Uvic Torch Alumni Magazine • Spring 2017

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spring 2017

ToRuViC ch Canada, Fast Forward

5 Questions (and bold proposals) about the Future Torch 2017 Spring.qxp_Torch 2017-05-04 1:24 PM Page 2

on Campus

Recipe for Fun Take 300 students. Add thousands of biodegradable colour packets. Mix well. at was the basic recipe for the Campus Colour Fun Run at the end of the spring term. Organized by Vikes Athletics and Recreation in partnership with the Mental Health Initiative at UVic it proved to be an exhilaratingly messy way to blow oﬀ steam before exam time. ings wrapped up with music and refreshments — and a cold water rinse for those brave enough — at the beach at Cadboro Bay.

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Table of Contents uVic torch alumni magazine • spring 2017

Features 16 When rupee met Corol 26 the new look of populism Sixties racial tension, a pivotal moment at the Is it more of the same and can it happen here? A group Centennial year graduation dance, a long and happy of historians exchange ideas and consider modern mixed-marriage: this is a Canadian love story. political populism’s familiar and unique overtones. by mike mCneney by brad buie, ba ‘99 20 Canada, Fast Forward 31 a Canadian Champion Five campus thought-leaders consider ﬁve challenging Alumnus Ryan Cochrane has a trophy case full of issues. Here are their ideas, brief and to the point, as medals to show for his career but one in particular had they oﬀer a preface for the country’s future. Also: a massive impact on Canadian swimming. Alumna Ashli Akins on Canadian empathy, activism, by alistair ogden, ba ‘18 and what Peru taught her (page 30).

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Departments 16

4 editor’s note

6 president’s perspeCtiVe By PreSident Jamie caSSelS, Qc

7 ringside neWs Canada 150 • Victoria to Vimy • Snap Survey

10 researCh Undergrad’s robotics research opens doors.

12 aCross Campus Updates from the faculties. 14 poetry by Emily Nilsen, BFA ‘03. 8 34 alumni liFe

36 Class notes

44 Vox alumni Front row at the Unity Rally. By mark leiren-yoUng, Bfa ’85

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editor’s note Photographs and Memories Campus as a multicultural microcosm

by mike mCneney

ure, pictures might say a thousand words. But sthey mostly only hint at the back story. When alumni contributed old photos to an online gallery set up during Alumni Week in February all kinds of great images from university life were posted. ey were from recent grads. ey were from athletes and scientists. ere were pictures from decades ago. In one of those shots, there’s a young couple and they’re dancing. It’s a formal setting, seemingly out of step with the times. It was taken in 1967, at the UVic grad dance, in Canada’s centennial year. e couple who sent in that photo look happy, proud. Of course they are, it would seem, it’s a graduation celebration. But what’s endlessly fascinating about life is that there is always something more beyond the surface. e tangles and twists of circumstance and society, when revealed to us, become the One of the great things in Canada’s history is the uViC ’66: campus Queen material from which we learn from each other. 1971 adoption of multiculturalism as an official and Bachelor of the year We get inspired. We find empathy within our- national policy. It was the first time any country candidates. corol Smith selves. We see things differently and appreciate had done so, embracing mutual respect, racial (front row, fifth from the the things that other people overcome. and ethnic equality, Indigenous rights, religious left) with rupee Pallan e graduation picture, of Corol and Rupee freedom, and two official languages. next to her. Pallan, captures a moment in which a simmering I’m proud of that law, as a Canadian. I’m proud love affair — kept in the background for most of of its foresight, enlightenment, and decency. I also their undergraduate years — blossoms into open know that laws are about people and until we commitment. relate to each other’s experience we can’t, as indi- It symbolizes something born out of racial tol- viduals, fulfill the aspirations set out in things like erance in a time of racial tension. His family origi- the Multicultural Policy of Canada. nated from India. Her family came from the UK. at’s why stories like those of Pallans, begin- ning on page 16, need to be shared, especially in this milestone year in the country’s history. T

