March 1, 2012

Encouraging high fives SINCE 1918 March 1, 2012 | VOL. XXVIII ISS. XLIII

UTHE UBYSSEY

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GROUNDBREAKING

Metro Van to poll residents on governance

MSTRKRFT, Mother Mother to headline

Women head into the Canada West championships

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P4

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AMS marks start of construction on new SUB P3

The company building UBC’s new biomass power plant has a little-known history of failure on American campuses P5

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THE UBYSSEY March 1, 2012, Volume XCIII, Issue XLIII

LEGALSTAFFAndrew Hood, Bryce Warnes, Catherine Guan, David Elop, Jon Chiang, Josh Curran, Will McDonald, Tara Martellaro, Virginie Menard, Scott MacDonald, Anna Zoria, Peter Wojnar, Tanner Bokor, Dominic Lai, Mark-Andre Gessaroli, Natalya Kautz, Kai Jacobson, RJ Reid, Colin Chia, Ming Wong, CJ Pentland, Laura Rodgers, Jeff Aschkinasi

A borderless (and tireless) engineer

Our Campus One on one with the people who make UBC

ALEXANDRA DOWNING/THE UBYSSEY

Got an event you’d like to see on this page? Send your event and your best pitch to [email protected].

What’s on This week, may we suggest...

SPEAKER >>

FRI2 3MT >>

MUSIC >>

MON5

CONCERT>>

AIRWAVES >>

“Is Humanism a Religion?”: 3:30–4:30pm @ Buchanan B315Enjoy some intellectual stimulation. The UBC Freethinkers and BC Humanists are sponsoring lecturer Simon Pratt to discuss the concept of humanism as an ideology, an ethical approach and a movement. By com-paring the traits of humanism with the traits essential to a good conception of religion, it will become clear how the two are closely related.

Nardwuar & the Evaporators w/ Andrew WK: 2pm @ Nep-toon RecordsNardwuar came into our office the other week and told us to come to this show. Our jaws almost hit the floor. Rumour has it that Andrew WK is in town, and will be playing with a band with no fewer than three guitarists. It’s free, and promises to be the sweatiest thing in town. Don’t forget: rock and roll can save lives.

Three Minute Thesis Finals: 12–2pm @ GSS BallroomGrad students have just three minutes to explain their research project to a non-specialist audi-ence. The 3MT competition will feature live finalist presentations, judging and awards. No charge, but seating is limited.

CiTR Radio Volunteer Orienta-tion: 6:30–7:30pm @ SUB 233Do you think you have what it takes to DJ Vancouver’s hippest in-die rock radio station? Stop by the CiTR volunteer orientation to get to know the station manager and current personalities. Awesome, right? Email [email protected] for more information.

THU1

SAT3

SUN4Open Tea on Stage: 2–3pm @ Old AuditoriumUBC School of Music presents Opera Tea on Stage, featuring shortened versions of operas in a cabaret setting on the stage of our new theatre. Tickets available at music.ubc.ca, $15-20. Light re-freshments will be served.

Zafira RajanContributor

Juggling a job and the presidency of one of Canada’s largest chap-ters of Engineers Without Borders (EWB) isn’t an easy feat—but sheer grit and life-long passion have helped third-year chemi-cal engineering student Kristina Lidstone make the combination work.

Lidstone grew up in Victoria, and was active in volunteer and social work in high school. When she got to university, EWB seemed like the obvious way for someone in her field to make a global impact. The organization’s mandate is to partner with devel-oping countries to improve access to technology, as well as educate local communities on how their actions can have an impact. She’s taking this year off from school, so she has the benefit of being president without the burdens of midterms and homework like oth-ers who have been in her position.

“I’ve probably had it easier than past presidents who are trying to juggle presidency and school because once I’m off work, I can dedicate all my thinking time to EWB. I work seven hours a day, and then my whole afternoons and evening to do EWB stuff.”

Managing EWB is tough even when you aren’t a full-time

student, due to the long term impact its members try to achieve in the countries they work in. UBC sends two people abroad every summer for EWB work. For the UBC chapter of EWB, their overseas projects in communities in Zambia, Malawi, Burkina Faso and Ghana aren’t in-and-out af-fairs. Lidstone said students focus on systemic solutions.

“For example, working in the water sanitation sector, we wouldn’t just build a well, we would look at the whole sector and look at why people don’t have access to clean water,” she said. “We’d look for the root of the issue.”

It’s because of their methods that she’s been with EWB for four years. “People realize it’s differ-ent because you learn to look at problems with a systems think-ing lens…You learn to look at the whole of the system, look for all the intricacies that come into the problem and find the best points of intervention.”

She said their advocacy also has an impact on Canadian foreign policy. “We also work on fair trade, youth and directly with the engineering faculty to make en-gineering more globally minded, and help them understand their impact on the world.”

In addition, EWB does much more than create awareness. It

gives its members a feel for cer-tain skills that they never quite learn while obtaining their de-gree. “In your degree, you never really learn communication skills, teamwork, management, no mat-ter how much emphasis your pro-fessors put on it,” Lidstone said with a smile. “So what I’ve learnt is personal leadership develop-ment, team management and how I work and function best.”

Lidstone sees herself volun-teering with environmental organizations in the future. But it will take some time before she fully withdraws from EWB. At the end of the day, it’s exciting stuff. “The people I work with are always a source of inspira-tion. We get so excited about dif-ferent issues.” U

Kristina LidstoneOccupationPresident, UBC Engineers Without Borders

HometownVictoria

Area of study Engineering

Countries that UBC EWB have worked inZambia, Malawi, Ghana

Lidstone helps coordinate the UBC chapter of Engineers Without Borders, which leads building programs in developing countries.

NewsEditors: Kalyeena Makortoff & Micki Cowan

03.01.2012 | 3

Will McDonaldStaff Writer

After five years of negotiations, con-sultations and planning, UBC finally broke ground for the new SUB.

The groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday featured an open house with posters showing the history of UBC’s SUBs and artist renditions of the new SUB. Outgoing AMS VP Administration Mike Silley, outgo-ing AMS President Jeremy McElroy and UBC President Stephen Toope gave speeches praising everyone that worked on the project since 2007.

Construction of the 250,000 square foot new SUB is on sched-ule for completion in 2014 and is on budget. The new SUB will feature a brewery, garden and rooftop child-care centre, as well as numerous new restaurants and club spaces.

Silley said that Sarah Naiman, AMS VP Admin from 2007–2008, was instrumental in the project, leading the referendum that made the new SUB possible.

“Someone in their early 20s say-ing, ‘Let’s build a $100 million build-ing,’ it takes a lot of leadership to accomplish that,” said Silley.

Toope said he was proud of stu-dents’ efforts on the new SUB.

“It’s been extraordinarily impres-sive to see four generations of stu-dent leaders and hundreds of other students giving their ideas about how the SUB should look and what should be in it,” he said.

According to Toope, an essential part of the new SUB was orchestrat-ing the relationship between the AMS and the university.

Bijan Ahmadian, AMS president from 2010–2011, worked to facilitate that collaboration.

“When I came on, it was really about changing the tone and chang-ing the process,” said Ahmadian.

“It’s not students versus the uni-versity. It’s students and the univer-sity versus the issues that come up.”

Ekaterina Dovjenko, AMS VP Admin from 2010–2011, was respon-sible for organizing the documents necessary to build the new SUB. She said that although the project faced a few roadblocks, everything has worked out.

“This project is going to be amaz-ing for generations of students to come,” she said.

“I’m so glad it’s come to fruition,

because there were many times when I didn’t think it would.”

New SUB committee member Mike Duncan was excited to see all the work on the new SUB pay off.

“I really think students are go-ing to be impressed when the new building goes up and they’re going to have a fantastic place to share,” said Duncan.

The building will be LEED Platinum Plus certified, making it the greenest student union building in the world.

“The sustainability piece of the SUB is phenomenal…It was always number one, by a long shot,” said Duncan, who was also AMS presi-dent iwn 2008–09.

