Published monthly by the University Neighbourhoods Association

Volume 4, Issue 5 MAY 21, 2013

Published monthly by the University Neighbourhoods Association

SURPLUS continued on Page 6.

In a ceremony held at The Old Barn Community Centre April 30, volunteers were celebrated for their work in helping the UNA and Old Barn function well. A group of volunteers were selected for their work in particular. From left to right in photo, they are: Harini Rajagopal, May Xing, Charli Jin, Ben Seghers, Heather Friesen, Florence Luo and Sandra Price-Hosie.

UNA Appreciates Fine Work of Volunteers

Staff Sergeant Darren Malcolm recently became commander of the University de-tachment of the RCMP. S/Sgt Malcolm replaces S/Sgt Kevin Jones, who has gone on leave. A 26-year veteran of the force, S/Sgt Malcolm brings a wealth of experience to the post of commander of the 17-mem-ber University detachment on Wesbrook Mall. He has served in both the smallest and largest detachments in Canada. Most recently, he served in Surrey, which has the largest RCMP detachment in Canada with hundreds of police offi-cers. Before that, he served in five com-munities in the far North with detach-ments among the smallest in Canada. “I was the only cop in town in two of them,” S/Sgt Malcolm said in an inter-view at his office.

New Commander Comes to U DetachmentStaff Sergeant Darren Malcolm is a 26-year

veteran of the force; he is experienced serving in both big-city and remote settings

This broad range of experience in both urban and remote environments should serve the police officer well at UBC. “UBC is unique. It’s affected by what goes on in a big city, Vancouver, and as well, it feels like a small community. That’s why I wanted to come here.” Technically, the staff-sergeant ex-plained, he is only ‘seconded’ from the Surrey detachment for a year. “However, I am happy to be seconded, and see it turning into a permanent position at the end of year.” Born in Cape Breton Island, Nova Sco-tia, S/Sgt Malcolm—who is married with a teenage son and daughter— joined the national police force in his home prov-ince, and served there for six years be-fore being sent to Nunavut Territory, the largest, most northern and most recently-formed of the three territories in Cana-da—Nunavut was formed out of a large part of the Northwest Territories in 1999. An outgoing person, S/Sgt Malcolm feels he benefited socially from his eight years in the north—functioning in such small communities as Rankin Inlet for example. “You learn to talk to people a

little more.” As well as perform RCMP duties in Nunavut, the police officer spent time volunteering his services to communities there. In particular, he volunteered as a hockey coach—with considerable suc-cess in one instance. Jordin Tootoo, one of his young hockey charges, plays in the National Hockey League for the Detroit Red Wings after breaking into the NHL with the Nashville Predators. “Jordin (part Inuit) is the first player to grow up in Nunavut to break into the NHL.” Moving to Surrey, S/Sgt Malcolm served for six years in the main detach-ment and for 3 ½ years as commander of the City Centre/Whalley district office—one of five district offices in Surrey. In 2009, the Surrey Board of Trade awarded him the title ‘police officer of the year (as nominated by the commu-nity)’. Asked for a first impression of the cam-pus community he has come to serve and protect, S/Sgt Malcolm noted the high level of civic engagement here. “I am very impressed with the level of en-

Staff Sergeant Darren Malcolm

gagement in the community. There are so many issues people have to deal with. They are trying to ensure there will be solutions.” The new University detachment com-mander says he respects this kind of ‘reaching-out’ approach in others, and looks forward to working with the local communities towards common goals.

An important new policy has begun tak-ing shape at the University Neighbour-hood Association—how to replace direc-tors who resign in mid-term. The need for this policy came about

Directors Draft Plan of How to Replace Members Who Resign

Thomas Beyer wants campus residents to know how healthy the University Neigh-bourhoods Association finances are. Mr. Beyer, a resident-director and the UNA treasurer, referred to the $1,083,117 surplus in the most recent financial state-ment of the UNA. He said, “That’s a big number!” A month earlier, the surplus had also stood over $1 million ($1,168,984). Mr. Beyer projects a surplus of approximately $700,000 at financial year end—roughly 15% of current budget.

UNA Surplus Surpasses

Million Dollar Mark

This is a ‘big number’, says Thomas Beyer; staff is

credited with “wise handling of our money”

Need for new policy was caused by board member resigning in April; quick replacement was rejected

with the resignation of a director in April. The board came under pressure to quickly replace the ex-director. A group of residents urged quick replacement for “democratic reasons.” They argued that

without full representation to which they were entitled, residents would not have proper representation.

DIRECTORS continued on Page 6.