address updates editor president, uViC alumni and CorreCtions Mike McNeney, Dipl ’03 assoCiation [email protected] Lesley Patten, BCom ’96 art direCtion TORCH Rayola Creative letters Publication Mail Agreement No. Volume 38, number 1 • Spring 2017 e Torch welcomes mail from readers Clint Hutzulak, BA ’89 40010219 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses e UVic Torch Alumni Magazine is published in the spring and au- who wish to comment on anything they’ve read in the magazine. ChanCellor to: tumn by the University of Victoria, Division of External Relations and Correspondence may be edited for Shelagh Rogers Advancement Services the UVic Alumni Association. We acknowledge and respect the Lk- clarity and length prior to publication. University of Victoria wungen-speaking peoples on whose traditional territory the univer- president and ViCe-ChanCellor PO Box 1700 STN CSC sity stands and the Songhees, Esquimalt and WSÁNEĆ peoples UVic Torch Alumni Magazine Jamie Cassels, QC Victoria BC V8W 2Y2 whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day. PO Box 1700 STN CSC Victoria, BC V8W 2Y2 ViCe-president external Printed in Canada ISSN 1191-7032 phone: 250-721-6000 relations toll-free: 1-800-808-6828 Carmen Charette e-mail: [email protected] uvic.ca/torch

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UVIC ALUMNI ASSOCIATION 2017 Annual General Meeting

WHAT DOES BANKING HAVE TO DO WITH SOCIAL CHANGE? A conversation with Vancity President and CEO Tamara Vrooman, MA ’95, BA ’91.

Wednesday, June 21 | 6:30 p.m. | University Club of Victoria 6:30 p.m. Registration and refreshments 7 p.m. Alumni association business meeting followed by Tamara Vrooman in conversation with Stacy Ross, BFA ‘97 (CHEK TV news anchor and alumni board member). Reception follows

Please visit alumni.uvic.ca for board of director nomination information. Nominations must be received at least seven days before the annual general meeting.

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president’s perspeCtiVe Imagining the future of Canada actively creating the kind of country we all want

By Jamie caSSelS, Qc • PreSident and Vice-chancellor

anada’s 150th Anniversary is our opportuni- strategies to further support and advance excel- ty to actively create the kind of country we lence and impact. It emphasizes our goal of inte- Call want to live in. We are a nation of grating research and education and describes areas builders, doers, thinkers, seekers, and connecters, of dynamic capability where we have achieved or and all Canadians play a role in imaging how we have the capacity to achieve global leadership. will contribute to the betterment of our future and UVic has reaffirmed our commitment to act on our rapidly changing global society. the recommendations from the Truth and Recon- As a university, UVic is in a unique position to ciliation Report and to become leaders and part- bring people together from a wide spectrum of ners in building reconciliation. In UVic’s first places, experiences, backgrounds, and perspec- Indigenous Plan, we embrace our commitment to tives to develop and exchange ideas through criti- enhance educational opportunities for Indigenous cal conversations. We are dedicated to working students, to further develop education, research, with our partners locally, nationally, and globally outreach and engagement with an Indigenous Diversity, to make a difference. Universities are places of dia- focus, and to engage more effectively with Indige- logue, discovery, education and knowledge mobi- nous communities. We will provide opportunities inclusion and lization — all of which we will need to imagine the and venues to foster intercultural understanding future of Canada and it’s role on the global stage. and connection, and to be a catalyst for reconcilia- mutual In January, I attended the Converge 2017 Con- tion through both conversations and actions. ference in Ottawa where young Canadian entre - With the new International Plan, we will con- respect will preneurs, creators and innovators joined leading tinue to work together to prepare globally compe- thinkers from universities, businesses and com- tent students, develop and disseminate carry us munities to share ideas on building an innovative, knowledge, and make significant contributions to prosperous and inclusive Canada for 2067. e global initiatives that enhance peace, health, envi- forward. message I took away was that universities have a ronment and prosperity both locally and interna- central role to play in the continuing process of tionally. Globalization is among the most building our country; in particular, contributing to important forces shaping higher education, and inclusive growth in a rapidly changing economy, indeed the world, today. Building stronger inter- responding to pressing social and environmental cultural connections around the globe, and here challenges, and reconciliation with Canada’s First on campus, will help our community. Peoples. As UVic helps to imagine the future of Cana- Our vision at UVic is to be the Canadian uni- da, I am confident the values at the centre of our versity that best integrates outstanding scholar- university’s vision — diversity, inclusion and ship, inspired teaching and real-life experiences. mutual respect — will carry us forward. e We aspire to be the university of choice for excep- search for ideas, knowledge and truth, and the tional students, faculty and staff. We are deeply effort to make a positive contribution to our world committed to equity and diversity as the neces- is critical in order to guard and strengthen our sary underpinnings of excellence in education, academic environment and the values upon the development of new knowledge and cross- which it depends. In keeping with UVic’s commit- cultural understanding. ment to tackling essential issues, the university With our vision as the framework, we are setting will hold events throughout 2017 that explore the policy directions to prepare UVic for the future. We key opportunities and challenges facing Canadi- will be guided with a suite of recently finalized ans leading up to the country’s 2067 bicentennial. plans, including our Strategic Research Plan, our Canada’s 150th is an occasion for us to live up International Plan and our first Indigenous Plan. to our obligation to connect with, be a part of, and Our Research Plan provides an overarching contribute to our community, here and beyond. account of our research capacities and sets out Join us as we envision the future of Canada. T