John Metras, UBC’s managing di-rector of infrastructure and develop-ment, said one of the best parts about the new SUB will be its integration with the Knoll that will house the new Pit Pub.

“The connection with the existing Knoll is going to be quite spectacu-lar,” said Metras. U

IKB will not stay open 24/7

Despite a petition to keep Irving K. Barber (IKB) open 24 hours a day throughout the entire school year, IKB director Simon Neame said that there are currently no plans to estab-lish an all-night study space.

Keeping the centre open 24/7 for the full 32-week winter term would cost at least $100,000 on top of the existing budget. Shane Galway—one of the initiators of the petition—feels that such a space should be lobbied for.

“I think some people have at some point had to do an [all-nighter] at least once,” he said. “And for people living off campus, if they need to pull all-nighters, there’s nowhere really for them to go.”

UBC scientists unveil new economic and ecologic index

The growth in world population, threat of climate change and down-turn in the world economy has prompted UBC researchers to create a new “health” index of 150 coun-tries that combines economic and ecologic factors.

The top performing countries were Bolivia, Angola, Namibia, Paraguay and Argentina, while the bottom performing country was Singapore.

“Piling up ecological deficits is just as concerning as piling up fi-nancial deficits—both have conse-quences for future generations,” said Rashid Sumaila, director of the UBC Fisheries Centre.

$2M national study on bullying of LGBTQ and straight youth

A newly launched UBC survey is seeking to address how effective school and community programs have been in reducing homo-phobic bullying of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and straight youth. Led by UBC profes-sor Elizabeth Saewyc, the five-year survey is the largest investment of its kind by the Canadian Insititute of Health Research.

“Schools and communities are us-ing a lot of different strategies to try to change this, but very few of these strategies have been evaluated to see not only if they work and how well they work, but why they work,” said Saewyc.

Bacterial traces found in Vancouver prepackaged fish

A UBC study has found traces of the bacteria listeria in 20 per cent of ready-to-eat fish products sold in Metro Vancouver. UBC food micro-biologist Kevin Allen tested 40 fish samples including lox, smoked tuna, candied salmon and fish jerky sold from seven large chain stores and ten small retailers in Metro Vancouver. Allen said that although the listeria levels in the products met federal guidelines, the bacteria can multiply during handling and storage.

“Additional handling of ready-to-eat foods in stores, such as slicing, weigh-ing and packaging, may increase the potential for cross-contamination,” said Allen. U

Andrew BatesSenior Web Writer

A review of the AMS elections has found that ineligible voters were able to cast a ballot for the UBC Board of Governors (BoG) and Senate‚ and may have done so in the past as well.

“We have confirmed that a few non-UBC students did vote in those elections, however not enough voted to have materially affected the results,” said Chris Eaton, UBC as-sociate registrar.

“Therefore, the results of the Board of Governors and the Senate elections stand as is.”

Students at UBC’s affiliated theo-logical colleges—St Mark’s, Regent College and the Vancouver School of Theology—are AMS members and can vote in executive elections, but aren’t UBC students and can’t vote for Senate or BoG. The AMS administers those races on behalf of the university.

Of 18 Regent College students who registered to vote, 12 voted. Their votes were stripped from the official count, but no one candidate lost more than four votes in this process, and BoG candidate Erik MacKinnon saw his vote total re-main the same.

According to elections adminis-trator Carolee Changfoot, Regent College students were allowed to vote based on past practice. “Although this has been happening in the past, it was only brought up now that we realized that they’re not allowed to,” she said.

Changfoot said that next year, af-filiated colleges will have a separate ballot from UBC students to avoid the problem. “We are for sure making sure this is going to be in our transi-tion reports, of course,” she said.

Eaton said the next step will be to have conversations with the new AMS executive and Elections Committee. “We’ll have to work with them to ensure the integrity of the electoral process.” U

Gage South public hearing set for move-out day of student residences

UBC President Stephen Toope digs into the Knoll during the groundbreaking ceremony for the new SUB.GEOFF LISTER/ THE UBYSSEY

News briefs

Kalyeena MakortoffNews Editor

The second phase of consultations for Gage South is underway, but the AMS says the university’s planning department is undermining student involvement in the process.

The AMS has taken issue with the contents of the Gage South survey, as well as the date of the public hearing, which is tentatively scheduled for the final day of exams and the move-out day for students in residence.

“Why would you schedule one of the most important events in terms of the last opportunity for students to go have their voice heard on the day when 95 per cent of campus won’t be here?” said outgoing AMS President Jeremy McElroy.

The April 26 public hearing is the culmination of a multi-year process to change the land use designations for academic lands on campus. A separate set of consultations for Gage South were created after the university community raised concerns about the potential for

non-student housing to be built in the area.

The hearing will be the only opportunity for the public to give feedback for the zoning of the “Area Under Review” before the plan is sent to the provincial government for approval.

McElroy said that though he doesn’t believe that Campus and Community Planning (CCP) is delib-erately excluding students, the result will be the same.

“They have been operating in bad faith and they’re trying to sneak this

one by when students clearly are not going to be on campus to take part,” McElroy said.

But Lisa Colby, director of policy planning for CCP, maintained that the date is flexible and will ul-timately be set by the Board of Governors at the beginning of April. She argued that the date comes after exams so that students can actually attend and written submissions can be made before people leave town.

Colby went on to say that CCP wants to push forward with the pro-cess so that a new Aquatic Centre

can be built as soon as possible.“At the end of the day, the project

will go at the pace that it goes at,” she said.

McElroy resolved to ensure that students have a voice at the hearing.

“If there’s absolutely no change from the university we’re going to try and show up en masse on [April] 26 with everyone who’s available on that day, to let them know that we’re not happy with the process, we’re not happy with what’s being proposed and that we demand the area be zoned academic.” U

UBC breaks ground on new SUB Election results stand despite ineligible voters

GEOFF LISTER/THE UBYSSEY

NEW SUB >>

LAND USE >>

ELECTIONS >>

4 | News | 03.01.2012

Metro Van looks into polling UBC residents

Micki CowanNews Editor

It could be a while before residents of UBC and the Endowment Lands are polled on what they think about the governance situation.

A Vancouver Sun article from February 24 said that Metro Vancouver is planning to poll resi-dents of Electoral Area A on gover-nance. But Lois Jackson, mayor of Delta and member of the intergov-ernmental committee on this issue, said that the poll was just one of the recommendations made.

“It is an idea that’s been put for-ward. Whether or not the Metro Vancouver Board will approve it, and second of all which department or which committee would be the lead on that, is another question,” said Jackson. “It’s in a fledgling mode.”

Jackson said the intergovern-mental committee’s objective is to find out how Endowment Lands residents would like to be governed. The poll is one option for determin-ing this.

The area’s only current local gov-ernment representative is one Metro Vancouver director, who is respon-sible for issues such as sewage and water usage. For UBC’s land use, the province has the final say.

“At this point in time they don’t have a mayor and council like every-body else does...We were a little bit concerned about that,” said Jackson. “We just want to make sure that we’re allowing the people of the area to have a democratically elect-ed local government, as is afforded everybody else in Canada.”

It could be a while before the recommendation comes before the Board; Jackson confirmed that the issue will not be brought up at Friday’s meeting. It will be up to the Board to decide what action to take and who will be in charge of it.

But Maria Harris, the current Electoral Area A director, thinks the method of conducting a poll is backwards.

“We need to take a big step back from the conclusion that a poll will be done,” said Harris.

“It might turn out very quickly that a poll is a great idea, but first we need to talk to some of the locally elected representatives, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Jackson said more research needs

to be done considering the state of UBC as well. “There are always special arrangements when you are dealing with university cities or towns,” said Jackson. “But these are the kinds of things that have to be analyzed.”

Should a poll be conducted, poll-ing residences at UBC poses its own issues.

“We limit the amount of expo-sure or inundation of either hard-copy mail that students receive or emails...and not burden students with too much of that,” said Andrew Parr, managing director of UBC Student Housing and Hospitality Services. The judgment is made by housing management as to what gets through.