THE CAMPUS RESIDENT MAY 21, 2013page 2

The runner in Mike Moon will not let re-cent events put him off entering the Bos-ton Marathon next year. Mike has run the Boston Marathon 15 years in a row, and he plans to make it 16 next year. “You can’t let this change your life,” Mike says of the deadly bomb attacks on the April 15 marathon in which three spectators were killed and hundreds more injured—many of them severely. A top-notch, long-distance runner and long-time resident of the UBC campus, Mike crossed the finish line in the Bos-ton race about an hour before the bombs were set off there. Reflecting on his run in an interview on the Saturday following the race, Mike said he ran the 26-mile race in around three hours—not his fastest time. He put down this lapse in part to stomach prob-lems during the race. “I never have prob-lems,” he said. The stomach problems may have saved his life. After crossing the finishing line, Mike returned to the Sheraton Hotel

Mike Makes Plans for Next Boston MarathonStomach problem during

and after race may be reason he’s still alive; well-known local runner Mike

Moon was in race for 15th year in a row

where he was staying—a five-minute walk away. He proposed to “shower and clean up”, and then return to the finish line to cheer in slower runners. He did in fact shower and clean up, but he did not return to the finish line as he has done so often in previous Boston marathons. Instead, he decided to lie down and see if his stomach would settle. While lying in his hotel room, he watched the race in progress on TV. Then, suddenly, he found himself watch-ing the nightmare scenario on the screen of bomb explosions and broken bodies near the finish line. “I was lucky not to be at the finish line I guess.” Mike had flown to Boston from Van-couver on the Thursday before the race, and he looked forward to enjoying him-self there for five or six days. “Boston feels like a second home to me. I have a large number of friends from Detroit I see there every year. I know lots of runners in the Boston area. Boston is the friendliest city I have ever been to.” A sports teacher at St. George’s private boys school in Dunbar, Mike Moon feels so much at home in Boston that eleven years ago while running the Boston mar-athon, he paused towards the end of it to kiss Maria, his future wife who was in a crowd of spectators waving runners on with her small Canadian flag. The next year, he both repeated the kiss and proposed to Maria, “This is our tenth

anniversary,” he said. Mike considers the Boston Marathon—over a century old—“a wonderful cele-bration of life.” Alas, this year, it proved also a grim harbinger of death. After seeing the carnage on TV, Mike—shocked and disbelieving—jumped up from where he was lying in his Sheraton Hotel room and ran into the hotel com-mon area. There he found hundreds of other hotel guests—most of them runners or families of runners in the same state of shock and disbelief as him. “It was like when we all looked up to see 9-11,” he said, referring to the terror-ist attacks on the U.S. on September 11, 2001. “It was hard to process this infor-mation.” Recalling his reactions after what he had witnessed on the TV screen in Bos-ton, Mike said first came the experience of “feeling sick for the people hurt in the blast.” Then came “anger that someone could do that to people.” These feelings lasted for days. “It was surreal. We asked, ‘Did this really hap-

pen?’” Mike had planned to fly home to Van-couver the day after the race. However, cancellation of flights caused him to re-schedule twice, and he finally flew on the Wednesday. In other responses to the sights on the TV screen in Boston, Mike said he and others in the hotel thought at first the bombings must be the handiwork of a highly organized terrorist group. Then, they switched to the theory it “must be a bunch of crazy guys.” He reports those responsible could not have picked a more photographed area anywhere in North America. “There were TV cameras all around. There were professional photographers all along the course. Thousands of spectators were taking shots. CCTV security cameras (on storefronts) were everywhere.” In the minutes following the twin blasts that killed and maimed people, Mike saw evidence of unprecedented security re-sponse. “It’s amazing how fast this mas-sive force got there—Boston police, FBI, Homeland Security.” On the Monday evening of that fateful day (before the massive police shut-down of downtown Boston the following day), Mike and friends took the opportunity to explore outside the hotel. “In moments, you feel you are in a war zone,” he said. If there was one good thing to come of the tragedy, Mike said, “It was the pres-ence of the race medical tent to the right of the finish line.” He feels trained per-sonnel there, rushing across the road to the two bomb sites, saved lives by their presence and prompt action. He called the immediate response of these personnel to the bomb blasts—without thought of danger to them-selves—“the best of human nature.” In contrast, he said, “there is no justifica-tion” for the despicable terrorist violence wrought upon innocent victims. The 2014 Boston Marathon will un-doubtedly go ahead, the campus resi-dent said, and he will run in it. He ex-pects to book his flight and hotel room well ahead, and his wife and two young children may go with him to enjoy “the wonderful celebration of life” called the Boston Marathon.

Mike Moon races past grandstand near finish of 2006 Boston Marathon

THE CAMPUS RESIDENT MAY 21, 2013

Editor & Business Manager

University Neighbourhoods Association

#202-5923 Berton Avenue,

Vancouver, BC V6S OB3

Published by:

John Tompkins

604.827.3502 JTompkins@myuna.caEditorial Page

page 3

Letters to the Editor & OpinionsInclude name, address and telephone number. Maximum lengths: Letters 400 words. Opinions 750 words. We may edit

or decline to publish any submission.

