioned its limitations in a population that can often find itself trapped. “Homelessness includes a diverse group of people, most of whom, fortunately, will find their own way out of homelessness, but there is a subset [. . .] who don’t find their own way,” Somers said.

Somers said that one of the biggest challenges to homelessness is the stigma surrounding mental illness. “Stigma concerning mental illness is profound. It is evident, not only among members of the public — it is evident even among health care providers.

“Neighbours being able to welcome people into their mix, accommodate people who happen to have been homeless. That is an example of the stigma of mental illness being overcome. [. . .] Simple and straightforward acts like talking to people.”

License

In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at www.in-sightjournal.com.

Copyright

© Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing 2012-2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. All interviewees and authors co-copyright their material and may disseminate for their independent purposes.

Author(s): Leah Bjornson and Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): The Peak (Simon Fraser University)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2014/07/20

Vancouver

From July 15 to 20, SFU co-hosted Mathematics Education at the Edge, which brought together participants from 48 countries to discuss the future of mathematics education research.

Some of the topics included the relationship between gestures, language, and diagrams for bilingual math learners, the ‘flipped classroom’-style of teaching in undergraduate calculus classes, and emphasizing thinking classrooms.

Djavad Mowafaghian

A conference titled The Frankfurt School: The Critique of Capitalist Culture, posed questions on July 17 to 19 about the capacity of Frankfurt Critical Theory to explain the cultural landscape of contemporary capitalism.

SFU’s Institute for Humanities worked in conjunction with Douglas College, UBC, and SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement to explore the helpfulness of the concept of the “Culture Industry” in the context of global neo-liberal order.

Social housing provides shelter from mental illness and addiction

July 21st, 2014 by Scott Jacobsen

SFU health sciences professor Julian Somers recently released new findings that demonstrate the effectiveness of supported housing in assisting those with drug addictions and mental illness in Vancouver neighbourhoods.

Conducted by Somers along with the Mental Health Commission of Canada, the five-year study provided apartments to participants throughout Vancouver. Results showed that the situation of formerly homeless people improved both in a financial sense and in overall health.

These improvements included fewer emergency department visits, reduced time spent in institutions due to criminal convictions, improved quality of life, and less time on the streets. Overall, these indicate an across-the-board improvement caused by the new interventions that were introduced by the study in Vancouver.

The research showed that the costs of providing these individuals with housing and support versus leaving them on the street where they may end up in shelters, emergency rooms, and jails, were roughly equivalent.

For every $10 invested in providing housing, there was an average savings of $8.55 in avoided use of social services.

In discussing the overarching research program, Somers stated, “We conducted some experiments to try to discover effective housing and support models for people who had been excluded from existing services.”

The study looked at 500 participants who had been homeless for roughly 10 years — people that were chronically homeless and oftentimes experiencing mental illness.

Analyzing each individual’s mental status, Somers said, “The most common diagnosis that people met criteria for was schizophrenia. The majority also had significant problems with substance abuse.”

Somers described the living conditions for the participants of the study: “The housing itself is market housing. It isn’t the house that is built for homeless people or anything of that sort.  It is just regular housing from the existing stock. And in order to make that work, people are provided with support.”

Somers continued, “[That support can manifest as] a team, individuals with different expertise, or, if individuals do not have needs that warrant that, they could be a case manager.”

A large aspect of the research was giving people some choice in their circumstance.  Somers explained, “It is client-centered in the sense that it gives people choices in [. . .] getting involved in health or mental health treatment. It also gets them involved in places around their home.”

Somers spoke to the importance of the study, but mentioned its limitations in a population that can often find itself trapped. “Homelessness includes a diverse group of people, most of whom, fortunately, will find their own way out of homelessness, but there is a subset [. . .] who don’t find their own way,” Somers said.

Somers said that one of the biggest challenges to homelessness is the stigma surrounding mental illness. “Stigma concerning mental illness is profound. It is evident, not only among members of the public — it is evident even among health care providers. “Neighbours being able to welcome people into their mix, accommodate people who happen to have been homeless. That is an example of the stigma of mental illness being overcome. [. . .] Simple and straightforward acts like talking to people.”

License

In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at www.in-sightjournal.com.

Copyright

© Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing 2012-2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. All interviewees and authors co-copyright their material and may disseminate for their independent purposes.

Author(s): Melissa Roach and Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): The Peak (Simon Fraser University)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2014/07/19

Judge overturns decision in favour of soup thieves

Three University of Saskatchewan cafeteria workers were fired in March, 2012 for reportedly pilfering soup on the job and smuggling gravy and expired fruit cups home with them.

The majority of the university board later decided that the firing was an “excessive disciplinary response,” due to the fact that dismissal of thieves was not outlined in their policy.

A Saskatchewan judge has just overturned the new decision, citing it as, “unreasonable and outside the range of acceptable outcomes.” He sided with the minority of the board in thinking that the three were “involved in a series of deliberate thefts,” this being made worse by the fact that they initially denied the charges.

With files from National Post

U of A research looks to artificial movement

University of Alberta professor Jaynie Yang has been researching the possibility of returning mobility through the use of fully functioning robotic exoskeletons. Her research has been enabled by a four-month lease of the ReWalk, the first robotic exoskeleton in Canada.

The ReWalk was initially designed to aid in the rehabilitation of people with spinal cord injuries. Yang’s team hopes to conduct a 12-week study of people with various spinal cord injuries and capabilities to find out what the technology is capable of.

“We want to know what’s possible with this exoskeleton, because people can walk in it for extended periods, and that’s what’s needed to provoke changes in your nervous system,” Yang said.

With files from The Gateway

Upright MRI helps UBC researchers treat osteoarthritis

Using an upright open magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine, UBC researchers hope to make advancements in the treatment of osteoarthritis: the machine found at the Vancouver Coast Health Research Institute’s Centre for Hip Health and Mobility is the only one of its kind in Canada.

These machines have advantages over the traditional closed machine that requires the patient to lie still on a flat surface. Their unique design allows for the imaging of joints in their full range of motion, the significance being that imaging the joint under stress could help doctors provide more targeted treatment for their patients.

With files from The Vancouver Sun

UBC students climb mountains for charity

A group of University of British Columbia students from the school’s Tanzania Hearts Babies Project spent several days trekking up to the bases of both Mount Everest and Mount Kala Pattar for charity. The students recently released a montage of their trip, which took place in May.

With their climbing, the students aimed to bring awareness to the problems of heart defects among Tanzanian children. The group initially intended to merely climb the mountains, but the idea rapidly grew into a humanitarian effort through Tanzania Hearts Babies Project.

With files from The Ubyssey

License

In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at www.in-sightjournal.com.

Copyright

© Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing 2012-2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. All interviewees and authors co-copyright their material and may disseminate for their independent purposes.

Author(s): Sabrina Chiu and Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): The Peak (Simon Fraser University)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2014/07/12

Beyonce course coming to UVIC

Starting in January, students at the University of Victoria will be able to study the pop singer Beyonce.

This new music department course will be taught by Melissa Avdeeff, a musicology researcher who has lectured at both the University of Alberta and the University of Edinburgh. Avdeeff has written on how women are portrayed in popular music, specifically focusing on Beyonce, for her MA thesis at Hamilton’s McMaster University.