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ringside Looking 50 Years Back of centennials and sesquicentennials

Canada: in art and thought

the legacy art galleries — downtown and on campus — have several shows lined up to reflect on Canada and the 150th anniversary of confederation. among them is kwakwaka’wakw artist marianne nicolson’s video installation “there’s blood in the rocks.” it uses pictographic imagery and song in her telling of the history of the 1862 fficially opened in May 1967 by the small pox epidemic Queen’s cousin, Princess Alexandra of in Victoria that oKent, Centennial Stadium rises in the claimed thousands of foreground of this photo from the UVic archives. indigenous lives. Construction of the stadium, marking the the university is 100th anniversary of Canadian confederation, was also hosting a series paid for by the federal and provincial govern- of Canada 150 ments along with the four core municipalities. signature events Victoria had wanted the stadium built at Topaz throughout the year Park while Saanich favoured the Burnside- including, in Tillicum area. UVic was the compromise site and …and 50 years ahead november, the it was built for about half a million dollars. Victoria Forum on Centennial Stadium was the focal point of the everyone has hopes and aspirations for diversity and 1994 Commonwealth Games opening and closing Canada. What are yours, looking 50 years down inclusion. ceremonies plus countless other high-profile ath- the road? the university’s “oh Canada! Video details of all of letics events over the years. Vision project” (uvic.ca/Canada150) is a chance uVics’ Canada 150 Convocation ceremonies used to be conducted for you to give your take on Canada’s future, events and exhibits there too. In 1969, when Sir Edmund Hillary — the type of country you want, and the impact can be found at mountaineer, explorer, philanthropist — received you hope to make. post a one-minute selfie uvic.ca/Canada150. his honorary degree, he quipped that the notorious video from your phone or camera. a random Centennial Stadium winds were as chilly as Everest. $500 prize will be awarded oct. 16.

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in Quotes

“reconciliation is a big word. i think it begins with us being in the same room together. i really miss the truth and reconciliation commission gatherings because they did bring us together, indigenous and non-indigenous people. We cried and we laughed at those gatherings. it was so important to be able to do that.”

— chancellor Shelagh rogers, an honorary Witness to the trc, from an interview she gave during alumni Week about her cBc career, UVic, and her work in social justice. in the photo: rogers with her friend Sharon “gramma Suzie” Shorty after an impromptu leg wrestling contest during the interview. final score: Shorty 1, rogers 0.