The BC provincial election, which is held every four years, was just held (May 14). I regret I was not able to participate in this election because as a newcomer to Cana-da, I am not yet a citizen. However, as a new immigrant, even though I am not yet a Canadian citizen, I do have a unique op-portunity to exercise my vote at the Uni-versity Neighbourhoods Association board election every September. For the last four years since I immigrated to Vancouver, I have voted three times in the UNA elec-tions. Each time I felt the power of democ-racy through this experience of choosing the leaders for our community. The first time I voted for the UNA Board, I did not even know the background of the candidates. I voted for them because they were highly recommended by a volunteer, whose views I strongly trust and respect, and whom I met at The Old Barn Commu-nity Center. It turned out that I made very good choices because after they were elect-ed, they contributed hugely to our commu-nity. So during the last two elections in our community, I got more and more involved and actively encouraged more newcomers to vote. For me, each time I participated in the elections and voted for the candidates I supported, I learned more about our com-munity and the different ways the candi-dates campaigned for our votes and how we should choose our leaders. For me, the biggest advantage about living in this UNA community is that the residents are given the privilege to vote regardless of their citizenship, unlike in other places in Canada. This is an enormous benefit to

Why should I vote in the UNA elections?

newcomers because it gives them a say in the choice of who will run their community. It also shows respect for their right to speak up. However, at last year’s UNA election, only about 30% of eligible voters cast their ballots. It is a waste of a valuable opportu-nity if newcomers don’t take advantage of this privilege to vote that is given to them. I hope that in this coming September elec-tions, more newcomers will exercise their special right to elect the leaders of our com-munity. The voting procedure is really quite sim-ple and easy. The UNA website at www.myuna.ca gives all the information you need. Most important of all, you need to be a resident and a member of the UNA. Please do get involved in the election this coming September and let your voices be heard. Choose your candidates wisely and campaign for those who will speak up for residents and who show their concern for our community. It is a privilege and an ob-ligation for a resident to vote. We will have a better community if we all do our duty and vote in this coming September UNA election. Unlike the counselors of the City of Van-couver who are paid for their work, the elected directors of the UNA Board receive only a small payment each year, which is more like a volunteer position. This is an-other great benefit of living in this com-munity. As you may have discovered, we are so lucky to have many retired profes-sionals and wonderful younger people who are willing to volunteer and serve the community with their intelligence, skills and experience. This is the spirit of giving without reward. And this is the reason why we should all exercise our right to vote and help build a better community that is made possible by volunteers.

Letter to the Editor

As you know, our community is gravely concerned about the hundreds of children who have to cross the stretch of 16th Av-enue that flows through the UBC campus in order to get to and from school (University Hill Secondary and Rose Point Elemen-tary). The most important request from Uhill Secondary and Uhill Elementary parents is for pedestrians and cyclists to cross one controlled lane at a time. This issue has not been addressed. The current design still presents an in-surmountable barrier for school children (and seniors). Despite being well trained in traffic safety and road crossing, school age children (especially elementary age school children) are not cognitively able to cross a two lane amber light controlled pedestrian intersection safely. You are forcing our children to cross what is essentially a four-lane highway in order to get to and from school.

Despite assurances about 16th Ave., PAC remains gravely concerned

The research paper Perceiving and acting on complex affordances: how children and adults bicycle across two lanes of oppos-ing traffic. ( Grechkin TY, Chihak BJ, Cre-mer JF, Kearney JK, Plumert JM.) shows convincingly both that children can learn to understand that cars may not stop and that they have to make eye contact with the driver, etc, but that going through the safe-crossing procedure a second time is unsafe. In order to get across a second lane while standing in the street in the middle of the two lanes and being hidden from traffic view by the stopped car in the first lane is a very risky procedure to undertake. Crossing one lane at a time would signifi-cantly alleviate the problem.

Denise Lauritano, Co-Chair University Hill Elementary School PACHazita Harun, Co-Chair University Hill Secondary School PAC

In the last campaign for the election of Directors to the UNA Board, three candi-dates nominated by OUR (Organization of U-Town Residents) were elected. Part of OUR’s platform was that there should be a careful and thorough study of governance options. The former Board had also ex-pressly committed to studying governance options. As part of this I was asked by the former Board to write a paper outlining the governance options available to us, which I did. The paper is available on the UNA website at myuna.ca, under the word ‘Fea-tured’ on the Home Page. My paper was meant to start and, where thought helpful, inform discussions about governance op-tions. Since the election of the new Board noth-ing has been done about any process of considering governance options. The reason I write is that I regard it as improper for the Board to be conducting its present consultation on the “reform” (that is the word that the Board has chosen to use) of our present election process as a Society and whether we should align this process with traditional municipal election proce-dures. In my opinion, deciding on a change like this is, unavoidably, a first step towards a new governance model. If my neighbours want to adopt a new governance model, af-ter study and consultation then that is all well and good but I think it wrong of the

Board to either intentionally or carelessly incrementally push us to this without a full public examination and consultation. At present, all governance options are open to us. If, by our Board’s conduct, we are pushed to being folded into Vancouver (the most likely result if we come to be seen by the Province as keen on some sort of more formal municipal structure) we will no longer have any options open to us, ever again. I want to be clear. This is not to say that my neighbours may decide that they wish to put at risk what we enjoy for some other option that they conclude will be more at-tractive. That is up to the majority. But to be started down this road by the Board without the promised examination of op-tions and their consideration is, in my opin-ion, simply wrong.

Jim Taylor,Hampton Place resident

Are Residents Being Pushed to a New Governance Model without

Promised Study and Consultation?