For the course, Avdeef considered other singers such as Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber, but eventually picked Beyonce since a variety of pop-music studies could be included.

With files from The Globe and Mail

Five Alberta university-colleges now called universities

Five university-colleges in Alberta have received provincial permission to name themselves universities.

Recently renamed schools such as Concordia University and The King’s University have already started making plans to change billboards and letterhead. Concordia President Gerald Krispin noted that these post-secondary institutes have been pushing to get their names changed for years.

Bill Diepeveen, chair of King’s board of governors, believes this will help with campus recruitment: “You are coming to a university. Don’t have any doubt in your mind.”

With files from Edmonton Journal

Michael Ignatieff leaves U of T for Harvard

The former leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and a professor at University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs, Michael Ignatieff, is leaving the university to pursue another post at Harvard University.

At Harvard, he will teach a variety of topics ranging from human rights, to sovereignty and interventions, to political life, to responsibility and representation as the Edward R. Murrow Chair of Press, Politics, and Public Policy.

“[Harvard] is an exciting and dynamic place where our future leaders are engaged in the very real process of gaining a greater understanding of the challenges they will face and the tools they will need to confront them,” said Ignatieff.

With files from The Varsity

License

In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at www.in-sightjournal.com.

Copyright

© Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing 2012-2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. All interviewees and authors co-copyright their material and may disseminate for their independent purposes.

Author(s): Samaah Jaffer and Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): The Peak (Simon Fraser University)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2014/07/06

Woodward’s

On July 4, SFU’s Woodward’s campus hosted CreativeMornings/Vancouver, an international breakfast lecture series for the creative community. The event featured Charles van Sandwyk, an award-winning author of the limited edition book, A Selection of Neighbourly Birds. He advised attendees that, “If you are after some sense of meaning in your work, then your true character will shine through regardless of how hard you are trying to copy someone else.”

Vancouver

From July 2 to 4, the 9th Imaginative Education Research Group (IERG) Conference on Imagination and Education allowed teachers, parents, academics, and others to collaborate on what motivates children to learn. 

The conference, hosted by the faculty of education, addressed “the real power of the imagination to equip students to learn, understand and apply knowledge to real-world problems.”

Downtown

On July 1, the Indian Students Federation in collaboration with UBC’s Ustav Club partook in the 6th Annual Canada Day Parade. Their dance performance included around 30 students from both SFU and UBC. 

The performance hoped to communicate the idea of “indulging in the spirit of the day and showcasing cultural diversity.”

License

In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at www.in-sightjournal.com.

Copyright

© Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing 2012-2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. All interviewees and authors co-copyright their material and may disseminate for their independent purposes.

Author(s): Samaah Jaffer and Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): The Peak (Simon Fraser University)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2014/07/05

UBC requests liquor license for concerts

UBC has requested an amendment concerning their liquor license in order to provide alcohol at concerts in Thunderbird Arena. This request was approved on June 27 by the Metro Vancouver board of directors.

UBC Athletics’ Kavie Toor told The Ubyssey that this change would greatly increase the popularity of concert events. He explained that not being able to serve liquor is a deterrent for promoters looking to host events at the university.

Based on the recommendation of the Metro Vancouver board of directors, the final approval will be considered by the BC Liquor and Control Licensing Branch and announced by the end of the summer.

With files from The Ubyssey

U of O men’s hockey team still suspended

The University of Ottawa’s men’s varsity hockey team will remain suspended over alleged misconduct of some of its players. Their head coach and program manager, Réal Paiement, has also been fired after failing to report the incidents, which he attempted to deal with internally.

Members of the team allegedly engaged in excessive drinking and sexual misconduct while in Thunder Bay for two games on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, 2014. While there were isolated incidents, a private investigation concluded that “the behaviour of some players was unacceptable and failed to meet university expectations for varsity athletes.”

With files from The Fulcrum

Canada takes the gold in wheelchair basketball

At the end of June, Ryerson University hosted the 2014 Women’s World Wheelchair Basketball Championship at the Mattamy Athletic Centre. This tournament, which occurs every four years, was hosted in Canada for the very first time.

After winning four straight championships in a row, from 1994 to 2006, team Canada finished third in 2010. This year, they redeemed themselves and took the gold on home soil.

Tracey Ferguson, who has been with the team for 23 years, welcomed the experience of being the home team. “I like the pressure,” said Ferguson. “I also love the fact we got our family and friends [here to support us].”

With files from The Eyeopener

License

In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at www.in-sightjournal.com.

Copyright

© Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing 2012-2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. All interviewees and authors co-copyright their material and may disseminate for their independent purposes.

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): The Peak (Simon Fraser University)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2014/06/23

New research reveals that couples are falling in love faster than their parents, and it’s all thanks to technology. According to Pixmania.com, the use of social media is reducing the amount of time required for young couples to fall head over heels.

The courting process now takes a mere 224 tweets or a simple 163 text messages. It can happen after a casual 70 Facebook messages. Even a handful of emails or phone calls at 37 and 30, respectively, can have young lovers falling hard.

The study showed that previous generations took much longer to enter into a relationship. For participants aged 55 and older, the average time it took to begin calling one another boyfriend and girlfriend was 78 days. Compare this to the age group of 25 and under, for which the time taken to fall in love was 24 days on average.

Modern communication technology has essentially halved the time to fall in love.

Researchers attribute this to the fact that previous generations were not able to communicate with each other constantly. Instead of following the “three day rule” to contact a date, research revealed 68 per cent of respondents would text someone a mere four hours after a date.

The differences in communication patterns were also seen across gender. On average, a man sends approximately 517 Facebook messages and tweets per year—compared to a woman’s 386—in hopes of wooing a potential suitor.

Technology also proved a useful tool during break ups. Thirty-six per cent were willing to end a relationship with a phone call, 27 per cent by text, and even 13 per cent by base social media.

This research suggests an important shift has occurred in traditional dating practices. According to the marketing director of Pixmania.com, Ghadi Hobeika, “The days of penning a simple love letter to woo your new beau are over.”

License

In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at www.in-sightjournal.com.

Copyright

© Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing 2012-2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. All interviewees and authors co-copyright their material and may disseminate for their independent purposes.

Author(s): Melissa Roach and Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): The Peak (Simon Fraser University)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2014/06/20

Luminato Festival explores sex and sensuality

Lasting from June 6 to 15, this year’s annual Luminato Festival in Toronto focused on the steamy theme of “sex.” According to Luminato Festival artistic director, Jorn Wesibrodt, the erotic theme incorporated many boundary-pushing performances including one portraying strange, and even lethal, animal mating practices by actor Isabella Rossellini.

In addition to sex, the festival’s theme covered subjects such as as birth, love, pain, and passion. Love was explored as the second-most important theme, “as the sister phenomenon of sex.”

With files from The Varsity

Social media syphilis in Saskatoon

After a serious syphilis scare earlier this spring, Saskatoon may be in the clear. As of April 2014, there were nine confirmed cases, six more than were reported in all of 2013. The outbreak appears to have ended, however, with no new cases as of May. 

Saskatoon Health Region’s deputy medical health officer, Johnmark Opondo, pointed to the increased use of social media sites and apps in searching for a sexual partner as a possible reason for the outbreak.