neWs and notes 5 more years Prof. Jamie cassels will remain as university president and vice-chancellor for a second term. he was unanimously approved by the UVic Board of governors, following a unanimous recommendation from the committee for the appointment of the president. his next five-year term will start July 1, 2018. Board chair daphne corbett said cassels represents a passionate commitment to UVic’s role in education, research and community engagement. Under cassels’s leadership since 2012 the university has adopted a new indigenous plan; campus plan; international strategy; strategic research plan; and enhanced services for students and financial awards. Consent and respect a campus-wide policy addressing sexualized War Stories violence — identifying support mechanisms, prevention and education measures, and it’s been 100 years since the World War i Battle for Vimy ridge and the UVic implementation steps — has been adopted by the libraries has a wealth of materials online (including photos, letters, artifacts) university’s board of governors. it follows a year of that tell the diverse stories of soldiers and their families. it’s in a digital exhibit consultation and research by 16-member working called Victoria to Vimy. group of students, faculty and staff led by dr. drawn from records and mementoes entrusted to the UVic Special annalee lepp of the department of gender Studies. collections and archives, the materials provide a compelling account of a the policy’s first purpose is to “instill and cultivate moment in history that shaped canadian identity since it was the first time institutional, collective, and individual troops from across the country fought together. responsibility” for a campus environment where the above photo — showing the 21st canadian battalion crossing the rhine “consent and respect are foundational principles at Bonn, germany — is from the collection of Joseph B. clearihue, WWi veteran and practices.” and UVic’s first chancellor.

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nostalgia YouTunes this issue’s alumni snap survey generated a Wurlitzer’s worth of responses about songs, bands and gigs that trigger uVic memories. What songs served as your perfect study accompaniment? the go-to track for the best parties? the song the guy in residence played over and over?

i found a recording of respighi’s “ancient and seemingly-endless road. perfect for airs and dances” and played that sucker late-night studying! – Neil Stubbs, MA ’92 until i wore out the grooves. John lee hooker at a small club on – Gabriole Wilson, BFA ’86 lower Johnson around 1980 was a U2 epitomized my highlight. an inspiring break from questioning faith of biology studies that i have never that time, my desire regretted. – Ed Dobyns, BSc ’82 to take action for tragically hip was the soundtrack for my human rights, and spirit of the West in the UVic days. When i took running breaks sometimes just to from studying, the songs from Fully, cadboro commons rock out. i still live Completely helped to inspire my runs, cafeteria in the mid-’90s. Fleetwood mac by “in the name of especially up the hills! reflected the love.” – Catherine – Carolynn Smallwood, MA ’96 Since we were living in time and place Novak, BA ’85 residence, it was right on in life that i/we were. their lyrics a hootenanny in the (really) old gym our doorstep! – Anonymous and music were featured ian and sylvia tyson. not a big deep and western fan, but they played some great i remember Friday nights at the red reflective, music and it was really jumping! lion and a great Victoria band called the mysterious at – Jack Miller, MEd ’86 Pharoahs. i studied to Simon & garfunkel. times (or) simply good memories! – Shirley Martin, BA ’73 goofy and fun. “heat of the moment” by asia. the first they mark a tom Waits and song that came on my car radio as i fond time in my leon redbone. i drove up to ring road the first day of relationship with listened to them all undergrad in 1982. my now- the time, especially – Chris Alveberg, BSc ’85, LLB ’88 husband. when stoned. in “kids” by mgmt played at every soccer – Pauline 1978 they played game at centennial Stadium in my first Johnson, BSW ’80 together on a bill at term. always associate it with (awesome) the (then new) first days at school! University centre auditorium. an – Alexander Kurial, BA ’14 incredible performance. one morning when getting xtC at the farquhar auditorium, march 2, – Kevin Paul, MA ’89 ready to ride my bike up to 1980, touring in support of “drums and Cannonball adderley sextet at the UVic, nirvana’s “Smells like Wires.” – Kevin Wright, BA ’82 Victoria college young Building in 1962. teen Spirit” came on. music it was great to pogo to doa and just go – Bill Hubbard, BA ’65 crazy. – James Tirrul-Jones, BA ’79 “Big log” by robert Plant was an eerily became grungy and got the night Valdy and mario martinelli atmospheric song that evoked images of my creative juices flowing. were at Jampot (the SUB coffee house) a solitary night-time drive along a dark – John Runions, PhD ’97 and spent the night trying to upstage one another. What great performers! Steely dan’s “reelin’ in the years.” Floor – Pattie Whitehouse, BSc ’72 parties in the purple lounge in craigdarroch residence. prince in december 2011. i was so – Howard Robertson, BSc ’81 completely mesmerized, inspired and blown away. it was the greatest show i’ve more responses and song clips at ever seen. – Anonymous uvic.ca/alumni.