Had the UNA board in April rushed into appointing a new director to replace a director who had resigned, it might have found itself stepping into ‘ethical quick-sands’. UNA chair Richard Alexander offered the term at the May 14 board meeting in defending a go-slow approach based as much on proper practice as principle. No doubt the UNA board may appoint a member to replace a director who re-signs. Section 5:12 of the UNA bylaws state The Directors may at any time and from time to time appoint a member as a Director to fill a vacancy…” However, knowing you have the dem-ocratic right to appoint a replacement director does not necessarily mean you know how to go about making a proper selection of replacement director. The UNA has not faced a situation like this before. It needed some protocol that

Avoiding Ethical Quicksandsallowed for an open and transparent se-lection process. No back-room deals, resident-director Charles Menzies said. So, wisely the UNA board ignored the challenges of those claiming its refusal to promptly appoint a new director was un-democratic. Instead, it proposed a system of publicly interviewing candidates seek-ing to sit kin the place of a director who had resigned mid-term. A moderator would run the public meeting at which candidates will be in-terviewed with all interviewees facing the same set of questions—which they would be allowed to answer in either oral or written form. Doubtless refinements to this policy will come with experience. However, clearly the UNA has set off on the correct path so as to avoid stepping into ethical quicksands when appointing replacement directors between UNA elections.

By Ying Zhou,Chancellor Place resident

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Letter to the Editor

THE CAMPUS RESIDENT MAY 21, 2013page 4

In the second article in this series, having looked at the general differences between LH (leasehold) and FS (fee simple) inter-

HOW TO BEST ENHANCE THE VALUE OF OUR LEASES (6th in a Series)

ests in land, I provided a table showing the relationship between the LH value and the FS value of new properties in several dif-ferent neighbourhoods and other places. One area that I chose was SFU. The new LH values were 100% of FS for the Neigh-bourhoods and SFU. In the most recent article in this series I

again provided a table covering the same areas based on present sales. This showed that while the LHs in the Neighbourhoods continued to be 100% of FS at SFU they were approximately 83% of FS. I repeat my caution about these sorts of compari-sons being difficult. In both the case of the Neighbourhoods and SFU I originally

Jim Taylor, Hampton Place Resident,

Lawyer and First UNA Chair

I wanted to have as many comparators as I possibly could. There are, unfortunately, relatively few sales occurring at SFU at the present so I was only able to come up with 3 units from SFU that met my original cri-teria (two bedroom, two bath, wood frame building units). Accordingly I expanded the criteria to include two bedroom, two bathroom, concrete units. In the above table three of the comparables, both for SFU and the surrounding areas, were wood frame and four were concrete. The question is that given that LHs at SFU were 100% of FS value (the same as

Group Date Location LH/FS # of Comparables

Market Value as at present date – Per Sq. Foot % Value of LH to FS

2 2013Group 2: SFU LH 7 $388

LH 94% of FSSurrounding Areas FS 7 $412

looked only at a small number units (4) and a small number of surrounding area com-parisons (4). Still, I was struck by the dif-ference. Accordingly I had the property consultant expand the number of comparison and I prepared a further table for SFU using new comparisons. The results are below:

in the Neighbourhoods) when new, why, as appears to be the case, have they, on resale (that is when older) , based now on two re-cent periods of time, declined in value in comparison to FS value as compared to the Neighbourhoods? To be fair, one possible answer is that I have the data wrong in some way. I have tried to be as careful as possible. Between the first iteration and the second iteration of this present day to present day I found a diminution in value (now a total of 11 com-parisons of SFU LH and surrounding area FS) but somehow the data could be wrong.

I concede this is a possibility although I am comfortable that the data is correct. Beyond this question of why the differ-ence is a difficult question. I started thinking about this by excluding all of the factors which were necessarily in place at the time these LH interests were sold when new and known which factors remain in place and known in the same way at the present day on the reasoning that if the situation is identical it cannot explain the apparent drop in LH value at SFU as compared to FS. These factors include a great number of things: the general con-

text of a university town compared to a “usual” neighbourhood; the amenities of-fered; building style and variety; density; the access of the residential community to university facilities; proximity to nature or commercial options or transportation; and a number of other like issues. I do not feel comfortable in providing my opinion this month as to what it is that could be causing these reduced values. So I will consider this further and report on this in the next article.

组别 日期 地点租赁 (LH) 或 永久(FS)

对照数量目前的市场价值-

每平方呎 租赁 (LH) 占

永久(FS) 的百分比

2 2013第2组:SFU LH 7 $388

LH是FS的94%周围地区 FS 7 $412

THE CAMPUS RESIDENT MAY 21, 2013 page 5

The evening belonged to those who volunteer for the University Neighbour-hoods Association. It took place April 30 at The Old Barn Community Centre where a gathering of volunteers heard Richard Alexander, chair of the UNA board, extol the work of volunteerism in general and express ap-preciation in particular for the fine work done by UNA volunteers in the past year. “Canada is a compassionate nation. There are 12.5 million Canadians volun-teering in some form in this country. The UNA is no exception.” The facts Mr. Alexander provided at the first annual UNA Volunteer Award Cer-emony speak volumes. “In 2012 alone, we had 226 volun-teers who delivered over 3,000 hours of service to support the UNA’s committee work and programs with their passion, time and expertise,” he said. “Time does not allow me to name each volunteer. We appreciate each of you for your work in the past and at present. We need your continuous support to improve our work.” As Mr. Alexander related, volunteerism in residential areas on the UBC campus lacks neither breadth nor depth. In terms

