The Ubyssey doesn’t select a “person of the year.” But in every school year, on any campus, there are people who deserve to be recognized. The Ubyssey has selected 10 people who stood out in 2012-13.
Kiran Mahal: A practiced advocate
Photo Hogan Wong/The Ubyssey
In the past, many student government executives fell on either side of a simple dichotomy: either they were strident rabble-rousers, angrily railing against the establishment, or they were meek shills out for personal gain, student interests be damned. The scarily competent Kiran Mahal, an AMS vice-president academic who recently started her second term, blasted apart this easy categorization.
She made change. And she didn’t make it by impotently yelling at powerful people from outside the door. Her advocacy was polished, professional and meticulously researched — and when she met with powerful people at UBC, they listened.
Along with various student groups, she spearheaded the effort to lower the tuition fees for the new bachelor of international economics. If UBC hadn’t backed down, students taking the new degree would’ve been gouged. She led the charge on re-implementing an exam database and got buy-in from the UBC Senate. She collected a wide-ranging survey on students’ concerns, helped create midterm teaching evaluations and did actual, meaningful work on mental health issues.
Mahal reminded us how effective measured, focused advocacy can be when it’s wielded by someone who knows what she’s doing.
David Farrar: Diving into the brave new world of copyright
Photo Kai Jacobson/The Ubyssey
Various UBC administrators embarked on a number of scary plans recently. But one of the scariest was UBC’s decision to leave the licensing firm Access Copyright and set out independently — a move championed by David Farrar, UBC’s provost and vice-president academic.
After a period of waffling, Farrar didn’t mince words when he announced UBC’s decision to leave Access Copyright once and for all. He said only a few institutions in Canada were going to follow UBC’s lead — he could “count them on one hand” — and he said he believed UBC “would be the largest finger on that hand” — a subtle, academic way of saying screw you to Access Copyright.
But it was Farrar’s actions, not his arch comments, that made him important this year.
Though there were initial hiccups, UBC’s local copyright-vetting office is now up and running. Doing things internally rather than relying on Acess Copyright to pay authors for their work has resulted in million-dollar savings. Twenty-five other schools also left Access Copyright, including most major research universities.
And a recent Supreme Court decision widening what can be copied for free under “fair use” law soundly vindicated UBC’s decision.
Copyright law has never been a particularly attention-grabbing topic. But if there was ever a time to pay attention to it, it was this year, when Farrar and UBC set a precedent that will be important for years to come.
Nassif Ghoussoub: A BoG watchdog
Photo courtesy Mark Mushet/UBC Public Affairs
The phrases “bespectacled math prof” and “hell-raiser” aren’t often seen in the same sentence, but there’s no better way to describe Nassif Ghoussoub. He has been the elected faculty representative on the UBC Board of Governors, UBC’s most powerful decision-making body, for over five years now. In that time, he has walked a fine line of critiquing the actions of UBC’s administration while looking out for the university’s best interests.
It has been a productive year for Ghoussoub. He pushed through UBC’s housing action plan, an attempt to address the problem of attracting world-class faculty to one of the world’s most expensive real estate markets. He has picked fights with NSERC, the federal agency in charge of research grants, for cutting money to graduate research programs. And he’s been an outspoken voice for democratizing university governance, since UBC’s Board of Governors is largely appointed by the province, not elected.
We can only hope that Ghoussoub’s eventual successor brings the same energy to the position.
Rob Morton: The party promoter
Photo Geoff Lister/The Ubyssey
Earlier in this issue, we mentioned that “a dude with a website and a few T-shirts” started organizing parties for UBC students. That dude is Rob Morton.
It seems that every year, a debauchery-inclined group of students realizes that good parties at UBC are few and far between, and sets out to do something about it. Usually, these efforts peter out around midterms and are never heard of again. There’s a veritable graveyard of inactive “UBC Party” Facebook groups, left to stand as a monument to the difficulties of getting kegs of beer and UBC students in the same room.
But Morton’s UBC Party Calendar aggregator has had staying power. Morton and his crew have been visible at every major campus event, pushing the site and their parties through savvy social media promotion. They partnered with a number of campus groups (including, for the sake of disclosure, The Ubyssey) for cross-promotion, with generally positive results.
People used to talk about a War on Fun at UBC — a combination of restrictive liquor licensing and policing that makes it hard to throw parties — but it seems the term has fallen out of use. It’s good to see that a well-organized group like Morton’s is carrying the fight forward.
Ian Campbell: Setting the standard for student space
Photo Colin Chia/The Ubyssey
Outgoing Engineering Undergraduate Society (EUS) president Ian Campbell has achieved a lot for students during his career in both the EUS and on AMS Council.
This year, he did something that will affect students in multiple faculties for years to come. Campbell led the negotiations with UBC on the contract for the new Engineering Student Centre. The contract gives students more control of the space than the agreement that Faculty of Science students approved for the Abdul Ladha building. Although the Faculty of Engineering dean will have the final say on events in the building, students will still maintain a great deal of control over the space.
The deal will not only affect the engineers. It sets the basis for the governance of any future student spaces. In January, the Arts Undergraduate Society approved a fee for a new student space, and Sauder students are considering a new building as well. They will look to the EUS’s example for contracts in their new buildings.
Savannah King, Tera Van Beilen, Heather MacLean: top-calibre swimmers who give back
Photo Kai Jacobson/The Ubyssey
UBC student-athletes Savannah King, Tera Van Beilen and Heather MacLean were on top of the world last summer while competing at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, but after coming back to school they did not slow down. The trio dominated the CIS once again, helping the Thunderbirds win their second straight CIS championship. King was named CIS Female Swimmer of the Year for the second year in row after winning three gold medals and one bronze at the national finals; Van Beilen won a gold, a silver and two bronzes; and MacLean racked up two silvers. This summer will also see King and Van Beilen head to Barcelona to represent Canada at the World Swimming Championships.
In addition to their prowess in competitive swimming, all three found time to give back to the sport in 2013. The three helped out with a program founded by former UBC swimmer Hayley Pipher to offer swimming lessons to African students. And, of course, they accomplished all of this while staying on top of their classes.
Boat dudes: The chillest students UBC has ever seen
Photo courtesy Taylor Martin
Our most-read Our Campus profile of all time featured Taylor Martin and Rene Allain, who had a unique way of getting past Vancouver’s high cost of living. Starting in the fall, they moved out of their apartment and into a 26-foot sailboat moored off Kits Beach. En route to their classes on campus, they had to canoe 100 metres to shore. Martin and Allain paint a very different picture of what urban life can be like in Vancouver in the face of constant tradeoffs when it comes to accommodation. Where are they now? We heard they moved to Whistler to be ski bums, or they’re planning to move to Australia over the summer. Maybe they’re still on the water. One thing’s for sure: Mssrs. Martin and Allain are the chillest dudes who have ever lived.
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