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researCh

Send in the ‘Bots undergrad’s research opens doors, robotically

by miChelle Wright, bsC ‘99

’m interested in removing people — the mechanical engineering opened the door to a cool co-op work term in Van- human element — from dangerous situations,” co-op student thomas couver with virtual reality developer Archiact. isays omas Gilmour, an undergraduate stu- gilmour (above) with a e company is developing virtual reality dent in Mechanical Engineering who has a knack robotic spider at archiact, robots that — with a joystick and VR headset — for robotics. a Vancouver-based virtual could ultimately enable the operator to see what He sees a future in which smart robots have reality developer. the robot sees. It might be used in a collapsed key roles in search and rescue, reconnaissance, building or anywhere it’s too dangerous to send in surveillance operations — even in healthcare set- search and rescue teams or other personnel. tings. “Imagine a robot on a hospital ﬂoor capable His co-op term ﬁnds him doing “rapid proto- of delivering samples to another department, eas- typing” of hardware and software design concepts ily darting around hospital workers and patients.” to improve the robot’s functions. It dovetails nicely at’s what he had in mind when he designed with his undergraduate research. “e rapid and built his prototype for an autonomous mobile development of a working concept for JCURA robot. It can make its own map, orient itself and directly translated to my work at Archiact,” he says. plan a route, all while simultaneously avoiding Longterm, Gilmour has an eye on several moving objects. No small feat. robotics companies in the Silicon Valley and, Gilmour did the design and build alongside eventually, he plans to start up his own company one of his profs, as one of some 120 students sup- once the right idea hits. ported this year with Jamie Cassels Undergraduate Research Awards (JCURA). e program includes a Undergraduate research, supported by Cassels $1,500-tuition credit and in Gilmour’s case, awards, is incredibly varied. In another example

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from this year’s crop, Annina Altherr, studying Altherr focused her research on the 6,000-km2 Geography, looked at ways to mitigate marine SGaan Kinghlas-Bowie Seamount Marine Protect- traffic noise in an environmentally sensitive area ed Area (SK-B MPA). west of Haidi Gwaii. It’s ripe with light and nutrients in an other- She urges the precautionary principle. “e wise barren region of the Pacific — and a magnet idea is to try to prevent some of the impacts while for whales and Pacific white-sided dolphins. It we are still figuring out what, exactly, the impacts also lies at the crossroads of busy shipping lanes. are,” she says. Altherr set out to show how noise reduction, Noise from ships is now a dominant feature of which she says is not currently a management pri- keeping it quiet: an the undersea soundscape, rising as much as 12dB ority in the area, could be achieved. She designed undergraduate in some regions. noise management scenarios based on those geography researcher “Shipping noise is ubiquitous,” says Altherr, already in place elsewhere and used GIS software examined ways to “and chronic.” It’s also at the same sound frequen- to determine the impact of various schemes on mitigate marine traffic cy as baleen whale vocalizations. “It’s kind of like marine traffic patterns. noise near protected trying to have a conversation with someone in a She spoke to stakeholders and experts, and areas. room full of other people all speaking at once.” met weekly with her two faculty supervisors. “We bounced around ideas, figured out challenges, and came up with new directions and perspec- tives together.” Her conclusion? Buffer zones — spatial and/or temporal exclusion zones — would be the most effective way to address noise pollution in the area. e size of the zone would depend on industry and stakeholder agreement. “Stakeholder input and approval is important,” says Altherr, “because it is the shipping industry, not the whales, that ultimately have to alter their behavior. It comes down to cost and the willing- ness of industry.”

helping hands VhP member Josh Coutts, Beng ’14. the Victoria hand project — an off-shoot of the mechanical engineering department that supplies low-cost artificial limbs to amputees in the developing world — is getting a helping hand of its own. it won $250,000 from google impact challenge canada, one of 10 grant recipients from a pool of more than 900 applicants. the VhP, profiled in the autumn 2015 Torch, is led by Prof. nick dechev and employs 3-d printing technology to produce prosthetic arms and hands for about $400. of the 40 million amputees worldwide, 80 per cent live in low- to middle- income countries and less than five per cent have access to prosthetic care. VhP is in five countries: nepal, haiti, cambodia, ecuador and guatemala. the new funding will support planned expansion into egypt and elsewhere. “i’m proud of the team,” dechev says, “and really look forward to this next phase of VhP as we ramp up for a much bigger presence and impact worldwide.”