The UNA announced the following win-ners: Heather Friesen received the award in the category of Sustainability and Envi-ronment for her long-term commitment to a UNA green community, and active participation in the UNA’s sustainability initiatives. Florence Luo received the award in the category of Supporting Newcomers and

UNA Applauds Work of VolunteersOver 3,000 hours of

service work was provided by volunteers in 2012-2013; volunteers are feted at April

30 gathering in The Old Barn Community Centre

of depth, it goes back to the origins of the UNA a decade ago as a volunteer initia-tive led by the redoubtable Jim Taylor, of Hampton Place. This initiative shaped the community—and led to Mr. Taylor being awarded a Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal. Since those early days, the number of people who volunteer for the UNA has grown substantially, and their service has be-come a staple of the UNA’s operation and activities delivery. In terms of breadth, volunteerism at the UNA ranges from sustainability and the environment to education and cultural awareness, from supporting newcom-ers and social connections to supporting children and youth, from recreation and health to youth volunteers, and more—much more. Here follows a summary provided by Qiuning Wang, community engagement and volunteer coordinator, of volunteer work in each of these areas:

Sustainability and Environment We have a keen group of residents who have supported planning for the UNA’s sustainability initiatives, such as the Waste and Water Action Plan Work-ing Group, the Residential Environmen-tal Assessment Working Group, and the UNA Sustainable Transportation Com-mittee. Our gratitude goes to: Werner Antweiler, Mike Feeley, Gek Mei Tan, Patrick Moore, Hisham Zerriffi, Heather Friesen, David Needham. The community garden program man-aged by Heather Friesen has become an important feature of a green UNA com-

munity.

Education and Cultural Awareness With many intellectuals in the commu-nity, there are many opportunities for our residents to share knowledge and learn from each other. Our volunteer-led language programs have gone far beyond language learning in making a culturally sensitive and so-cially vibrant community. Thanks goes to Kay Trenker, Kathy Regelous, Nicole Fitzsimon, Brenda Steward, Victoria Harrison, Alice Bradley, Sam Huang, David Deng and Michel Phan who have all led English language classes. The same gratitude goes to Gloria Zhang, Delia Ma and Pauline Hong for leading the Mandarin Conversation Club.

Supporting Newcomers and Social Connection Embracing culture differences and re-specting each other’s traditions is a core value of the UNA as a diverse commu-nity. The UNA Multicultural Committee led by Jim Taylor and Florence Luo has made strong efforts in engaging newcom-ers in the community through education-al, fitness and recreational programs and activities. Their work has been supported by a group of enthusiastic members: Jade Zhang, Keri Zhang, Eustina Na, Zhou Ying, Sabrina Zhang, and Reihaneh Noorbakhsh who have all devoted a huge amount of time to meetings, planning and participating in those activities. The newly established Women’s Social Club led earlier by Sandy Song and re-cently by Dorota Mann has also created

opportunities to connect women in our community through arts and crafts, music and other subjects.

Supporting Children and Youth The following volunteers’ work has im-proved the physical and social wellbeing of our children, youth and families in dif-ferent ways: Story time led by Harini Rajagopal with the support of two other volunteers, Miho Ohtani and Emily Laung; The Children’s Garden program led by Patrick Moore; The Community Youth Band and Youth Fitness Clubs started by Keri Zhang are now run by the youth themselves.

Recreation and Health Walk and Talk led by Ben Seghers; Sudoku led by Ying Zhou; The new Fitness Fun@Wesbrook led by Leonor Von Baer, all have contributed to different aspects of community health. We have over ten major community events and celebrations throughout the year, many of you come out and help to make them cheerful and successful.

Youth Volunteers As of 2012, there were 179 youths who volunteered for the UNA community in different ways. They not only volunteer, they learn and enjoy the event them-selves. This year, Bennett Oh, Dee Wang and Sally Tang applied for the UTown@UBC Community Grants and led projects aiming to build a green and caring com-munity.

UNA Announces Names of Volunteer WinnersEight University

Neighbourhoods Association volunteers won awards for

their work in 2012-13 at the UNA Volunteer Awards

Ceremony April 30 at The Old Barn Community Centre

Social Connection for supporting new-comers and their adaption to the local community and for her active participa-tion in community involvement. Sandra Price-Hosie received the award in the category of Education and Cultural Awareness for her dedicated efforts in English education and cultural commu-nication. Harini Rajagopal received the award in

the category of Supporting Children and Youth for her dedicated contribution to children and families of the UNA com-munity. Ben Seghers received the award in the category of Recreation and Health for his contribution to building an active and healthy community through physical ac-tivity and social opportunities. May Xing received the award of Out-standing Youth Volunteer for her long-term commitment to the community and active participation in the community. Michelle Feng received the award in the category of Youth Leadership for her success in leading and directing the youth band. Charli Jin received the award in the cat-egory of Youth Communication for her contribution to enhancing youth commu-nication in the community. At the ceremony, Jan Fialkowski, UNA executive director, announced these eight winners after reading out the names of nominees for awards. The volunteer nomination process was open from February 10 to March 31, 2013. By the end of March, the UNA re-ceived 50 nomination forms and 19 vol-unteers were nominated for the awards The UNA then reviewed all the nomina-tions before deciding on the winners ac-cording to category. Length of volunteer time, commitment and contribution in the year of 2012-2013, the number of people benefited from their work and impact they have created within the community were the main considerations when the UNA eval-uated the different nominees.