If Metro Vancouver decides to poll residences, they’ll be subject

to the same approval method. But Parr said they’d probably be in fa-vour of the poll. “If it was a City of Vancouver initiative and they were soliciting that kind of information to or from all households of Greater Vancouver for example, I would think we would probably participate in that,” he said.

Parr said previous problems have involved students in residence not receiving voting cards in the past.

“This is one of the complications of residence...permanent addresses and students not getting their voting cards or not being registered in a certain polling area, hence losing out on the opportunity to vote in a civic or provincial election,” said Parr.

Jackson said it would be key to try and reach as many legitimate hom-eowners and residents as possible to get the best responses. She gave the example of Delta, where question-naires were sent to every household as well as people listed on the voting roll call.

“We’re just trying to serve those that are living there the best we can,” she said. U

GEOFF LISTER/THE UBYSSEY

New GSS president looks ahead

Kalyeena MakortoffNews Editor

UBC’s Graduate Student Society (GSS) election results were ratified mid-February, and incoming GSS President Conny Lin has already started planning for the year ahead.

“Last year GSS was all about sur-viving, with the [Koerner’s] pub and financial difficulties,” said Lin, who has been studying at UBC since 2001 and is currently working towards her PhD in neuroscience. “The whole team has done a good job saving us.” But now that the student society has its bearings, she continued, there is an opportunity to move forward.

Koerner’s won’t be reopening anytime soon, though. Back in

August, the GSS said it was plan-ning to look for proposals from third parties who might help reopen the pub, but movement has been slow.

“It’s a priority for us to think about what to do with it. We’re in the process of constructing a re-quest for proposals with UBC, [and] we’re not excluding any other way to use the space,” said Lin.

As for the most recent teaching as-sistant (TA) union contract negotia-tions with UBC, Lin said the GSS has not made an official endorsement, but isn’t taking the issue lightly.

“We need to take TA union’s issue seriously because TA union’s constit-uents are one third of the total GSS constituents. However, there is no official stance of the GSS regarding

the TA union negotiation at this point. We are observing the negotia-tion closely; that’s about it for now.”

Fellow university organizations are also on Lin’s radar. The review of the AMS–GSS relationship is ongo-ing, and the possibility of separating from the AMS isn’t being ruled out.

“[The] AMS mentioned lack of involvement from the GSS [has] been one of the limitations regard-ing AMS’s contribution to graduate student issues,” said Lin, who has previously served as a GSS rep on AMS Council. “[We’re] not exclud-ing the possibility to separate, but [it’s] an absolute last resort.”

Lin said the GSS will be looking to continue its membership with the Western University Alliance, as well as the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA), which the AMS withdrew from earlier this year.

Lin also wants to expand the GSS’s non-departmental club struc-ture, which she sees as building a cohesive community. There are currently two GSS clubs, although there are many departmental stu-dent organizations like the College for Interdisciplinary Studies Graduate Student Association, which Lin co-founded.

But building blocks need to be put in place as well. Lin said there is a need to battle the annual ex-ecutive turnovers by establishing long term goals, with five-year and ten-year plans.

“In the next few years, I see that the foundation we aim to establish during 2012–13 will allow the GSS to serve our constituents more effi-ciently, more comprehensively and more collaboratively.” U

Conny Lin speaks on Koerner’s future and TAs

PHOTO COURTESY CONNY LIN

GRAD STUDENTS >> GOVERNANCE >>

Students living in residence have had issues receiving their voting cards from Metro Van.

We need to take a big step back from the

conclusion that a poll will be done.

Maria HarrisDirector, Electoral Area A

03.01.2012 | Feature | 5

On October 9, 2011, South Carolina’s largest newspaper published a lengthy exposé on an alternative energy power plant at the University of South

Carolina (USC).The plant, which used biomass gasifica-

tion technology, had been racked by explo-sions and malfunctions. In March 2011, only four years after opening, it had to be closed down completely. USC is now waiting to re-coup its $20 million investment.

UBC is about to open a $27 million biomass power plant in partnership with Nexterra Systems Corp., the same company that supplied the technology to the USC powerplant.

Nexterra is a Vancouver-based company that has been lauded in the Canadian media as an international pioneer in alternative energy solutions—but no Canadian media outlet has reported on the USC disaster. And that’s not the only problem Nexterra has had with American universities.

Last June, Nexterra made headlines for signing a $16 million contract with the University of Montana (UM) for a biomass power plant. “This is our fourth university project and it represents a significant mile-stone as we expand into the higher educa-tional market across North America,” said Jonathan Rhone, the company’s CEO at the time, in an article in The Province.

By December 2011, the UM project had been scrapped by the university. According to the local media, the project met its demise due to concerns over “financial viability, fuel supply, increased pollution and the deterio-rating [public] discourse.”

Out of the four university projects men-tioned by Rhone in the Province article, two have turned out to be fiascos. The other two are both in British Columbia. One of them, the UBC project, is set to come online in April. At this time, the only successful Nexterra university power plant is at the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) in Prince George.

Nexterra also has a handful of smaller biomass power plants operating at non-university locations, including at a Kruger Products factory in New Westminster. These plants seem to have avoided the university plants’ problems.

For two years, UBC officials have been touting their almost-completed Nexterra

powerplant, located between the Totem Park and Marine Drive residences, in press releas-es and newspaper op-eds as an example of UBC’s commitment to being a global leader in green technology. In his town hall last October, President Stephen Toope praised the Nexterra project at length, calling it a complete “winner” for the university.

But considering the problems with the American plants, is the UBC project as trust-worthy as we’ve been told? Will it prove to be a success following the UNBC model, or is it a looming financial catastrophe?

• • •

When the University of South Carolina of-ficially opened its biomass power plant in December 2007, USC officials were brim-ming with excitement. According to The State, the South Carolina newspaper that

published the exposé on the plant, officials called it “the cat’s meow.”

Biomass technology takes in organic ma-terial and turns it into energy. Nexterra has focused on developing biomass gasification systems that take in wood byproduct and turn it into a synthetic gas that can be used to generate heat or electricity.

In other words, Nexterra converts wood chips, tree trimmings and bark into a substi-tute for natural gas and other fossil fuels.

The USC biomass plant was built by Johnson Controls Inc. (JCI), a Fortune 500 company with a large energy services divi-sion. According to The State, there was no competitive bidding process for the con-struction of the plant; it came as part a comprehensive JCI bid to provide energy services to the university. JCI had never built a biomass plant to the scale of what was promised to USC.

“We were a young company,” says Mike Scott, who replaced Rhone as Nexterra’s CEO in October 2011.

“At the time, Johnson Controls was only willing to have us do a very, very small part of that project.”

JCI used Nexterra’s technology to build the power plant, but according to Scott, the plant’s fuel handling system, boiler, emission control equipment, turbine, water treatment system, controls and the building itself were managed by other groups. Nexterra only supplied the gasification system.

“Unfortunately, that project had a number of challenges,” says Scott.

On June 28, 2009, an explosion in the USC biomass plant blasted a metal panel 60 feet in the air. Documents obtained by The State showed that USC officials described the ac-cident as “potentially lethal.”

“An irrevocable catastrophe may have oc-curred if a worker or visitor had been in this location,” wrote Thomas Quasney, USC’s associate vice-president for facilities, in an email obtained by The State.

In total, The State obtained 1800 pages of documents about the USC biomass plant in its investigation, much of it through freedom of information requests.

The documents showed that the plant had been shut down more than three dozen times in its four-year lifespan. In one two-year period, the plant was only operational on 98 out of 534 days.

According to The State, “the [June 28] blast underscored what some USC officials privately grumbled about for years: That the plant has been a $20 million disaster, a money pit that was poorly planned and built by a company [JCI] that had never construct-ed such a cutting-edge ‘green energy’ power plant before.”

In March 2011, the USC biomass plant was shuttered. Fortunately for the univer-sity, their contract with JCI guaranteed $2 million per year in energy savings over what USC’s natural gas heating system would have cost. This means that USC will eventually be able to recoup their $20 million investment in the biomass plant.