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neWs about people, teaChing and researCh Across Campus

diane Sam, of the Songhees first nation, with lekwungen and SenĆoŦen translations of the douglas treaties. See details under faculty of humanities.

gustaVson sChool oF held on Nov. 17 – 19. size satellites to rockets, wave at the Royal Shakespeare business uvic.ca/victoriaforum. energy monitoring buoys and Company, the Banff Centre UVic and Global Affairs unmanned aerial vehicles, and the University of Alberta. Canada will co-host the FaCulty oF some of campus’ top tech labs “I’m ready to make this Victoria Forum to mark Canada education took their most innovative position my own.” e only 150 and identify opportunities dr. tim black (Educational projects-in-progress to Canadian stage designer to further Canada’s diversity Psychology & Leadership demonstrate at the second selected to participate in the agenda, domestically and Studies) has joined Wounded #bCteCh summit in Vancouver prestigious 2017 World Stage internationally. “Emerging Warriors Canada as its in March. Teams from the Design in Taiwan in July, Du populist agendas, declining national clinical advisor, on a Victoria Hand Project, the Wors was also one of only six trust in our key institutions, pro bono basis. Black Centre for Aerospace Canadian design teams increasing protectionism and specializes in post-traumatic Research, and the West Coast selected for the Prague anxiety about migration stress disorder, military-to- Wave Initiative were among Quadrennial in 2015…Fine Arts worldwide make the need to civilian transition issues, and the 5,500 participants. has also launched a new minor present an alternative group counselling. It’s a new in digital and interactive media narrative highlighting the role for the organization and FaCulty oF in the arts, designed to benefits of diversity, openness created in partnership with Fine arts develop new skills, enhance and inclusiveness of vital UVic. Black will provide expert Award-winning theatrical importance,” says Saul Klein, overview of the organizations designer Patrick Du Wors, Dean of the Peter B. Gustavson growing programs of services BFA ’02, is the newest faculty School of Business and chair of for the well-being of veterans, member in the Department of the forum. In panels, plenaries first responders and their eatre. As assistant professor and think-tank sessions, the families. of design, Du Wors steps in for international gathering will the recently retired Allan assess Canada’s successes and FaCulty oF Stichbury. “Having seen what challenges going forward. is engineering other institutions are doing, I UVic signature event will be From 3D-printed prosthetic was happy to come back here,” hands, stem cells and shoebox- says Du Wors, who also trained Patrick du Wors