THE CAMPUS RESIDENT MAY 21, 2013page 6

The treasurer credits staff for the healthy dollars figures. “They are spend-ing money properly, not wasting it…they are operating wisely with our money.” He proposed placing some of this surplus into reserves. “There’s nothing wrong with banking for the future.”

SURPLUS continued from Page 1.

According to chair Richard Alexander at the May 14 board meeting, however, this approach might have led to “us step-ping into ethical quick sands.” Mr. Alex-ander pointed out that with no policy in place regarding the proper replacement of directors, the board might be liable to make bad decisions. Resident-director Charles Menzies agreed. Mr. Menzies said, “We should keep clear of any ‘back room approach’ (to appointing new directors).” As a result, the board approved devel-opment of an early draft of an appoint-

DIRECTORS continued from Page 1.

At the same time, he speculated on ex-penditures to come. “We shall likely run a loss in the first few years of operating the new Community Centre (in South Campus).” Also, “as the community ages, new in-frastructure work will need to be done”. He referred to tree replacement in Hamp-ton Place as a possible expense.

ment-of-director policy prepared before the board meeting by UNA staff. Under this policy, the UNA would encourage residents to run for director, and then present those who did with a set of writ-ten questions to be answered—either in writing or orally—at a public meeting led by a moderator. Following this ‘public interview’ the board would choose one of the candi-dates to be a director. Subsequent to this discussion, the board affirmed its decision not to fill the vacan-cy created by resignation of the director in April, and that this seat would remain vacant until the September UNA elec-tion.

At their May 14 meeting, directors moved that the UNA: • allocate $1,500 towards the cost of the 2013 UBC Grand Prix Kids Race—up-wards of 250 young campus residents are expected to turn out for this race, now in its third year; • accept the scope of the Animal Con-trol Bylaw and proceed to the next steps of the development of this bylaw—first steps were taken late in 2009, when the

UNA Board BriefsUNA board of directors determined that it would develop such a bylaw in response to a resident’s concern that the resident’s dog had been attacked by another dog; • will hear delegations from residents at the monthly board meetings at 5:00 PM prior to the start of the meeting, effec-tive June 2013—previously delegations (who are given five minutes to address the board) were heard at 6:30 PM.

The UNA Community Youth Band plans on performing ‘musical miracles’ in an upcoming concert. The band, which is unique in that it is the only large-scale musical group in the area that is run by youth for youth, will perform a charity concert to aid the Van-couver Food Bank at Acadia Park Com-mons block Sunday, June 9th, 7 PM. The band has named its concert Musi-cal Miracles. A band member said, “Our concert’s admission will be by donation and all donations will be delivered to the Food Bank”. The band, says this member, would like area residents to join them, enjoy the mu-sic and “help the people who need your

Band Brings ‘Musical Miracles’ to Aid of City

Food BankCharity Concert is set for Sunday June 9th 7 PM

at Acadia Park

help”. Monetary donations and non-perishable food items to the Food Bank are accepted at the concert. Tax receipts can be issued upon request for cash donations. The University Neighborhoods As-sociation Community Youth Band was founded in late 2011 by Michelle Feng and Justin Wang, students at Lord Byng Secondary. Since then, the group has more than doubled in size. They rehearse once a week at The Old Barn Community Centre, and have per-formed at community events such as the Old Barn Canada Day Celebration, as well as outreach concerts, for example, at Sunrise Senior Living. The band also recently attended its first music competition at the Vancouver Kiwanis Music Festival in April. Please visit website at www.youthband.org

UNA Youth Band Charity Concert is all in a good cause - please attend Sunday June 9, 7pm at Acadia Park Commons Block. Donations will help Vancouver Food Bank.

THE CAMPUS RESIDENT MAY 21, 2013 page 7

THE CAMPUS RESIDENT MAY 21, 2013page 8

UNA Community News

Sustainability Corner

YARDSALE

UNIVERSITY NEIGHBOURHOODS ASSOCIATION

SUPPORT LOCAL RE-USE

SATURDAY JUNE 8, 2013HAMPTON PLACE

10AM - 1PM

BOOK A TABLE FOR $10FOR MORE INFORMATION:

EMAIL RECEPTION@MYUNA.CA

PHONE 604.827.5158WEST 16TH AVE

WESBRO

OK M

ALL

YARD SALE!