“It was a bad plant, but a good contract,” said USC’s chief financial officer, Ed Walton, in an interview with The State.

Cont’d on the next page.

UBC is a month away from opening a $27 million biomass power plant with Nexterra Systems Corp., a local green-tech company. Two of Nexterra’s American

projects have ended in failure. Is UBC headed down the same path?

UBC’s new biomass plant, built with technology developed by Nexterra, is located between the Totem Park and Marine Drive residences.

PHOTO COURTESY NEXTERRA

Will a new biomass plant make UBC a global

sustainability leader? Or will it be another

green-washed ‘disaster’?

By Brian Platt

6 | Feature | 03.01.2012

Biomass: as UBC approaches the opening of its $27 million power plant, the problems with biomass plants on American campuses casts a shadow

FROM PAGE 5:

Brent Sauder says he is not worried about what the USC revelations might mean for UBC’s Nexterra plant.

Sauder is the director of stra-tegic partnerships for the UBC Sustainability Initiative. His job is to create partnerships between UBC and third parties to advance UBC’s goals in sustainability and environ-mental technology.

“The situation [in South Carolina] is that Nexterra only supplied com-ponents of the system and somebody else welded them all together,” says Sauder. “The failures occurred in the integration part, not in the compo-nent supply.”

At UBC, in contrast, Nexterra is essentially responsible for the whole plant. UBC staff are being trained to eventually take it over, but unlike at USC, there is no intermediary company between Nexterra and the university. However, this also means that there is no performance contract that would refund the cost if the plant fails.

Scott says that Nexterra quickly learned its lesson from what hap-pened at USC.

“When we looked at doing the next project with Johnson Controls...we insisted, and Johnson Controls agreed, that Nexterra should actu-ally provide everything around the system. The scope of our supply in-creased around six-fold,” says Scott.

This project was at the US Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory—the depart-ment’s largest laboratory in the United States and a premier nuclear research site.

“Fortunately, this has resulted in a successful project,” says Scott. “We’ve just completed the per-formance tests, and as you can imagine…that project underwent an enormous amount of scrutiny after the [USC] challenges.”

But Nexterra still features the USC project on its website with no mention that the plant has been shut down for nearly a year. In Nexterra’s press releases, the most recent of which is dated October 12, 2011, the company’s description says that Nexterra “has successfully supplied commercial gasification systems for projects at the US Department of Energy, University of South Carolina, Dockside Green, Kruger Products, the University of Northern BC and Tolko Industries.”

Why is Nexterra using a failed power plant in its public rela-tions without stating the project’s problems?

“That’s a fair comment,” says Scott. “But it was a commercial suc-cess for us, we delivered the system, the plant did run…Our hope and expectation is that we will have the

opportunity to go back and fix it for Johnson Controls. With the success we’re having at Oak Ridge National Labs, we hope [we can go back and fix it.]

“We’re not hiding from any of it, and we don’t mean for it to be a rep-resentation. Some would say that if we didn’t have it there, that we were trying to hide from the problems. I understand the criticism, but I think you’ll find if you talk to our custom-ers that we’ve been as forthright as possible.”

As it turned out, the full scale of the USC plant’s problems came to light just as another Nexterra project was falling under heavy criticism in Missoula, Montana.

• • •

When the $16 million University of Montana biomass plant was an-nounced in June, the press coverage portrayed it as a breakthrough for Nexterra.

“After installing systems at the University of BC, the University of Northern BC, and the University of South Carolina, company president Jonathan Rhone sees the Missoula campus contract as a potential stepping stone into a giant North American market,” said a Province article on June 3, 2011.

Shortly after The State pub-lished its report on the USC di-saster, Missoula’s newspaper, The Missoulian, began a careful examina-tion of the project. The paper’s cor-respondent on the story was Chelsi Moi.

“I think [the university’s] presen-tation is what made it controversial,” says Moi. “When they first presented the project, they made it look like a win-win, in-the-bag, great project.”

But when a few environmental groups started pushing the universi-ty on some of their claims, particu-larly around air quality and carbon emissions, university officials had to do some backtracking.

“Missoula’s in a valley,” says Moi, “and has had historically poor air quality. Even a couple of years ago, we were deemed an air stagnation zone, and were forced to clean up our act.” One of the results was that most city residents were no longer allowed

to have wood fireplaces—which is why a large wood-fueled power plant at the university raised ire.

The high carbon emissions and particulate matter released by burn-ing wood are some of the biggest problems that biomass companies have worked to solve. Nexterra claims that its plants have made huge strides in this regard.

Public consultations grew conten-tious between Missoula residents and university officials. At one point the university was forced to apologize after its vice-president of finance and administration said that project opponents were engaged in “low-level eco-terrorism.”

In November, a letter signed by 45 concerned residents—includ-ing members of UM’s heating plant staff—asked the university’s Board of Regents to reconsider the project.

“The regents made a decision based on information that was not current,” said one of the letter-writ-ers, John Snively, as quoted by The Missoulian. “It’s clear the university doesn’t want to hear from us. The people who are making the decisions at the university don’t feel we have the technical expertise or have valid reasons for interceding in this, never mind that it will cost us all more money and create more pollution.”

But Scott notes that Nexterra ob-tained all the permits it needed from health authorities to build the plant.

“I think there was a couple of action groups that were opposed to the project,” says Scott, “and they continued to challenge the admin-istration on the basis of emissions…but the administration had a hard time getting out the message that the system they were proposing is the

cleanest biomass system that you can get. The state authorities recognized that it would be the cleanest biomass system in the state of Montana.”

One of the action groups op-posed to the biomass plant was the Wildwest Institute, an organization focused on forest and wildlife issues. Its executive director, Matthew Koehler, led the charge on challeng-ing the university’s claims about the benefits of the project.

“We had started raising ques-tions about this for about nine months, and we were all but ignored by the university and the press,” says Koehler. “And then we found a bunch of stuff in open-record searches…and you know, it didn’t require too much sleuthing. It just required critical thinking skills to pore through documents.”

Koehler has been a dedicated skeptic of biomass power plants for years. He says he would support small-scale biomass in some in-stances, but essentially objects to the idea of, as he puts it, “cutting down forests and then burning them to solve global climate change.”

To this, biomass proponents argue that most biomass projects only involve burning the wood industry’s byproduct that would otherwise be waste. Yet Koehler was able to find problems in UM’s plans for fuel supply.

“UM had made this claim that they were going to get this fuel for [a cer-tain price], and then they put out this bid, and nobody bid,” says Koehler. “And then…the university was saying the fuel dealers were going to have to chip [wood] offsite and truck in the fuel, about three chip trucks full a day.” But fuel dealers did not have the

storage space to be able to guarantee a steady flow of chip supply.

“So then at the last minute, the university said, ‘Well, we’ll just in-vest a quarter of a million dollars and chip on site,’” says Koehler. “Okay, so we’re going to run an indus-trial wood-chipper in the middle of campus?”

On December 2, 2011, UM sus-pended the biomass project indefi-nitely. The official reason was that natural gas prices had fallen so far that it was no longer in the univer-

sity’s financial interests to install an expensive biomass powerplant.

“They’ve said that they will revisit the project again in 2012,” says Scott. “If natural gas prices don’t increase, or there’s not a change in the eco-nomic and green imperatives for the university, then I think it will be on hold until there’s a change. It’s just unfortunate that the macro energy environment turned on us. I think it would have been a fantastic project.”

• • •

There are many significant dif-ferences between the plant being

We’re not hiding from any of it [the USC problems]...I think you’ll find if you talk to our customers that we’ve been as forthright as possible.

Mike ScottNexterra CEO

The tumultuous history of Nexterra’s university power plants

December 2007

The University of South Carolina opens its biomass power plant, built at a cost of $20 million. The plant was built by Johnson Controls Inc. using Nexterra’s gasification system.

May 22, 2009The University of Northern BC announces Nexterra has been selected to build a $22 million biomass power plant.

June 28, 2009An explosion at the USC plant blasts a metal panel 60 feet in the air. The plant has been racked by malfunctions.