 “It seems individuals are able to get to that point where they want to have intimate contact a lot faster,” he said. “[They] don’t always remember that sexually transmitted diseases can still be present and they still need to use caution.”

With files from The Sheaf

Teen angst affects future love life

Research from the U of A shows that depression in young adults may impact their future romantic relationships. Findings showed that those with high rates of depression and anger at age 18 struggled with intimate relationships 25 years down the road.

Assistant professor of human ecology and study author Matthew Johnson stressed the importance of providing aid for these issues in adolescence: “This speaks to the need for addressing those problems early, because they don’t just necessarily go away and even those early experiences will still affect you in the future.”

With files from The Gateway

UK universities score on sexual health

A national report ranked each of the UK’s most prominent universities based on sexual health. The report was in response to cuts to public services that have lead to increased rates of STIs across the country; this was clearly reflected in the results, with some schools not reaching a passable grade.

Schools were graded on a scale from A to F in various categories, such as, “sexual health information services near or on campus,” “clinic drop-in availability,” “sexual assault service,” and “sexual health information on website.” This report card aimed to shed light on how universities can better serve their communities when it comes to sexual health.

With files from The Exeposé

License

In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at www.in-sightjournal.com.

Copyright

© Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing 2012-2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. All interviewees and authors co-copyright their material and may disseminate for their independent purposes.

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): The Peak (Simon Fraser University)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2014/06/16

SFU contains a host of hidden wonders; one of them, in particular, is dear to my ear. As far back as I can remember, I have felt enamored by music of Scottish origin — in particular, the tradition of piping combined with drums. 

I stumbled upon SFU’s Pipe Band one day during a short stroll across Burnaby Mountain. Literally, all it took was walking by the Pipe Band practicing, and I was hooked. Without a second’s hesitation, I plunged head-first into the bagpiping, drumming goodness. 

For over 30 years, the SFU Pipe Band was organized, led, and conducted by Terry Lee.

Recently, Lee stepped down and was replaced by Alan Bevan, a world class piper and member of the band since 1995. I had the opportunity to interview Alan about the SFU Pipe Band and his prior involvement with Terry and Jack Lee.

“I started when I was seven and a half in Abbotsford in the local Pipe Band, eventually reaching Grade 1 and competing against the SFU Pipe Band,” Bevan remembers. “Grade 1” is a term connoting the highest level of performance within the world of piping. After facing off against SFU, Bevan soon joined the team’s ranks, and rose to become one of its most prominent pipers.

Replacing Lee as SFU’s pipe major was a daunting task for Bevan, especially in light of the band’s six-time World Champion status under the former’s leadership. However, Bevan has a wealth of experience, both with piping and with the Lee family.

“We have people come from all over the world to play in the band.” – Alan Bevan, pipe major

“I started taking lessons from Jack Lee [pipe sergeant of the SFU Pipe Band and Terry’s brother] as a young teenager. That was a turning point in my career. I did well in the amateur ranks, and I turned pro after studying under Jack for a year,” Bevan explained.

He continued, “They [Terry and Jack Lee] are both excellent players. Terry was the first one to be asked to join the Pipe Band. Jack has been the number two guy in the pipe core. They have a symbiotic relationship.”

Despite leaving his grand legacy to Bevan, Terry Lee is still involved with the SFU Pipe Band; however, his level and degree of involvement has lessened, with Alan taking on many of Lee’s previous tasks. Though he has big shoes to fill, Bevan is confident in his level of expertise as a piper.

Speaking to his experience at the highest level, Bevan said, “You can only win the gold medal once at each of those contests [which SFU Pipe Band competes in]. I’ve now won each of those gold medals.”

But it’s not just Bevan raking in the medals. Besides meeting the pipe band’s exceptional leadership, I have also experienced first-hand the high-quality drummers and pipers that make up the band, each of whom is passionate about both the music and the team — living up to the impressive standard Bevan has set.

“It’s a tough band to get into in the first place,” Bevan admitted, referring to the group’s high standards. “We have kids come up through the ranks of the Robert Malcolm Memorial Organization [and Pipe Band]. Not all of those guys get into SFU. A few have, they’re pretty fired up by the time they get there, obviously.

“We have people come from all over the world to play in the band,” Bevan continued. The Pipe Band’s international and local performers throughout the last few decades have performed at such venues as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center in New York, the Salt Lake Tabernacle, and the Sydney Opera House. 

The pipe band has an unique way of preparing for a given season; it’s a process Bevan describes as the band’s way of always having something to work towards. Rather than focusing single-mindedly on one big performance at the World Championships, the band works towards other contests, while keeping their eventual goal of a championship in mind.

This kind of preparation keeps the band’s spirits and motivation high throughout the year. In fact, it may be the secret to their world class success. Not many universities can claim to have a pipe band; even fewer can claim to have one as talented and successful as ours. As the band’s proud new pipe major, Alan Bevan has high hopes for the future — and with everything he has going for him, why shouldn’t he?

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In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at www.in-sightjournal.com.

Copyright

© Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing 2012-2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. All interviewees and authors co-copyright their material and may disseminate for their independent purposes.

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): The Peak (Simon Fraser University)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2014/06/16

UBC to build new aquatic centre

The University of British Columbia is investing $40 million in the construction of a new aquatic centre, construction of which is set to begin in late July.

The new aquatic center is a response to the poor state of current facilities. Just recently, the current aquatic center had a steam room failure, resulting in its closure for three weeks. The current aquatic center’s problems have persisted for several months to the concern of university officials. According to Kavie Toor of UBC athletics’ facilities and business development, the indoor pool may soon be unsafe to use.

With files from The Ubyssey and Vancouver Sun

U of R deported students return

Two Nigerian University of Regina students have returned to the university after their deportation  eight months earlier. Victoria Ordu and Favour Amadi were deported after violating their visa restrictions by taking jobs at Walmart.

“It’s still like a dream to me you know. It still hasn’t set in yet. We’re very, very happy to be back here to complete our education,” said Amadi.

Some have defended Ordu and Amadi, seeing the punishment as too severe for their mistake. Following rallies held all across Saskatchewan, the Canadian government has changed its policy to allow international students with study permits to work off-campus.

With files from CTV News

Four vie for U of A presidency

Professors from across the country are vying for the opportunity to become president and vice-chancellor of the University of Alberta. The situation is an open joke on current affairs because 56 people have applied, all in teams of four.

Current U of A president Indira Samarasekera’s salary is ranked among the highest in the country; in 2012, she earned almost $1.2 million in salary and benefits. By applying together, the groups are insinuating that this salary is high enough to support four people, and are protesting the high salaries of university administrators across the country

With files from The Gateway

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In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at www.in-sightjournal.com.

Copyright

© Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing 2012-2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. All interviewees and authors co-copyright their material and may disseminate for their independent purposes.

Author(s): Samaah Jaffer and Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): The Peak (Simon Fraser University)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2014/06/15

Woodward’s

On June 7, the first citizen festival called 100 in 1 Day was hosted at SFU Woodward’s. The event focused on raising awareness of social issues through acts of social change and was intended to motivate various leaders to re-evaluate old problems and issues. 

The event invited anyone interested to “come in with an idea or simply an open mind and a hunger for change. We’ll help you work that into an action plan and meet like minded people who might want to participate.”