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visual literacy and explore the First Nations between 1850–54, has mentored more than 1,400 proteins in 20 different tissues. intersections of art, media and covering small areas of students, giving them valuable, Also funded is Dr. Fraser Hof, culture. Vancouver Island. Because the practical skills working with Department of Chemistry, who treaties were oral agreements, clients and in the courts. Join receives $238,800 to investigate FaCulty oF not committed to paper in the the anniversary celebration “methylation” — the smallest human & social case of nine of them until June 9th at 5 pm at the Law form of biochemical control development months later, it has always Centre, 850 Burdett Ave. switch that has huge After hearing stories from been a question of what the implications for how cells outreach workers about First Nations agreed to. uniVersity function, especially in diseases vulnerable people dying in the WSÁNEĆ elder John Elliot, one libraries such as cancer. e project will streets, dr. kelli stajduhar, of the translators, says that the Lara Wilson, MA ’99, Director advance a tool developed by co- associate director of SENĆOŦEN language had no of Special Collections and Hof and his team that could research and scholarship in words to express the treaty University Archivist, has been transform diagnostics, the School of Nursing and an phrase, “the land…becomes named one of BC’s top Change therapies and research related affiliate with UVic’s Institute the entire property of the white makers for 2017 by the BC to aggressive cancers. on Aging and Lifelong Health, people forever.” Instead, he Museums Association. Wilson launched a study on palliative says the treaties were has collaborated with Dr. FaCulty oF care options for the homeless. understood as peace Aaron Devor on developing social sciences She wrote and spoke publicly agreements — with no land and promoting the UVic People are usually linked to on the disconnect between the surrender. Transgender Archives, and degraded landscapes but high value of palliative care continues to advocate for the 13,000 years of repeated and its lack of availability in FaCulty oF transgender community occupation by BC’s coastal Canada (and her efforts were law through her work. She also First Nations has actually had profiled in autumn 2016 is year the uVic law Centre works with colleagues on the opposite effect. Award- edition of the Torch). Her work turns 40! e Law Centre, preservation and digitization winning research by a team has also earned her the 2017 attached to the law courts in initiatives, rare print materials from the School of Ehor Boyanowsky Academic of downtown Victoria, serves selection and acquisition, Environmental Studies, found the Year Award — from the between 1,800 and 2,000 low- exhibit planning and donor that rainforests benefit from Confederation of University income clients per year and is relations. “Rare books and being close to shell middens Faculty Associations of BC — the longest-running common- archival materials only have left by shellfish harvesting as for outstanding contributions law clinical program in value to society,” says Wilson, soils at habitation sites are to the community. Canada. Since opening in 1977, “if people have access to higher in calcium and the Law Centre has served over them.” phosphorous. ey say coastal FaCulty oF 70,000 clients in the Greater BC is the first known example humanities Victoria area and has become FaCulty oF of long-term intertidal One hundred and sixty-seven a pillar of student education at science resource use enhancing forest years after they were originally UVic Law, thanks in large part A project co-led by biochemist productivity and they expect “signed,” the Vancouver Island to Prof. Glenn Gallins, director Dr. Christoph Borchers from the pattern to be found at or douglas treaties were of the centre and teacher of the the uVic genome bC archaeological sites along translated into two local Law Centre clinical term. He proteomics Centre has $3.8 other, global coastlines. e languages for a conference co- million in new funding from findings were published in hosted in February by the Genome Canada to make Nature Communications and Department of History, Faculty mouse models more powerful recently received an award of Law, and the Songhees First and meaningful to the study of from the Ecological Society of Nation. e translations offer health and disease. e America. new insights into what the project, conducted with the Indigenous peoples might Leibniz Institute of Analytical have agreed to so long ago. Sciences in Germany, will James Douglas was develop a prototype representing the British Crown proteomics-based process for when he made 14 treaties with UVic law centre rapid analysis of 3,000 mouse

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philanthropy Steel to Sky one of the major modern sculptors in the last half century, Jeﬀrey rubinoﬀ concerned himself with art history but he also had the future in mind

by sarah tarnopolsky

the late artist JeFFrey rubinoFF, in 2016, at his hornby island sculpture park.

n the shadow of Mount Geoffrey, a ridge on the context within which the work becomes meaningful, it is imperative that Hornby Island formed millions of years ago, the general public, artists and art educators understand them if the work is to isculpture Jeffrey Rubinoff one day last year led be fully appreciated.” visitors around his more than 100 steel artworks Rubinoff first became acquainted with members of the Faculty of Fine Arts that appear to dance across the landscape. Rubi- through his annual “Company of Ideas” forum, held at his 200-acre sculpture noff, who passed away in January, stopped at each park (and home) on Hornby Island. e forum, which brings together inter- one to explain its form and significance, identify national scholarly collaborators to share specific insights within their special- its place within a series, and each series’ place ties, is part of the sculpture park’s educational program. within his life’s work. He spoke not only about the When Art History and Visual Studies Prof. Allan Antliff attended the forum, siting of the piece on his acreage on an island in he and Rubinoff immediately hit it off. In subsequent discussions, Rubinoff the Salish Sea — how it might echo, or even act as began to see the role UVic could play in his goals for the advancement of edu- a counterpoint to its surroundings — but also cation in the arts. about that sculpture’s place in the expanded field He decided to fund an ongoing four-year doctoral fellowship in modern of the history of art. and contemporary art history to support graduate and faculty research. “It’s He was an artist who chose to isolate himself local, and they’re there,” he said, meaning the faculty is in sync with his own from the commercial art world and he had an ideas. He also provided funding for two graduate or undergraduate students evolving theory about the interplay of creativity, to attend the Company of Ideas forum. art appreciation and time. “Studying world art creates opportunities for intercultural understanding, “My sculptural work is completely dedicated to as people instantly connect with the visual,” Rubinoff said. “(It) can add to the art history,” he once wrote. “Original ideas grow richness of our lives, engage us with the past and present, and inform how we out of original work, which led me to see art as a think about our world.” T source of knowledge. Since these insights form