February 15, 2010UBC announces its biomass plant in partnership with Nexterra, at a cost of $26 million (later updated to $27 million). The plant will be the first of its kind.

[University executives] generally know jack squat about biomass. But they go to some con-ference and they get the presentation, and they go “oh wow, that’s neat.”

Matthew KoehlerExecutive Director, Wildwest Institute

The interior of the UBC biomass plant. The plant will process post-consumer forest products to produce steam and electricity.

03.01.2012 | Feature | 7

installed at UBC and the failed projects at USC and UM.

Perhaps the most important is that UBC is less focused on bio-mass as a potentially cheaper al-ternative to natural gas, and more on the research and development aspect of the facility. As with USC, the biomass project at UM had an energy services company build-ing the plant as part of an energy supply contract to the university. At UBC, the plant will be entirely university-operated.

“With biomass, here was an op-portunity to try something new,” said Sauder, UBC Sustainability Initative’s director of strategic partnerships. “And it could con-tribute to the heat and power as required by the university, and use technology grown in British Columbia.”

The UBC plant will include a laboratory onsite and university researchers will conduct extensive research with the technology.

UBC was also greatly helped by government subsidies and grants; about 70 per cent of the plant’s $27 million capital cost is covered by these funds.

The biomass plant being built at UBC is a new generation of Nexterra’s technology. “In the first generation of our systems, we took that syngas [the synthetic gas produced from the wood fuel] and burned it to produce steam,” says Scott. “That gas in its untreated form isn’t suitable for firing into internal combustion engines. And so what we’ve done…is developed a system for cleaning up the gas to make it suitable.”

Nexterra’s system at UBC will be able to fire that synthetic gas into an engine developed by General Electric. The engine will then be capable of producing heat and elec-tricity for the campus.

“The system at UBC will be first of its kind built by us,” says Scott. “There have been a num-ber of failed attempts, mostly in Europe, to do what we’re trying to do. Many of those projects in Europe have not met the commer-cial requirements of a combined heat and gas system. But we’ve done nearly 3000 hours of testing at our product development centre in Kamloops…and the UBC project will be the first commercial-scale demonstration of this technology.”

Two of the major criticisms of the UM project were air qual-ity and fuel supply; both of those appear to be comprehensively ad-dressed at UBC.

The plant has received a Metro Vancouver air quality management permit, but Sauder says the air quality restrictions will go above and beyond the district require-ments. The university will have researchers on site monitoring the emissions continuously. Sauder also authored a 78-page environ-mental assessment.

“The strictest [air quality stan-dards] we could find in the US is the San Joaquin Valley, and we’re going to be stricter than that,” says Sauder.

Scott also points to the success of the UNBC biomass plant, where third-party studies concluded in August 2011 that the plant’s emis-sion quality was “as good as, or better than, natural gas.”

The UBC plant’s fuel supply will come from a Langley-based compa-ny, Cloverdale Fuel, that specializ-es in “wood byproducts brokering and transport.” Cloverdale already supplies a Nexterra biomass plant at a Kruger Products mill in New Westminster.

The City of Vancouver has signed a memorandum of under-standing to provide 5000 tonnes of municipal tree trimmings annually to the UBC fuel supply. Sauder es-timates this will cover about 20 per cent of the fuel; the rest will come from Cloverdale’s suppliers. The fuel will be prepared at Cloverdale according to UBC-ordered stan-dards, and then trucked to the uni-versity in two to three truckloads per day.

Jens Wieting, the forests and climate campaigner for Sierra Club BC, says that there is a lot of local supply for wood waste right now, though he cautions that this may change when pine beetle-damaged wood is used up.

“At some point there is a big risk of...not having resources in the future,” says Wieting. “Because of the pine beetle and the increasing number of forest fires, and lack of reforestation, we have to expect that there will be less timber avail-able in the near future. That’s a concern for any project. A very careful study is required in terms of longterm supply.”

The biomass plant itself used cross-laminated timber in its con-struction, a low-carbon alterna-tive for steel and concrete. “It will be the first industrial building in North America built with cross-laminated timber,” says Sauder.

“I’m quite proud of what we’re doing,” says Scott. “It’s made-in-BC technology that the university is taking a leadership role on, and I’m quite happy that we’re taking biomass energy to the next level. I’m confident it’s going to work.”

• • •

If UBC’s biomass plant works as well as the university and Nexterra are promising, it will be a mutually beneficial project. Nexterra gets to test and develop its technology at a commercial scale, UBC research-ers get first-hand experience with experimental clean energy produc-tion, and the campus will have up to six per cent of its electricity and 25 per cent of its heating steam produced by the project.

But biomass skeptics find it hard to trust these claims. The slick presentations given by universi-ties and company executives often ignore any risks of the project.

“It’s like the Simpsons epi-sode from a few years ago, when the monorail salesman came to Springfield,” says Koehler. “[University executives] generally know jack squat about biomass. But they go to some conference and they get the presentation, and they go ‘Oh wow, that’s neat.’”

Furthermore, the media often can’t be relied on for critical cover-age; most articles on biomass tech-nology are indistinguishable from

company press releases.Koehler worries about the reli-

ance the biomass industry has on the vast quantities of money gov-ernments have made available for alternative energy projects.

“This biomass stuff cannot pencil out without massive subsi-dies,” says Koehler. “But biomass proponents seem to be very much true believers in their cause, and they freak out whenever anyone wants to question the economics or the environmental impact of their project.”

Not all environmental groups are of the same mind about bio-mass. In Nova Scotia, the Ecology Action Network has organized protests against government plans to ramp up biomass production for the electricity grid, out of concern for depleted forest ecosystems. But in BC, there has been very little pushback against biomass.

The Sierra Club, for example, takes a cautious line but generally supports biomass. “The key ques-tions are: what type of biomass [fuel]? And where does it come

from? Is it local, or does it need to be shipped in from far away?” says Wieting. “Waste is generally better than something grown specifically for the use of biomass.”

Wieting also encourages caution over claims of carbon neutrality with wood biomass plants, because it depends heavily on how fast the removed trees grow back.

UBC officials, for now, are ex-cited about the project’s potential and eager to discuss it. In the past two years numerous op-eds have appeared in the Vancouver Sun by UBC professors and executives, ex-tolling UBC’s commitment to clean technology and highlighting the Nexterra project in particular.

“This is the university as a lead-er,” says Sauder. “People see these goals for sustainability…and they say, ‘Well that’s cool, but how are we going to get there?’ To have the tools to demonstrate the path for-ward is very important. It’s a neat opportunity for UBC to show how to do these things at a city scale.”

The plant is slated to open in April. U

With biomass, here was an opportunity to try something new...and use technology grown in British Columbia

Brent SauderDirector of Strategic Partnerships, UBC Sustainability Initiative

February 15, 2010UBC announces its biomass plant in partnership with Nexterra, at a cost of $26 million (later updated to $27 million). The plant will be the first of its kind.

March 2011The USC plant is shuttered after only 39 months. Nexterra holds out hope of fixing it with Johnson Controls.

March 22, 2011The UNBC biomass plant begins opera-tion.

June 3, 2011Nexterra announces it has sold a $16-mil-lion biomass gasification system to the University of Montana.

October 9, 2011The State, South Carolina’s largest news-paper, published a 3500-word exposé on the USC plant’s chronic problems. It refers to the plant as “scrap metal.”

November 12, 2011Missoula residents opponsed to the UM biomass plant present a letter to the university’s Board of Regents asking them to reconsider the project.

December 1, 2011The University of Montana shelves its plan to build a biomass plant, saying the plant is no longer financial viable. It apolo-gizes for its VP Finance’s “eco-terrorism” remarks about the project’s opponents.

August 2, 2011A third party study shows the UNBC bio-mass plant’s emissions are of a quality “as good as, or better than, natural gas.”

April 2012 UBC’s biomass plant is slated to begin operation.

SportsEditor: Drake Fenton

03.01.2012 | 8

4

Drake FentonSports Editor

The Canada West is renowned for its brutal com-petition. Year in and year out, in almost every uni-versity sport, the top contenders in Canada play in the Canada West.