Surrey

Last Friday, the fifth issue of the Lyre magazine — a literary publication produced by world literature students — was launched at the Central City pub. Lyre accepts submissions from undergraduate students around the world, including places as far as India, Mexico, and Australia. “Fever” was the theme of this year’s magazine. 

Vancouver

Ian McCarthy, Kate Dilworth and Jan Simon of the Beedie School of Business hosted an event on entrepreneurial leadership and innovation called E-Merge! from June 9 to 12 at the Segal Graduate School. 

They hosted the day-long seminars to teach attendees from various organizations how to create value for people and communities, as well as how to start and launch new ventures to advance ideas for improving health and healthcare.

License

In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at www.in-sightjournal.com.

Copyright

© Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing 2012-2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. All interviewees and authors co-copyright their material and may disseminate for their independent purposes.

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): The Peak (Simon Fraser University)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2014/06/14

SFU undergraduate student in computing sciences and molecular biology and biochemisty, Jasleen Grewal, recently embarked for Boston; she was selected for a summer internship at Harvard University’s prestigious Stem Cell Institute.

Grewal edged out multiple other students from around the world who also applied for this position. Although the institute does not accept many international students — giving priority to American students — Grewal synched a spot.

In a phone interview with The Peak from her lab on Harvard’s campus, Grewal said, “I am soaking everything in, and it is quite an enriching experience to be working alongside such excellent peers.”

The position at Harvard will allow Grewal to pursue her core interest in stem cell research; this is an area of study with great promise as research has shown many potential uses for stem cells, including the generation of cells and tissues, and the treatment of heart and blood-based diseases, among others.

Grewal has research experience in the biological sciences, particularly concerning cancer growth, evolution, and cancer stem cells. According to Grewal, her lifelong passion for science began with her parents. She recounted, “My parents were teachers in mathematics and chemistry, and I think having a childhood where curiosity was constantly encouraged and satiated with mind-blowing explanations greatly contributed to my keen interest in science.”

She continued, “While in elementary school, I was learning about atoms and orbitals, and Fibonacci numbers and the golden ratio, while penning my pet dog’s biography, and it was just a really enriching atmosphere to grow up in. I am really grateful to my parents, and [. . .] high school biology teachers.”

Growing up in a curiosity-driven environment provided the bedrock for scientific inquiry that led Grewalto become involved in research work as a young scholar. “I was briefly involved in research work at the Genome Sciences Centre, Vancouver, on an ongoing project in collaboration with the Terry Fox Research Institute, on the Glioblastoma Multiforme, an acute form of brain cancer,” Grewal said.

When Grewal came across the internship program at Harvard’s Stem Cell institute, she recognized that their summer internship program fit well with her prior research experience and realm of interests.

She explained, “It was such a perfect program: 10 weeks of research under leaders in stem cell research, at Harvard, of all places — I figured I’ll give the application a shot, though it seemed like a long one at that time.”

Grewal’s internship will be spent working with Winston Hide’s lab at the biostatistics department of the Harvard School of Public Health. The work will involve practical elements, such as testing and creating a “cellular pathway printing tool that integrates genomic data to provide a quantifiable measure of gene expression” —  in other words, Grewal hopes to understand how interactions between cellular pathways influence different cell behavior in an organism.

Grewal gushed about the benefits of the program: “One [benefit] most definitely is the exposure to such diverse arenas of research, and to see how research occurs!  I hope to keep an open mind and learn everything I can about the avant-garde research being pursued here in Boston [. . .] and in general to get a firmer direction for my future career and to experiment with it a bit too.”

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In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at www.in-sightjournal.com.

Copyright

© Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing 2012-2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. All interviewees and authors co-copyright their material and may disseminate for their independent purposes.

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): The Peak (Simon Fraser University)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2014/06/09

SFU alumna Rebecca Wolfe is calling for human assistance in machine-translation, among other improvements, after conducting research at both the United Nations and SFU regarding multilingualism at international institutions.

Wolfe suggests that, in addition to promoting multilingualism, international institutions such as the UN need to effectively use emerging technological tools while better incorporating the human aspect of translation.

During her undergraduate years, Wolfe took an interest in linguistics, which eventually led her to an internship in the UN editorial department during her Master’s of Publishing degree at SFU.

She explained, “For me, it was interesting see how they handle multilingualism in a multinational, multilingual organization. So I had some first-hand research I was able to do to actually observe what they do for publishing practices multilingually and then to gather information about the state of multilingual publishing today.”

Although the UN is committed to publishing materials in multiple languages, due to obstacles such as historical precedent and a lack of resources, they are not always able to do so. Wolfe argues that, while we do need to translate under-read works from other languages into English and bring them to an English-speaking audience, “English as an only option, or as a default, or as a source for most publication around the world, is problematic.

“The UN has an opportunity to promote multilingualism, and [. . .] they have a responsibility to protect linguistic diversity around the world,” said Wolfe.

In addition to discussing the issues of anglocentrism, her thesis contains insights on the modern fascination and mass-use of machine translation as well as its error rates and efficiency.

Wolfe explains that machine translation has improved drastically over time, and organizations such as the UN should take advantage of these advances to more readily incorporate multilingualism into their publishing practices.

Although Wolfe believes that improvement will likely continue to occur, she feels that human intervention is required alongside machine processing to enhance clarity of the translations.

“As anybody who’s tried to use google translate or any other online translators, there’s going to be mistakes. You will get some crazy results. It is good to get the right translator and have some human translating at the other end of it,” Wolfe explained.

Wolfe concluded: “I hope [my work] will be used by big organizations, universities, by academic publishers, because my main point is that multilingualism should not be an afterthought, and we shouldn’t lose linguistic diversity because it is a pain in the butt to translate things.

“A lot of languages are dying today,” she continued. “My main point is that I hope people will not be afraid to take the time to do translating and to pay attention to other languages besides English.”

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In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at www.in-sightjournal.com.

Copyright

© Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing 2012-2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. All interviewees and authors co-copyright their material and may disseminate for their independent purposes.

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): The Peak (Simon Fraser University)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2014/06/09

Performers busked, danced, and sang at the first annual Buskathon, founded and organized by SFU philosophy student Samantha Dowdell.

According to Dowdell, the idea arose from her prior musical interests and through her band Alluvium. As a result, the day-long Buskathon occurred on May 31 from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. at Rocky Point Park in Port Moody.

Dowdell explained the nature of the event: “Busking is simply taking your talent out on the street, laying out some sort of spot where people can drop money for you, and sharing whatever with the world. If people like it, people will give you something.”

She described the event as a genuine “opportunity for the new and unknown artists to have a voice and present their work.” To make the event happen, Dowdell approached local artists, “seeking them out, [and] bringing them out into the open.” She continued, “Not a lot of people know this small community exists.”

Dowdell used her musical connections to put together a lineup: “I [asked] my musician friends, my band Alluvium, and another band called Blue Smoke.” Most of the bands in attendance were acoustic. “We [didn’t] want them to blow out the park,” Dowdell said, laughing.

She also reached out to local high school music programs, with which she was involved before coming to SFU. “I [had] been trying to contact them and have them and students do promotions,” she explained.