HAMPTON PLACE

Recently, I was asked to provide some information on recycling as part of a me-dia request. One question in particular caught my attention: “Why is it impor-tant to recycle?” I realized that espe-cially in recent years, the focus has been more about how to increase participation and expanding new recycling opportuni-ties, such as residential composting or e-waste programs. It might be timely to ask the more fundamental question of why recycle at all? That is the topic of this month’s column. The first, most obvious, reason is that we simply don’t have room to bury all the waste we produce in landfills. Some may recall the infamous 1987 voyage of the Mobro 4000, a trash barge carrying more than 3000 tonnes of waste from Islip, New York that was unable to find a port willing to take the waste. After a highly publicized trip, the barge eventually re-turned to its home port. This event came to symbolize an emerging crisis in land-fill capacity across North America and is widely considered a watershed moment for galvanizing public demand for recy-cling services. Of course, there are other important reasons to recycle. Leachates from landfills can contaminate groundwater, including heavy metals from e-waste. Organic waste produces methane, a po-tent greenhouse gas, while plastic waste in the environment is becoming a global problem: massive permanent patches of floating plastics are being formed by ocean currents, killing marine animals and creating micro-particles that are eat-en by zooplankton and impacting ocean food chains. Fast forward to 2011 when nearly 3 million tonnes of waste was generated in Metro Vancouver. Of this, 57% was diverted to recycling (more than 1.8 mil-lion tonnes). This is an impressive sta-tistic when you consider the state of af-fairs in the late 1980s. However, nearly 1.4 million tonnes were shipped to land-fill or to the waste to energy facility in Burnaby (including your waste from the UNA), with a significant portion shipped approximately 300 km to a landfill near Cache Creek.

Why Recycle? The Cache Creek facility is not intended as a long term facility, so to meet future demand, Metro Vancouver has set goals of diverting 70% of waste to recycling and compost by 2015 and 80% by 2020, with much of the remainder processed at a yet to be built regional waste to en-ergy facility. If these recycling goals are not met, Metro Vancouver’s projections show that with a growing population, we will not have the capacity to manage the amount of waste we generate. So you can see that your recycling mat-ters. While 70% or 80% diversion may seem daunting (especially considering that Metro Vancouver estimates only 15% diversion in multi-family homes), we have already demonstrated this is feasible. Our 2010 waste audit showed a 45% diversion rate and twelve UNA families that participated in the recently completed Community Zero Waste Chal-lenge managed to recycle or compost more than 80% of their waste using re-cycling facilities found in their buildings. More than 1500 UNA homes now have access to composting service, diverting more than 100 tonnes per year of kitchen scraps to compost, creating soil locally and demonstrating that collectively you can make a big difference. To make a difference yourself, find out more about UNA composting and e-waste opportunities at www.myuna.ca/services/recycling, or contact me directly at rwells@myuna.ca or 604.822.3263.

Ralph Wells, UNA Sustainability Manager

on the 3rd Saturday of every month from

www.pacificmobiledepot.com

RecycleStyrofoam and

hard and soft plasticslocally

Drop-off eventat Lord Byng Secondary School

9am -12 noon

Recent Earth Day events were well attended by UNA residents

THE CAMPUS RESIDENT MAY 21, 2013

Published monthly by the University

Neighbourhoods Association

Advertise with us! email

advertising@myuna.ca

page 9

A new chapter in the history of the UBC Bookstore begins shortly when it expands to become an enlarged department store. Construction and expansion will contin-

Store Famous for Books Sets about Life as Large Department Store

Expansion of UBC Bookstore is underway;

store is open for business during construction

ue to the end of 2013, and it will include bringing the store up to street level. It will also include providing a separate convenience store, a large café, an en-larged clothing and giftware section and a mezzanine floor to act as viewing space to see events/activities which will take place at the planned Achievement Corner. A spokesperson for the store—which will retain the name UBC Bookstore de-spite the fact the store sells more than

books—said service at the store should not be adversely impacted by construc-tion work. Addressing the residential community on campus, the spokesperson said, “Our main message is that we are still open for business as usual, and that the expansion will enable us to serve the community as an enlarged department store, where all purchases support the UBC community.” At the same time as it being converted

Artist rendering of UBC Bookstore

into an enlarged department store, UBC Bookstore is involving both the UBC community by gathering quotes to be incorporated into the design of the store as a legacy piece. “Children and students from daycare centres, University Hill El-ementary School and Wesbrook Village, will be creating the artwork for the hoard-ing outside the store as an engagement piece.” For more info on theUBC Bookstore expansion, go to http://bookstore.ubc.ca.

THE CAMPUS RESIDENT MAY 21, 2013page 10

Musqueam First Nation held the last of three Open Houses on its proposed Block F development in the University Endow-ment Lands in April, and the ‘preferred’ land use plan it unveiled will soon go before the provincial government for ap-proval. This preferred land use plan will go be-fore the government with a formal Mus-queam bid to have Block F re-zoned. The Musqueam band wants to build more multi-family housing units—con-dos and town-houses— on Block F than is currently allowed for in the agreement under which the band acquired the land. The band also wants the 22-acre site to be re-zoned to allow for development of a commercial centre. The commercial buildings, if the gov-ernment approves re-zoning, will include a ‘specialty grocery’ about 35-45% the size of the Save-On-Foods store in Wes-brook Village at UBC and a 210-suite ‘boutique hotel’ which will rely heavily on the UBC market for business. This commercial area will lie at the north end of the roughly wedge-shaped swath of Block F land, placing it as close as possible to both the geographical cen-tre of the UEL and the main entrance to UBC. University Boulevard will bound the