The UBC women’s basketball team en-ters the Canada West final four this weekend in Saskatchewan knowing their sport is no exception.

“It’s survival of the fittest,” said UBC head coach Deb Huband.

Three of the four teams at the tournament are nationally ranked in the top four, including No. 1 Regina, who is currently undefeated. UBC is No. 4 in the country.

Rounding out the competition is No. 3 Saskatchewan and No. 8 Fraser Valley.

In their first match on Friday night, the Thunderbirds (15-3) will face the Saskatchewan Huskies (15-5).

The ‘Birds blew past the University of Alberta last weekend in the Canada West quarterfinals, with decisive 85-51 and 82-71 victories. With the stakes higher this weekend, coach Huband and her players know victories of those margins will be rare.

“Saskatchewan is a tough team, they are a very

well-coached team, they have a very dominant rookie post player and three fifth-year players in their starting lineup,” said Huband. “They are go-ing to be a tough opponent for us.”

UBC faced the Huskies only once this season, beating them 76-64 at War Memorial Gym. That game, though, was two months ago, and as fifth-year T-Bird Zara Huntley admits, Saskatchewan isn’t the same team.

“We’ve watched some game tape this week and they are a lot better team since we last played them…They’re executing a lot better and they’re playing better defence,” said Huntley.

But Huntley also noted that UBC isn’t the same team either, and has been growing with each passing week.

“We have a lot of talent, but this team is not even so much about the talent or the skill, it’s more our chemistry,” she said. “The way we gel together and the way we play. We play for each other this year more than we have in the past, and it’s not an individual game, it’s much more of a team game.”

While second-year guard Kris Young has been a breakout star for the ‘Birds this season, a team-first mentality has been apparent all season, with each member of their starting five having led UBC in scoring in two or more games.

If UBC can make it past Saskatchewan, they

will most likely have a date with Regina for the Canada West title. While neither Huband nor her players are looking past the Huskies, an opportu-nity to take down Canada’s only undefeated team is a prospect they are undoubtedly excited by.

“[Regina’s] had a terrific season, so I hope we get a chance to play them,” said Huband. “We would use it as a bit of a measuring stick, and we think we match up with them really well.”

“I think [playing Regina] would be a pretty exciting thing,” added Huntley. “We played them [in the first weekend of the season] and we only ended up losing by eight…I felt like it was a close game the whole time.

“Just knowing how good we are now, I think we are able to beat them.”

Winning the Canada West this weekend would guarantee UBC a spot at nationals, but losing would not be the end of the line for the ‘Birds. Next weekend, the losers from each conference championship will compete in a regional com-petition to determine the three remaining spots open at the CIS final eight.

This weekend won’t be the be-all and end-all of UBC’s season, but with the level of competition they’ll be facing, it will certainly feel like it. If the ‘Birds can claim the Canada West banner they will be the undisputed team to beat in Canada, and on a fast track to claim CIS gold. U

Final No. 1 University of Regina

Regular season record: 20-0

No. 8 University of the Fraser

Valley


No. 3 University of Saskatchewan


Canada West

Finals

Women’s basketball hoping for Canada West goldWith two of Canada’s best at the final four, the road won’t be easy for UBC

Current Canada West MVP. Led conference in assists with 117. Also led the team in steals and minutes played.

X-factor: Joanna Zalesiak

Why they are undefeated

There are many reasons, but the most simple one is their potent offence.

They averaged 84.2 points per game, which stands as the third-highest in confer-ence history.

Where they’re weak

Their perfect record could be their down-fall. It’s not uncommon for an undefeated team to fall into the complacency trap.

X-factor: Kris YoungUBC’s leading scorer and third in the Canada West. Also led UBC in as-sists and was fifth in the conference.

They have the best defence in the Canada West. They have the size to dominate in the low post and force teams to make lower percentage shots.

Why they could win

Where they’re weakTheir three-pointers can be game chang-ing, but they sometimes shoot too many. They have the third worst percent-age in the Canada West.

X-factor: Nicole Wierks

She wasn’t the best player on offence or defence, but she made a comeback from a second ACL tear and a chronic shoulder injury this season. Her leadership and resilience will be key for a team pegged as a major underdog.

They relish the underdog role. In the quarterfinals, they smothered a Calgary team who had a better record than them with a suffocating defence.

Why they could win


They’re playing Regina. Their No. 8 ranked offence may simply not be able to match Regina point for point.

X-factor: Katie Miyazaki

For the third straight year she has been named the Canada West defensive player of the year. If anyone can shut down Kris Young, it’s her.

Why they could win

Of the remaining teams, they’re the most accurate from down-town. That paired with leading the Canada West in rebounding makes them dangerous.


When facing a press defence, their offence struggles to get in sync and make space for their shooters.No. 4 University of

British Columbia


CultureEditor: Ginny Monaco

03.01.2012 | 9

Will JohnsonSenior Culture Writer

When the shortlist for the Charles Taylor Prize, a Canadian literary non-fiction award, was announced on January 10, West Coast writers made up the majority of the list. And four of the writers are recent UBC grads—JJ Lee, Madeline Sonik, Charlotte Gill and Andrew Westoll.

The $25,000 prize will be award-ed on March 5. But before we find out the winner, let’s take a look at the nominees.

Afflictions & Departures by Madeline Sonik

Sonik’s book is an experimental col-lection of essays which explores her experiences growing up in the 1950s and 60s. Sonik married her journal-istic style with fictional techniques to create a memoir of unique form.

“The essays span my life from conception to my mid-teens, and are arranged chronologically,” she said. “I wrote several essays in this col-lection that deal with experiences I shared with my father. In rendering specific interactions that we had, new dimensions of our past relation-ship made themselves known to me.”

Sonik said she was surprised by the results of her soul-searching. “I didn’t realize until I’d written these essays how very bound I’d been to

my father, or how inculcated soci-ety’s notions of female inferiority at a young age [are].

“When you put a lived experience down on the page as objectively as you possibly can and then read it back, it’s amazing what’s suddenly shown to you.”

Eating Dirt by Charlotte Gill

Gill felt there was a void in contem-porary literature, and sought to fill it. She had been waiting for someone to capture the cultural experience of tree-planting in writing, and when nobody did, she wrote the book herself.

“I’ve waited for years for some-one to come along and write a book about our collective experience,” she said. “The day never came. As tree planters, we had this life that seemed so inexplicably oddball on the outside, and yet on the inside I knew it meant something profound, not just to me but to thousands of Canadians.”

Gill, who teaches creative writing at UBC, was also nominated for the Hilary West Non-Fiction Prize and the BC National Book Awards.

The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary: A True Story of Resilience and Recovery by Andrew WestollAndrew Westoll is a primatolo-gist and writer, so he was uniquely

qualified to write a book about the chimpanzees of Fauna Sanctuary. After traveling through Suriname and the Upper Amazon, he was looking for new a writing gig and decided to contact the owner of the sanctuary, Gloria Grow.

“After two phone calls, I’d been invited to move into Fauna and write the biography of the chimpan-zee family. I think my background in primates was what convinced her I’d do a good job on the story,” he said.

Westoll said he learned some im-portant lessons during the project. The first lesson he picked up was this: “Animals are incredibly resil-ient, humans included.”

And the second: “Chimpanzees can suffer psychological damage in almost exactly the same way hu-mans can.”

The Measure of a Man: The Story of a Father, a Son and a Suit by JJ LeeThe Vancouver Sun columnist has written a book about what he knows best—men’s fashion. Lee’s book spawned from a CBC docu-mentary about the social history of the suit. His memoir tackles the same subject matter, but is also an account of his relationship with his father. In the book, Lee attempts to tailor his father’s suit to fit his own body.

Lee was also nominated for the Governor General’s Award earlier this year, but he’s trying not to let the nominations go to his head.

“Literary awards have to [be taken] with the perspective of the ancient Greeks. Blame everything on the gods: the good and the bad. I have no control over the process and it feels awesome and scary,” he said.