Many places in the Lower Mainland require a license to busk, and only allow musicians to perform in a spot for one hour before requiring them to move on. There are exceptions when it comes to certain side streets, parks, and the sea wall. However, Port Moody supported Dowdell’s event by relaxing its restrictions.

To keep costs down, Dowdell decided to keep things simple. “It was funded by the city, really simple.” she said. She also reached out to many businesses such as COBS Bread and David’s Tea for sponsorship.

She explained, “[The community has been] printing posters for me, helping me out with contacts. [There’s been] a lot of email communication with people involved with the park — not much from the province, mostly from the city of Port Moody.”

Dowdell explained to The Peak that community building was her primary focus. “I plan to make [the Buskathon] an annual thing, building it up,” she said. In light of the support she received from the community, she feels this could be a reality.

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In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at www.in-sightjournal.com.

Copyright

© Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing 2012-2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. All interviewees and authors co-copyright their material and may disseminate for their independent purposes.

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): The Peak (Simon Fraser University)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2014/06/02

Rising sea levels are a global issue, but research shows the danger is greater closer to home.  

Karen Kohfeld, SFU assistant professor and Canada Research Chair in Climate Resources and Global Change explained, “We can expect a global sea rise of 70 to 100 centimeters if we do nothing to change our carbon emission. If we do something about it, we can reduce it to about 40 to 60 centimeters.”

Vancouver is one of the more threatened cities, and mayor Gregor Robertson is calling for more aid from the federal and provincial governments to help save the coastal city from the impacts of rising sea levels. 

According to Global News, a local study estimates $25 billion worth of real estate will be at risk from sea level rise in Vancouver by the end of the century.

“The low-lying areas will be most affected,” Kohfeld said. “If we look at just our global topography in places like Vietnam, any place that has a major industrial port by the sea, will be affected by this. The southern coast of North America and the east coast of North America will be affected.”

Preventative work is already underway in some places around the world. Kohfeld continued explaining that, for example, New York and Tokyo are likely to spend billions to erect dikes and other defenses.

However, not all cities can afford this. Kohfeld said, “[For] other places in the world, island nations around the globe, this a serious concern. Whenever we have international climate treaty meetings sponsored by the UN, the island nations are always there because part of the problem is it is not just looking out and seeing the sea level rise. It is that when the sea level goes up, and you have any kind of storm coming over top of that, that’s when you see the large problems.” 

Recent findings have shown that a key glacier in west Antarctica is melting, which researchers suggest will contribute to an additional sea level rise that may reach a couple of feet in this century. 

According to Kohfeld, the outlook seems bleak: “One of the studies suggest it is beyond the point of return for this particular glacier. The concern there is that where that glacier is located, it is kind of a lynch pin for all of western Antarctica, that ice sheet. The question is, ‘How stable is the ice sheet behind that glacier?’”

In particular, for BC, the extensive dike system would have to be modified. “If we are to account for a one metre sea level rise, one option would be to raise those dikes. That is very costly,” Kohfeld warned. Kohfeld reflected on mistakes of the past and asked, “What should we have done already?”

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In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at www.in-sightjournal.com.

Copyright

© Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing 2012-2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. All interviewees and authors co-copyright their material and may disseminate for their independent purposes.

Author(s): Freya Olson and Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): The Peak (Simon Fraser University)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2014/06/02

Woodward’s

One of Canada’s most successful documentaries had an additional screening on May 26 at SFU Woodward’s. The Corporation is a 2003 Canadian documentary written by University of British Columbia law professor, Joel Bakan. The film, which was presented by SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement, explores the corporate world and the tremendous pursuit of profit as the sole motive in business. 

Surrey

Wednesday, May 28 saw the launch of a new group called SFU WordPress Community of Practice (CoP), based out of SFU’s Surrey campus. Led by the Teaching and Learning Centre’s interaction specialist and community administrator, Jason Toal, the CoP aims to be a voice for SFU’s WordPress user community. The event was a continuation of the Teaching with Technology series for faculty members, instructors, and TAs at the Surrey campus.

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In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at www.in-sightjournal.com.

Copyright

© Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing 2012-2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. All interviewees and authors co-copyright their material and may disseminate for their independent purposes.

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): The Peak (Simon Fraser University)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2014/06/02

Self-folding paper created at UBC

UBC mechanical engineering master’s student Ata Sina has created a new kind of paper using a thermoplastic polymer that self-folds when exposed to heat; the idea came out of an interest in origami. This polymer is special because it will contract in the presence of heat, and fold itself along computer-cut origami designs. Along with its potential uses as a packing material, Sina is looking at the possibility of using the paper as pop-out art in children’s books.

With files from The Ubyssey

Enrolment numbers cause space issues at U of W

Students at the University of Waterloo have raised concerns about increasing enrolment rates and the resulting lack of space. The biggest issue is the loss of social space for students, which has been decreasing over the last 15 years.

Vice president, academic and provost Geoff McBoyle said that administration hopes to tackle this issue with initiatives like the new student residence and updates to UW Place, as well as efforts such as adding desks in the hallways.

With files from Imprint

Criticism for federally funded internships

The federal government is putting $40 million into 3,000 post-secondary internships centered around science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, including skilled trade jobs. The core criticism against this funding is that it doesn’t address the problem of the 300,000 unpaid internships that currently exist, and do not provide adequate compensation.

Claire Seaborn, president of the Canadian Intern Association, said “If the federal government wanted to address the issue federally, they would have amended the federal labour code and have gotten Statistics Canada to start tracking internships.”

With files from The Varsity

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In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at www.in-sightjournal.com.

Copyright

© Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing 2012-2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. All interviewees and authors co-copyright their material and may disseminate for their independent purposes.

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): The Peak (Simon Fraser University)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2014/06/02

SFU professor Rolf Mathewes and researcher Bruce Archibald, among others, have gained critical insights into climate change while investigating 50 million-year old palm beetle fossils.

In establishing the existence of palm beetles during this period, the team was able to hypothesize as to the existence of palm plants — the beetles’ food source — even without fossil evidence of the palm plants themselves. Mathewes summarized, “Finding [the beetles] basically proved that there had to be palms, even though we did not have the fossils.”

Furthermore, their existence proves that during a period of global warming in the geological past, there were mild, frost-free winters in North America.

Mathewes explained, “To give you some background, palms are very important climate indicators. We are particularly interested in the climate of this period called the greenhouse earth, which was the warmest period since the extinction of the dinosaurs in the last 65 million years. This was around 50 to 53 million years ago.”

He continued, “In the Eocene greenhouse world, the whole world was very warm and almost tropical everywhere, except for some of the upland areas.” Because the palms cannot survive in regions with significant frost days, the existence of palm beetles in North America indicates moderate temperatures.

The team investigated fossils from a number of sites in central British Columbia, in an area called the Okanagan Highlands. In the Okanagan Highlands, fossil lake deposits formed during a period of mountain building and volcanism that preserved plants, flowers, and insects, among other things. “The fossil record is wonderful,” Mathewes said.

Mathewes has been making fossil collections for over 30 years. Archibald discovered beetles called bruchines in these collections; it was in these collections that he found a set of beetles of a certain family called palm beetles, which feed only on the seeds of palm trees.

Archibald researched and found one specimen at first, and thought there must be more. He “found three sites, possibly a fourth, that have these palm bruchine, which span about over a 1,000 kilometres of latitude from northern Washington to Smithers in the center of BC, and everywhere in between,” Mathewes said.