Musqueam Move Forward with ‘Preferred’ Vision of Housing Estate

Third Open House on UEL land is held in April; application to government for higher housing density

in Block F is next

commercial centre in the north, Toronto Road in the west, Acadia Road in the south and the rest of Block F in the east. Residents in Block F—which will be accorded a proper name—will live in both high-rise and low-rise multi-family units. The high-rises will stand between 18-22 storeys, as tall as the tallest trees in the surrounding forest. The Musqueam obtained the land under the terms of a ‘reconciliation agreement’ with the provincial government in 2008,

and with Colliers International serving as its main agent, the band began planning development of Block F last year. Since the first Open House late last year, the band has presented the public with more and more details about how it proposes to proceed with a project that could earn it hundreds of millions of dol-lars in fees from developers. For exam-ple, between the second Open House in February and third Open House, the band whittled down three ‘optional’ plans to its

now preferred plan. Spokespeople for the band have said the profits from development will go towards improving both the state of housing and schools on the Musqueam Reserve three miles south of UBC. Up to 4,000 people will likely live in Block F by the time build-out is com-pleted 10-12 years from now. This proj-ect will roughly double the population of the UEL.

Artistic rendering of Acadia Road looking north in years to come when Block F is fully developed.

THE CAMPUS RESIDENT MAY 21, 2013 page 11

Biodiversity in your backyard

Birdsong, cherry blossoms, and tulips are some of the signs of spring brightening up the UBC neighbourhoods lately. Listen to those birds closely and chances are you will hear the pretty sounds of the black-capped chickadee, one of the most famil-iar songbirds that we have here. When you spot these cute little balls of fluff, they seem to belt out calls far too big for their little bodies. At some points they appear extra-fluffy as they fluff their feathers to trap more air for insulation to protect them from the cold. Chickadees can reduce their body temper-ature to conserve energy (torpor). These little birds are tough and have stayed here right through the winter while many other birds migrate to warmer places. Watch them flitting about the trees looking for insects together in small flocks. Many people will recognize their name-

By Nancy Lee, Museum Interpreter,

Beaty Biodiversity Museum

This Bird Has Something To Say - The Black-capped Chickadee sake call, but some will be surprised to find out that two very different sounds commonly are heard from the same bird. The well-known “chickadee dee dee” is used as an alarm call, while the two-note song that sounds like a whistled “fee-bee” with a lower second note is used for at-tracting mates and defending their ter-ritories. Made mainly by the males, it is sung in slightly different pitches by differ-ent individuals, but with the same interval between them. The more consistently the male sings the interval between the two notes, the more dominant or attractive they sound to the female. The information that chickadees com-municate with their calls (13 in total) is quite sophisticated, including what type of danger exists, and how to respond to it. For perching predators, chickadees in a study used the “seet” alarm call, but for flying threats, they used “chickadee dee dee.” This is a mobbing call with increasing “dees” representing higher levels of threat. Mobbing is where animals co-operate to attack or harass a predator for protec-

tion. In one study, a chickadee exposed to various predators made up to 23 “dees” in response to a Pygmy owl, a dangerous predator for the Chickadee. Once you start watching these birds closely, see if you can spot different spe-cies. While the black-capped chickadees have a black cap and bib, beige/buff sides and a grey back, the chestnut backed chickadee can be distinguished by a deep chestnut brown on its back and flanks. The less common and more seasonal mountain chickadee has a distinctive white eyebrow. To attract chickadees, try putting up a feeder filled with black oil sunflower seeds. Chickadees will grab a seed quick-ly and fly away to eat it or even stash it in bark, dead leaves, clusters of conifer needles, or knotholes. They can remember these cache sites for up to 28 days. Visit the Beaty Biodiversity Museum blog at beaty-museum.ubc.ca/blog for a list of resources about these fascinating avian neighbours. In the Collections: It has been a busy spring at the Botanical Garden and Beaty Biodiversity Museum with a success-

ful Biodiversity Lecture featuring UBC’s own Dr. Tony Sinclair speaking about his research on the Serengeti, many courses and lectures at the Garden, our popular A Growing Affair spring plant sale, and the conclusion of one gallery exhibit at the Beaty Museum and installation of [a]drift which features the artwork of local artist Edith Krause, who explores micro-marine organisms in large scale. To find out more visit: http://beatymuseum.ubc.ca/events

Campus residents—especially those liv-ing in Hampton Place—may expect to

Board Backs Plan to Send Report on Hampton Trees to ResidentsOpen House will also be

held; residents are anxious to have unhealthy street

trees replaced

receive copies of the Hampton Place Tree Report shortly. At its May 14 meeting, UNA directors voted in favour of circulating the report—possibly through strata councils in Hamp-ton Place. The report refers to a selection of aging street trees which are considered unhealthy and should be replaced. The UNA will also organize an Open

House on the prospect of selected tree removal in Hampton Place. This Open House would allow residents to meet the landscape architect who wrote the report.Hampton Place—famous for its lush land-scaping—came into existence 23 years ago. Its street trees have come under con-stant surveillance since then. On October 15, 2012, thirteen street trees considered

unhealthy were removed. During debate at the board meeting, resident-director and UNA treasurer Thomas Beyer wondered about the likely cost of removing trees as recommended in the report “Is it $50,000? $100,000? $200,000?” However, no information emerged regarding a budget for tree re-moval and replacement.

Black-capped Chickadee

THE CAMPUS RESIDENT MAY 21, 2013page 12