“That is to say that no sane writer should expect these things. And I didn’t. Except I hoped a little. It’s human nature.” U

Four UBC writers vie for non-fiction prize

Ginny MonacoCulture Editor

Think of it as a campus Coachella. The AMS has announced the

lineup for the fifth annual Block Party. The boozy celebration of the last day of classes will be held on April 5 and feature Mother Mother, MSTRKRFT, The Boom Booms, Hedspin, Maria in the Shower and RYAN TRAX.

“The most successful Block Parties and Arts County Fairs have been where there’s been some hip hop, some country, some rock, DJs, some pop. Mixing it up was something we wanted to do,” said outgoing AMS President Jeremy McElroy. “It also just happened that it was local, all Canadian tal-ent, which is also a big bonus.”

AMS events manager Anna Hilliar was hired in early December 2011 and spent time talking to students about what they wanted from this year’s Block Party. “I was really trying to see what people are looking for and put as much in place for this year with a limited budget,” she said. “We’re trying to do the best we can to appeal to everybody because it sounded like, in the past, people were missing certain aspects.

“A lot of people want DJs, but then a lot of people just want bands, so it was about appealing to all those groups. People sounded like they really wanted that festival cul-ture, that atmosphere.”

The AMS will be partnering with undergraduate societies to, as McElroy said, “make [MacInnes] Field more interesting. They’re each bringing stuff. It’s going to be a much more lively field.”

There will be games, a bouncy castle and volleyball matches to keep students entertained through-out the day. “If people don’t want to drink all day, they can also do other things. We want to activate the all-ages side so those few first-years who still aren’t 19 can have something to do,” said Hilliar.

Promotions for previous Block Parties have been less than suc-cessful in the past and McElroy hopes to move past that this year. They’re encouraging students to get involved as much as possible. “The idea of promotions is the dif-ference between what we’ve had in the past and selling out,” he said.

“We’re definitely playing more into the old school [Arts County Fair] promotions attitude. Way more posters are being printed this year and we’re going to make sure they all get up all over the place. We’re trying to reach out. This is something we’re really trying to stress—if you want to get involved, come see Anna and we’re going to find opportunities for everyone.”

McElroy said that he wants to ensure even students with other plans on April 5 incorporate Block Party into their plans.

“There’s always something hap-pening the last day of classes. It’s infamous for the Greek parties and the Commerce parties and the Ski and Board parties. So we want to make sure that people have a ticket in their hand and they come to our thing afterward,” he said.

And the biggest incentive?“We’re going to have more booze

this year. We will not run out of beer. That’s a promise.” U

AMS announces lineup for Block Party 2012

WRITERS >>

EVENTS >>

IMAGES COURTESY OF THE CHARLES TAYLOR PRIZE

The prize“The Charles Taylor Prize com-memorates Charles Taylor’s pursuit of excellence in the field of literary non-fiction.

The prize will be awarded to the author whose book best combines a superb command of the English language, an el-egance of style, and a subtlety of thought and perception. “

—from the Charles Taylor website

The winner of the Charles Taylor receives $25,000. Runners up each receive $2000

OpinionEditor: Brian Platt

03.01.2012 | 10

A long conflict of interest ends

When it comes to discussions about land use at UBC, the term “good faith” gets tossed around often, usually preceded by the phrase “not negotiating in.” UBC’s decision to hold the mandatory public hearing that will help determine the future of Gage South—the area around the bus loop—on the same day as students move out of residence is sure to elicit similar reactions. But this decision is more than just not negotiating in good faith—it’s insulting the intel-ligence of students.

By responding to demands for a student hearing by putting it so late in April, at best Campus and Community Planning (CCP) is prov-ing to be tone deaf to the concerns of students. At the worst, it’s a perni-cious attempt by university admin-istration to exclude students from decisions about what is built at the heart of campus. Regardless of

intent, the result will be the same.It’s important to remember that a

separate land use process for Gage South was created to address con-cerns brought up at the 2010 public hearing—concerns that were raised almost exclusively by students. Holding a public hearing on the same day that students must leave their residences will ensure that their voices aren’t heard on this issue.

At this point, the alternatives aren’t much better, mostly due to the foot-dragging by CCP in facing real-ity. Having the hearing during exams or after the move-out date wouldn’t make student participation much better. But at the very least, it would allow some students who live in resi-dence to relay any concerns directly to the committee.

The date for the hearing still must be finalized by UBC’s Board of Governors. The Board should stand up for students and find a better date for this public hearing to be held. U

This year, I’ve had a pretty interesting job.

I oversee the largest student news-paper in Western Canada, working with a fantastic group of editors and volunteers to produce an award-win-ning product.

Sometimes, I’m conducting inter-views with inspiring students.

Other times, I’m editing videos or sketching out front pages.

And sometimes, I get to watch people write about various ways a family member of mine has screwed up in his job.

For the past year, I’ve had this job while my cousin Jeremy has been AMS president. Now that it’s over, I feel obligated to discuss it. So here it goes.

Put simply, it was a weird and per-sonal situation. As such, this will be a weird and personal column.

When we knew Jeremy was decid-ing to run for president 16 months ago, we put in some safeguards on, well, me. I wouldn’t have any role in writing, editing or planning any stories about the AMS or Jeremy. On all group discussions about editori-als or the front page, I would recuse myself. If he asked us for a favour (something all student politicians do), it would be someone else who would make the call.

This was a proactive measure. Student politicians, with large egos and fancy titles and plenty of money to play with, always make mistakes. We knew that when such things in-evitably happened, it would be good to have clear guidelines.

Let’s be honest: I hoped those mistakes wouldn’t happen. He’s my cousin, and if he did something dumb that was worth reporting, then I would have to watch while editors I trained uncovered the truth and told the entire campus about his sins.

But at the same time, I would want them to uncover and tell the story, because that’s what newspapers are supposed to do, and that’s what stu-dents pay me to do.

I really hoped that sort of thing wouldn’t happen. That would be weird.

It did happen though. The day before he was elected. Our editors had information that he had broken election rules and lied about it, con-nected the dots and broke the story.

(In response, I stepped down for the weekend to drink whiskey and watch football so they could do their thing.)

The Elections Committee chose not to disqualify Jeremy though, and he won the presidency. So while we proved that any accusations of favouritism were bunk, it meant that we had an entire year of awkward fun ahead.

Now, our editors didn’t uncover any further evidence of skulldug-gery on Jeremy’s part for the rest of the year, which meant I never again felt like the genie in Aladdin when Jafar demands to be made a power-ful sorcerer.

But still. I can say, without re-search but with decent certainty, that this was one of the more bizarre cases of a conflict of interest in Canadian journalism.

I had people across the country raise an eyebrow at my situation and say “So, that must be strange, hey?”

I watched editors tell me that he had tweeted something pompous, read it out to me and smirk, because really, who doesn’t like to see their boss squirm?

And I had plenty of writers, friends and even family members lean in and ask, “So, how’s Jeremy really doing as president?”

None of this weirdness crossed over into the newspaper—except now, of course—and I think we con-ducted ourselves well (feel free to send a letter if you disagree).

But it’s over now, and I’d be ly-ing if I didn’t say a weight is off my shoulders.

As for Jeremy, he’s done as presi-dent, but still has the same passion for policy and bringing people to-gether. If he works hard and pursues public service, he’ll move onwards and upwards.

And should the day come when other people are reporting on the things he does, I will be quite happy. U

Shamefully low expectations on BC’s education funding

In last week’s provincial budget, Finance Minister Kevin Falcon said he wanted “to challenge every [post-secondary] institution to cut spending by one per cent.” This, of course, was widely derided by anyone who thinks well-funded universities are integral to British Columbia’s future.

Things have gotten to the point where many have publicly wished that the government just kept post-secondary funding stable.

The Liberal government has failed to have a growth strategy for our universities since they came into power in 2001, and we don’t expect them to find one now. But it says something about the current state of affairs that hardly anyone is seriously expecting or asking for an infusion of public money into our institutions.

We can imagine a government that believes strongly in invest-ing more in our brightest young people. A government that wants to increase the number of world-class programs available at universities. A government that works to reduce the cost of education while increas-ing its quality at the same time.