Looking at climate change clues in the distant past, the team hopes to provide greater insight into the future as the world increasingly experiences the effects of global warming.

License

In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at www.in-sightjournal.com.

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© Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing 2012-2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. All interviewees and authors co-copyright their material and may disseminate for their independent purposes.

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): The Peak (Simon Fraser University)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2014/05/31

Coming off of its first big win of the season, SFU’s pipe band looks forward to representing the university at world competitions.

Earlier this month, the team swept the competition at the Victoria Highland Games, placing first in all four of its events. The team even beat out the L.A. Scotts — the top pipe band in the US.

Individual awards were seized by Coquitlam piper Alastair Lee, who won first place in the professional piping category, and Grant Maxwell and Gavin MacRae, who tied for first in professional side drumming.

According to SFU student and pipeband member, Kevin McLean, the season is just getting started. After the competition last week in Victoria, the team is getting ready to travel to Bellingham on June 7, and then to the Coquitlam highland games on June 21. After that, the team will play in Seattle at the end of July.

On an international scale, the team is also preparing for the World Championships, to be held in Glasgow, Scotland, in mid-August. “We play two events there: the [March, Strathspey & Reel event] (MSR) and we also play a medley event, which is more contemporary. You could say [it’s] more exciting, musical, and creative,” said McLean.

The team has finished top two in the world in 15 of its 28 years competing at the championship; however the band will have to adjust this year as its leadership has shifted. “Terry Lee was the pipe major for over 30 years. Terry retired,” McLean said.

Taking his place is Alan Bevan, who has been a member of the Simon Fraser University pipeband since 1995. In addition to winning awards such as overall winner at the Masters’ Invitational (2009), Bevan has won the World Championship with the band on several occasions.

“I’m quite well-versed in what the band’s expectation is and what the direction is, and I don’t see really changing that in any radical way,” Bevan said in a video on PipesDrums.

“We have a very strong young core in the band,” Lee said in the same video. “It’s there to be made a new era.”

McLean described the unique contribution of the pipe band to SFU: “The pipe band in general is a unique trademark of the university. Not many universities have a pipe band.  No other university in the world has a pipe band as high a quality as ours. We bring the university to the world stage: Sydney Opera House, Carnegie Hall, Mormon Tabernacle choir, and the Lincoln Center in New York.”

As the team continues to prepare for the world stage, students are invited to hear them performing on Sunday mornings on Burnaby Mountain across from the library in the contemporary theatre.

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In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at www.in-sightjournal.com.

Copyright

© Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing 2012-2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. All interviewees and authors co-copyright their material and may disseminate for their independent purposes.

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): The Peak (Simon Fraser University)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2014/05/30

In researching the walking stick insect, SFU biology professor Bernard Crespi is able to analyze how new species evolve in new environments and become genetically diverse from their original species. This type of evolution is called speciation.

According to Crespi, “[Speciation] is the origin of new species, when you go from one species to two species. It is the evolution of new biological diversity. People may not have an appreciation for what a species is, except maybe an intuitive one.”

He continued, “A species is a group of organisms that only breed amongst themselves. They don’t breed with other groups. What is evolving is a new breed or group of species that is isolated reproductively, that means it can evolve independently on its own.”

The main finding of the work has to do with natural selection in facilitating speciation, explained Crespi.

It is important to understand, as Crespi explained, that “natural selection is special because it is the only process that specifically gives rise to adaptation to a fit between organisms and their environments [. . .] Natural selection is only one of the mechanisms of evolution,” he continued, “There is a variety of mechanisms including mutation, migration, and genetic drift.”

Crespi’s research is unique in that he used 160 whole genomes, fully sequenced, whereas previous research has dealt with incomplete sequences. He explained the significance of this: “This is the first study to use whole genomes in combination with experimental analysis to understand the causes of speciation.”

The research involved an experiment that placed walking stick insects into different environments, each with its own host plant. Crespi elaborated, “This work showed a role for natural selection in speciation in these walking sticks in terms of their adaptation to different host plant environments.” Insects with certain characteristics will thrive in their respective environments, this is how natural selection plays a role in organisms genetically diverging through reproductive isolation.

In other words, “Natural selection, in terms of the host plant, pulls them apart genetically and phenotypically,” said Crespi.

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In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at www.in-sightjournal.com.

Copyright

© Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing 2012-2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. All interviewees and authors co-copyright their material and may disseminate for their independent purposes.

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): The Peak (Simon Fraser University)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2014/05/26

Out of the recent fracturing of Vancouver’s left-wing Coalition of Progressive Electors (COPE) party, a new political party has emerged to grapple with other civic parties. Although this change could affect leftist voting preference, SFU city program director, Gordon Price, questions whether it will effectively challenge the current party in power.

The new contender, called OneCity, was announced on May 12 by RJ Aquino — a former COPE city council candidate who has been backed by prominent Vancouver leftists — and aims to reduce the growing inequalities in the city. Aquino previously sat on the Vancouver City Planning Commission and is currently on the board of directors for Collingwood Neighborhood House.

The formation of a new party can be complicated, explained Price. Many difficulties — such as fracturing — exist for a host of reasons within a political party, however, overcoming this problem can be crucial. Price said, “If the party itself does not fracture, they have a real advantage in incumbency.”

Price attributed the fracture within the COPE party, resulting in the creation of OneCity, to “personality-based” issues, as opposed to policy-based. Price noted a few past instances of personality-based fractures: “You can make the case that it happened in 1972 with the [Non-Partisan Association (NPA)], when the team council came in here. It certainly happened in 2000 [. . .] Then, it happened with Larry Campbell. It happened again with the NPA!” Price said.

Even so, fractures do not necessarily represent a prevalent phenomenon — trends show that one party tends to maintain power for at least a couple of decades. Price explained, “The norm since the 1930s has been for the NPA, for one party, to stay in power for very long stretches of time. For the time I was on the council, 15 years, we only had two mayors: Gordon Campbell and Philip Owen.”

He continued, “The voters seem to go for incumbents. It goes up and down a bit. But they’ll stick with what they know unless the party itself fractures. But that tends to coincide with politics.” In other words, slight variations exist in the political power spectrum, but voter consistency reflects a persistent voting trend of citizens individually. People tend to vote one way — unless the political party of the voter appears to fracture, as is happening now.

Price said, “The public doesn’t like the internal fracturing that the personalities [create] within the parties [. . .] So [voters] tend to look for an alternative or are, at least, more open to it.”

Price commented on the general political landscape: “What we have at the moment is a fracturing of the political spectrum, but the party in power seems very much to be solid: [Gregor Robertson is [a] strong mayoral candidate insofar as he is known, [the] party shows no signs of division, [a] great deal of internal discipline, [we] certainly don’t hear of an councillors going after one another.” He mused, “Will that be enough? We will see.”

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In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at www.in-sightjournal.com.

Copyright

© Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing 2012-2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. All interviewees and authors co-copyright their material and may disseminate for their independent purposes.

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): The Peak (Simon Fraser University)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2014/05/26

New information warns of increasing survival pressures on amphibian life in the Pacific Northwest as a result of climate change and non-native fish.

SFU researchers Wendy Palen and Maureen Ryan considered the threat climate change poses for these amphibians. Palen, assistant professor of biology and tier two Canada research chair in aquatic conservation, explained, “For natural resource conservation issues, you cannot make the ocean less acidic. You cannot turn down the temperature on something, but in this case it has to do with these different mixes of aquatic habitats.”

According to Palen, “Fish were introduced into these mountainous landscapes and really large lakes. What that means is amphibians and a lot of the native species are restricted to other, more at-risk habitats in the landscape where fish cannot exist.” 

Currently, 95 per cent of lakes in the Pacific Northwest are stocked with non-native fish.

Palen and other researchers from the University of Washington and the University of Notre Dame began their research in US national parks with high elevations, such as Mount Rainier National Park, North Cascades National Park, and Olympic National Park. 

Palen found reason for concern: “We found that stability is likely to change in the future if some large percentage of their habitat disappears because of climate change,” she said.

“Basically, they call it the climate squeeze. If we are squeezed in one direction by fish present and then in the other direction by climate change, then the question is, ‘how much are they going to be left with in the end?’,” Palen explained.

The ponds where most of these amphibians live are going to be 50 to 80 per cent more likely to dry up in the next 50 to 100 years as opposed to present conditions. In essence, “[There] are these shallow ponds and wetlands that you see if you have ever been hiking in these mountainous areas, like a little wet meadow,” Palen said. These may be a site for exploration as fish have difficulty living in them because of the shallow nature of these ponds.

In this climate squeeze, many questions arise about the potential solutions to the problem. “How do we go in and strategically remove fish from these landscapes?” Palen posited.

“Here we might be able to forestall the effects of climate change for these amphibians by removing trout where we think there will be the biggest impact,” she continued. “We can restore some of the large, more resilient habitats and make native wetland ecosystems in the surrounding area more resilient again.”

By removing these fish — which were originally introduced for recreational purposes — Palen hopes to prevent the destruction of amphibian populations.

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In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at www.in-sightjournal.com.

Copyright

© Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing 2012-2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. All interviewees and authors co-copyright their material and may disseminate for their independent purposes.

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): The Peak (Simon Fraser University)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2014/05/25

UBC dental program suspected of fraud

One of the University of British Columbia’s residency programs is under scrutiny for the possibility of fraud involving approximately $5 million. UBC administration was alerted of inconsistencies in the finances of UBC’s Faculty of Dentistry’s General Practice Residency.

Following this discovery, the university’s internal auditing system began an immediate investigation. Upon completion of the investigation, a report was submitted to the RCMP for further examination. As of yet, the police have not announced any updates to the further investigation.

With files from The Ubyssey

Controversy leads to resignation of U of S provost

University of Saskatchewan provost Brett Fairbairn has resigned his position, following controversy over the dismissal of a professor speaking out against budget cuts. Professor and executive director of the School of Public Health, Robert Buckingham, was removed from his position and from the university campus after reaching out to government officials about financial restructuring at the school.

Fairburn mentioned in his resignation letter that he acted in the, “genuine interest in the well-being of the University of Saskatchewan.” Buckingham was subsequently offered back his tenure position, excluding his standing as executive director.

With files from The Star

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In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at www.in-sightjournal.com.

Copyright

© Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing 2012-2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. All interviewees and authors co-copyright their material and may disseminate for their independent purposes.

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): The Peak (Simon Fraser University)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2014/05/20

Staff, students, faculty, and community members considered our place in space last week when SFU and the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) hosted two events — Science Rendezvous and International Astronomy Day — on May 10 at the Burnaby Campus.  

According to professor Howard Trottier from SFU’s Department of Physics, the event “had representation from all science departments and applied science, as well as the local astronomy group.”

The merged events occurred on the same day as 300 to 400 other space-related events across Canada. “The overall event today [. . .] is organized around something like the National Science Day, called Science Rendezvous,” explained Trottier. The event also offered SFU its first opportunity to partner with RASC, which was planning to host a similar event. “Coincidentally, we were going to do it on the same day and [at] the same place. So, we decided to team up! It’s packed!” Trottier commented.

The dual-hosted event had a wide range of activities, discussions, lectures, and displays of science. In one area of the event, attendees could look through telescopes of 30x to 100x magnification to see the moss growing on the edge of a campus building. In another section, they could peer down the hexagonal honeycomb patterns of material used in the siding of rockets. Visitors even learned about the dairy industry by milking a dummy-cow.  

Participants who wanted to come back down to Earth and public policy could talk to Mark Eburne, a man with a passion for the prevention and reduction of light pollution. Eburne works, along with organizations such as Lite Bright, to campaign on behalf of citizens concerned about light pollution. Attendees could also listen to a free lecture on a various science topics including Apollo space missions and the Aurora Borealis.

Trottier considers these events of high importance in two respects: community and outreach. The event occurred at the location of SFU’s new observatory called the Trottier Observatory and Courtyard, named for and funded by Trottier’s brother, which will be built later this year. According to Trottier, this observatory is meant to build both a passion for science and a greater community spirit; it is meant for students as a gathering place and as a place to learn about astronomy.

Concerning outreach, he stated, “The RASC is a national organization [. . .] They strongly support outreach at SFU. They bring their telescopes out here to show to the public. They also provide volunteers.” Trottier believes the RASC will help build outreach and community by encouraging families and their children to learn, ask questions, and build genuine interest in the operations and productions of science.

Many of these kinds of events come from an internal drive to educate the public on the importance of science through communication and community. Trottier concluded, “We’re living in a golden age of astronomy. And almost nobody knows about it.”

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In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at www.in-sightjournal.com.

Copyright

© Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing 2012-2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. All interviewees and authors co-copyright their material and may disseminate for their independent purposes.

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): The Peak (Simon Fraser University)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2014/05/20

A new study from SFU graduate student Ashley Pritchard suggests that partner abuse may have adverse effects on the mental health of new mothers.

Published in the journal, BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, Pritchard said, “The study examined the associations of different types of intimate partner abuse and postpartum mental health problems.” The research brought to bear a few findings on the mental health of the women studied.

Pritchard, a master’s student in SFU’s clinical forensic psychology program, explained the research team’s findings: “Higher levels of postpartum mental health problems were reported by women who experienced intimate partner abuse either before or during pregnancy. In addition, the negative effects on postpartum mental health increased as a function of the number of types of intimate partner abuse — psychological, physical and sexual — experienced.”

Furthermore, the effects of different types of abuse were varied after pregnancy. “Psychological abuse [. . .] was associated with symptoms of PTSD and stress in the postpartum period. Physical abuse [. . .] was associated with symptoms of depression, OCD and PTSD in the postpartum period. Sexual abuse [. . .] was associated with symptoms of OCD in the postpartum period,” Pritchard said.

Of the 100 women who participated in the study, 61 per cent experienced mental health symptoms in the postpartum period. Forty-seven per cent had mental health symptoms at “clinical” levels.

The research also found that two thirds of the women “had a familial income of $60,000 or more, [suggesting] that intimate partner abuse is not constrained to households of lower socioeconomic status.”