Unfortunately, that idea will exist only in our imaginations for some time to come.

New SUB marks a rare example of long term AMS success

After reading about the new SUB groundbreaking, you might be con-fused in the coming weeks why no construction is taking place. That’s mostly because construction and prep work isn’t ready to begin yet.

So why are we having the ground-breaking now? Well, the outgoing executive really, really wanted to end their term with a ceremony, realities be damned.

Still, in their speeches, AMS VP Administration Mike Silley and President Jeremy McElroy gra-ciously highlighted what is, to us, one of the most impressive aspects of the new building: the collective

work of various student leaders over a five-year period.

Student unions have a hard time doing anything substantial because of the shortness of terms and con-flicts of ideology.

But since 2007, multiple students of all political stripes have played a role in turning a $100 million sustainable student-designed build-ing from a dream into something approaching reality.

For Jeff Friedrich, Mike Duncan, Blake Frederick, Bijan Ahmadian, Jeremy McElroy, Sarah Naiman, Tristan Markle, Crystal Hon, Ekaterina Dovjenko and Mike Silley, the construction of the new SUB is a giant accomplishment—something that will be shared by millions of people and be a symbol of student involvement.

Their accomplishments should be celebrated; after five years, construction is close to beginning. And what a long, strange trip it’s been.

The danger of looking through green-coloured glasses

Although UBC appears to have done its due diligence on its new biomass power plant (see our fea-ture on it in this issue), the same can’t be said for the major media outlets in the region.

Nexterra Systems Corp., the company building UBC’s biomass plant, has received fawning media coverage every time it has an-nounced a new multi-million dollar construction contract or received a new government grant.

These articles almost always include mention of Nexterra’s project at the University of South Carolina —but no mention at all that the project was a spectacular failure.

This is a reminder of the danger in relying on company press releas-es and information from sources who are invested in the success of the project. In the age of Google, there is no excuse for the media to haved missed the struggles Nexterra has had on American campuses.

It is also a reminder that alterna-tive energy solutions still need a healthy dose of skepticism. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t some-times take chances—indeed, UBC’s eagerness to help pioneer “green” technology is commendable. But with the huge amount of govern-ment money available to subsidize clean-energy businesses that would otherwise be economically unsus-tainable, taxpayers need to con-stantly make sure they aren’t being sold a false bill of goods.

Maria Harris’s dubious comments on governance

Last week on this page, we ex-pressed optimism for Metro Vancouver’s plans to poll the resi-dents of UBC and the Endowment Lands to determine their preference for local governance options. This was premised on a Vancouver Sun report.

Our own reporting has now clarified that a poll is only an op-tion Metro Van is considering; no decisions have been made yet.

But Maria Harris’s comments about this show a complete lack of commitment to advancing this is-sue. She says that polling residents at this time is uncalled for, and that Metro Vancouver should first deal with the elected representa-tives—that is to say, herself and the University Neighbourhoods Association directors.

We understand the structure of representative democracy, but those in leadership positions also have an inherent interest in main-taining the status quo. If we want to determine the true wishes of residents for a govenance model, we need to ask them directly.

Perhaps more importantly, out of the more than 20,000 residents who live on the Endowment Lands and campus, only 466 voted Harris in. The biggest reason for the paltry turnout is that few people under-stand what Electoral Area A even is—a direct result of our convoluted and strange governance situation.

To know what residents really think, Metro Van needs to poll. U

Editor’s Notebook

JustinMcElroy

The Last WordParting shots and snap judgments on today’s issues

Consulting in bad faithEditorial

INDIANA JOEL/THE UBYSSEY

03.01.2012 | 11ScenePictures and words on your university experience

I broke up with Facebook, and so can you

I deactivated Facebook recently.I won’t spend much time pros-

elytizing about it, because people seem to get pretty touchy and self-righteous about this topic. Let’s just say I was sick of it, and I felt ready for a change.

The fact is, I’d caught myself too many times creeping through photos of people I barely knew, or endlessly scrolling through the newsfeed without any discernible purpose.

I finally concluded that I spent at least an hour on Facebook each day, and there were far better uses of my time than watching funny videos or commenting on people’s status updates.

Not to mention that I feel like Facebook appeals to all my least desirable personality traits. It brings out the vain, needy and self-congratulatory aspects of my character.

I was always looking for the most flattering photo, or choosing the most self-aggrandizing ac-complishments to announce to the world. Facebook has us obsessing

over our self-image, creating our own brand and constantly trum-peting our personal successes.

I’m not going to judge anyone who stays in a relationship with Facebook. I know how tantalizing, addictive and ultimately necessary it can be for most people. These days, it acts like a contemporary phonebook.

I totally get that. But I couldn’t justify the endless time-sucking. So, I Googled “how to delete Facebook” and went about disman-tling my four-year relationship with my meticulously maintained social media account.

Facebook seemed upset about my decision, and responded like a clingy girlfriend who doesn’t un-derstand it’s over.

Are you sure? it asked me.Then it showed me a series of

pictures of my friends, and under each one was the same sentiment:

Hilary will miss you.Todd will miss you.Theo will miss you.

I thought to myself, I get why you chose Hilary and Todd. But Theo? He’s this dude I traveled with in Thailand, and haven’t talked to since. He’s a good guy, but he lives in the UK and chances are we’ll never see each other again. I’m sure

he’s not even going to notice.Good try, Facebook.Most of my friends and fam-

ily have congratulated me on my decision, and have cheered me on. They treat me like an escaped slave. A few have even followed in my footsteps.

Of course there are people who don’t understand. Or are annoyed that all my pictures have disap-peared. (I used to pride myself on how many people’s profile pic-tures I provided to the world.) But I’m sure they’ll live.

Meanwhile, I have an extra hour

a day to devote to a variety of ac-tivities. Maybe jogging, or reading a book. Perhaps I’ll do the dishes more often. Or, if I’m not careful, I might just fall into the arms of my other mistress: Twitter.

Whatever I end up doing, I feel like a free man. U

“I Googled ‘how to delete Facebook’ and went about dismantling my four-year relationship with my meticulously maintained account.” INDIANA JOEL/THE UBYSSEY

HUMOUR >>

U Sick of the Aquatic Centre? Nap in our office.COME BY THE UBYSSEY OFFICE SUB 24, FOLLOW THE SIGNS

Melodramatic Musings

Will Johnson

12 | Games | 03.01.2012

Across1- Acclaim6- well...10- avis14- Olds model15- Coil16- Not much17- Extent18- Art Deco designer19- Email command20- Ashtabula’s lake21- Office of a bishop23- Pedantic

25- Shudder26- Ref’s decision27- Gave a hoot29- Eagle’s home32- Descendant of Cain33- Fish eggs36- -a-brac37- Christmas song38- Voting-pattern predictor39- Actress Merkel40- Brief appearance41- Small change42- Head lock

43- Flight formation44- Refrain47- Cloths51- Entertainment54- Burn the midnight oil, studying55- The King 56- Tabula 57- Jewelled crown worn by women58- Worry59- K-660- Computer key61- Sardine containers62- -deucey63- Discharge

Down

1- Having auricular protuberances2- Mild cigar3- Russian revolutionary leader4- Containing divalent silver5- Digit of the foot6- Beth preceder7- Actress Petty8- A great deal9- Ghostly10- Uttered gratingly11- First-stringers12- Cost13- European viper21- That, in Tijuana22- Hurler Hershiser24- Tina’s ex27- Heals28- Peek follower29- “Aladdin” monkey30- Directional ending31- Narrow inlet32- Packs tight33- CD- 34- Cheer for Manolete35- Golfer Ernie37- Roman capital of Palestine38- Shrill40- Essence

41- Ball belle42- Characteristics43- Covered vehicle44- Skill45- Artist Rousseau46- Ancient47- Frothy48- Angry49- Feels for50- Stylish52- Apply powder to oneself53- Aha!57- Driver’s aid

(CUP) — Puzzles provided by BestCrosswords.com. Used with permission.