The scope of trauma in these findings is significant; however, Pritchard suggests there are things women can do to help themselves in these situations. Pritchard recommends that “healthcare providers should conduct routine screenings for intimate partner abuse” and “foster strong rapport with their patients so that mothers-to-be feel comfortable enough to discuss such issues.” Additionally, she said that it is “important that healthcare providers are informed about the prevalence and consequences of intimate partner abuse.”

In the end, it all comes down to greater information. Said Pritchard, “Informing both women and their healthcare providers about findings like these will further help to open lines of communication, reduce stigma, and work to prevent harmful mental health problems.”

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In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at www.in-sightjournal.com.

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© Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing 2012-2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. All interviewees and authors co-copyright their material and may disseminate for their independent purposes.

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): The Peak (Simon Fraser University)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2014/05/20

It’s time to launch your artistic project! Why? There is a multidisciplinary festival for young professional artists.

According to festival coordinator Mallory Gallant, the festival “was created as an opportunity to give artists in the Lower Mainland the chance to get to showcase their work as well as make those much-needed connections with other artists as well as industry professionals.” This is the second annual Launch Festival and it will focus on presenting innovative multidisciplinary arts.

The festival is a space for young professionals to have the opportunity to showcase their own works. “When we say young professional we mean someone that has made a personal commitment to a career in the arts. Professional, in our opinion, is someone that has a history of creation and presentation but is not yet recognized by professional associations. We are looking for the up and comers. The ones that are right on the edge and need that extra push,” Gallant said.

One great aspect of the festival is its accessibility for local artists. Gallant says, “The event is only open to artists in the Lower Mainland and there is no fee to apply and there is no age limit.”

In addition to the opportunity to present personal works with no cash concerns or age restrictions, the event will provide mentorship opportunities, workshops, and the chance to connect with professional associations. 

Gallant said, “By including mentorship and workshops we are not just giving [the artists] the stage to perform on, we are also giving them the chance to connect with professionals that have been in the industry for years.”

Some such mentors include Gary Cristall (music and career mentor) the co-founder of the Vancouver International Folk Festival, Murray Gibson (film and theatre mentor) a talent agent for over 25 years who works for RED Management, Vanessa Goodman (career mentor) a company member for Dancers Dancing, Emma Lancaster (career mentor) a communications professional with over 20 years of experience and faculty member at Capilano University, and Jim Smith (dance mentor) the Producer for DanceHouse and former president of the Canadian Dance Assembly. 

The festival is presented by the 149 Arts Society in partnership with SFU Woodwards. Gallant describes the society as dedicating “itself to arts programming that is provocative in nature, and programming that serves to engage, challenge and inform.”

Looking beyond the second year of Launch, Gallant says, “We have high hopes to see the festival grow into a really strong legacy program. There is nothing quite like witnessing a budding artist at the beginning stage of their career.”

“The connection that can form between an emerging artist and a mentor is priceless and will be valuable for the rest of their careers. To be able to say that we had a hand in launching a long lasting artistic career is something we are proud of and we will continue to value our emerging artists,” she concluded. 

Applications for Launch will be accepted until May 22. The festival will run June 19 to 21 at SFU Woodwards. 

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In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at www.in-sightjournal.com.

Copyright

© Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing 2012-2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. All interviewees and authors co-copyright their material and may disseminate for their independent purposes.

Author(s): Melissa Roach and Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): The Peak (Simon Fraser University)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2014/05/20

Digital health for expectant mothers

The University of British Columbia has begun a program for prenatal education through text messaging. The digital health program, called SmartMom Canada, is headed by Professor Patti Janssen of the School of Population and Public Health in conjunction with the Child and Family Research Institute. 

Educational prenatal health information is sent by the agency to expectant mothers via text message. The service will connect pregnant women with health services and educate them on how to care for themselves and their babies before birth. According to Janssen, one of the main goals behind SmartMom is to provide educational information to individuals seeking knowledge, but who are unable to attend the classes.

With files from The Vancouver Sun

Poodle sculpture removed from Capilano U

Capilano University has seized a piece of art from its campus grounds. The work in question, named “Blathering on in Krisendom,” is a sculpture of university President Kris Bulcroft, toting a poodle and wrapped in the American flag. 

Capilano professor and creator of the piece, George Rammell, is calling for the return of the sculpture. “It’s ridiculous,” he said. He was informed by campus security that the administration had given them the authority to remove the piece from campus. “I called the RCMP to report the theft. The officer arrived and he said he had been talking to administration: they had asked him if they would be liable if they destroyed the sculpture,” said Rammell.

With files from The Georgia Straight

Grads at U of M to pay three times more

The University of Manitoba intends to increase graduate student fees by almost 330 per cent. As it stands now, students pay an initial program fee in their first year and then pay an annual continuing fee of $700. The plan is to increase that continuing fee to $3000. 

Dean Jay Doering says that the fees will go toward support for graduate students as well as administrative and library services. Despite the reasoning behind the tuition hike, a survey done by the University of Manitoba Graduate Student’s Association showed that the majority of students are concerned about the increase.

With files from Yahoo News

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In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at www.in-sightjournal.com.

Copyright

© Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing 2012-2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. All interviewees and authors co-copyright their material and may disseminate for their independent purposes.

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): The Peak (Simon Fraser University)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2014/05/12

Using evidence from HIV evolution in North America, SFU researchers have discovered that the virus is slowly adapting over time to its human hosts. Nevertheless, assistant professor of health sciences at SFU and lead author of this study, Zabrina Brumme asserts that the evolution is not progressing fast enough to be a danger to humans.

Brumme explained, “The purpose of our study was to investigate the adaptation of HIV to immune selection pressures in the North American population. To do this, we studied HIV specimens dating back from 1979 to the present day. From these specimens we extracted human immune information as well as virus sequence data and looked for evidence that the virus was adapting to our immune systems over time.”

With funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (MSFHR), Brumme’s lab was able to collaborate with scientists at UBC, the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, and sites across the US.

Although HIV-1 specimens used in the study were from 1979, the oldest specimens sequenced date back to 1959 and 1960.  “Both are from Central Africa. With respect to North America, the oldest sequences date back to 1979 and were collected as part of our study.” Brumme said.

The findings of the study, she stated, were evidence that the virus is indeed slowly adapting over time to its human hosts. However, Brumme says there is no need to panic: “This change is so gradual that it is unlikely to have an impact on host immunity to HIV — or vaccine design — on a relevant timescale.”

She continued, “Basically, we’ve got the tools now, in the form of potent anti-HIV drugs, to turn the tide of HIV globally. These drugs do two things: a) they save lives and b) they reduce the risk of HIV transmission essentially to zero.”

The research team hopes that by collecting and sequencing historic HIV-1 isolates, they will be able to achieve a deeper understanding of how HIV has spread around the world. “Understanding how HIV evolves in infected persons and host populations is also relevant to HIV prevention, notably development of an HIV vaccine,” Brumme said.

Although the evolutionary side of HIV is just one piece in a much larger puzzle, the team says they have reasons to be hopeful. Brumme explained, “A major global priority is the delivery of HIV treatment to the millions of people worldwide who need it — to save lives and eliminate new infections. While we do the above, we also need to continue to invest resources and scientific efforts towards finding an HIV vaccine and an HIV cure.”

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In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at www.in-sightjournal.com.

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© Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing 2012-2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. All interviewees and authors co-copyright their material and may disseminate for their independent purposes.