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arts Burdwood Islands, Ten Years Later bC poet emily nilsen, bFa ’03, evokes a precise sense of place — and the tenuous nature of relationships — in her debut collection, Otolith

Mostly the same. ough I can hardly remember what it felt like to sleep on the beach beside you. We had both forgotten our toothbrushes and that night it rained the scent of wild mint. To get to the island we took turns rowing, facing each other, legs in legs, one backward, the other forward. Revisiting the beach now, I crunch over crushed clams, dried urchins, a jerry can ditched in the bush, and want to know exactly when and why the cedars dropped their branches. e tree we camped under is no longer a tree. It is gaunt. Sun-beaten yellow, soon to be twisted like the others that jut out from rockshore. I am writing to retrieve that forgotten part of us, the part we left behind.

Every rock I overturn is rimmed in dried-up rings of brine.

a Canadian loVe story

turning point: the 1967 graduation dance marked an even bigger milestone for corol and rupee Pallan.

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When Rupee Met Corol their relationship began on a dare in a not-so-quiet section of the mcPherson library. Being from diﬀerent cultures in the 1960s the odds were against them.

by mike mCneney

he BiblioCafé isn’t the easiest place to find a seat at the best of times. On a March “If we’re morning, with caffeine-seeking students nearing the end of spring term, the place twas especially busy. But there sat Rupee and Corol Pallan at a table near one of the going to glass walls that afford a view toward the McPherson Library’s main stairs. ey have memories for each and every step that climbs above the bustle to the third floor, to the get spot in the back corner where they first met one day in November of 1964. “It was a party zone in here. People just goofed around and socialized, which was married fine,” recalled Corol, thinking back to chairs and stacks that used to be where the café now operates. She was a “frosh” trying to get through her first term. “I was determined we’ve got not to be one of many who flunked out at Christmas. I went to find this quiet place, which I had been told was upstairs. It wasn’t any quieter up there.” She laughed and to make looked over at Rupee. “Especially because of these guys.” “All the East Indian guys hung out up there,” Rupee picked up the story. “We were all this work.” good buddies (and) we’re still friends. I remember going up those stairs many times.” Days went by until finally his friends grew tired of hearing Rupee go on about the “girl in the black coat” who always walked by their so-called study table. One of them bet him that he couldn’t get a date with her. He smoothly walked over and as fate would have it she was reading up on Educa- tional Psychology 101, a course he had already taken. “I just started chit-chatting her and asked her if she would like to meet for a coffee. She said yes. I went back to the table and said, Pay up!” He won a $2-case of Lucky Lager — and the love of his life.

mistaken identity

Only a few weeks before they agreed to go for their ﬁrst date, the Martlet carried a headline that echoed the struggles of the ‘60s civil rights movement in the United States and brought to light a close-to-home example of the ugliness and ignorance of racism. On the front page of the Nov. 6, 1964 issue, the student paper had a story with the headline: Coloured Date Questioned.

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e article revealed how the director of the student resi- He took the family back to the Punjab during World War II, dences admitted she had chastized a female student, asking her when the Canadian government was threatening to conscript “What would her mother think?” about her dating an East Indi- Indian immigrants even though they couldn’t vote or own land. an. e incident ignited a controversy that spread from campus ey returned in 1947, the year of India’s independence. Rupee and to the broader community. was 3. It wasn’t publicized at the time, but the “coloured” student in “My dad had forbidden me to date white women. He told me question was Rupee. I would finish university and go back to India and get married “ere was this big party in a barn in Saanich. Everybody was the traditional way (in an arranged marriage),” Rupee said. supposed to go,” he said. “So I asked this young girl that I knew. “My parents didn’t approve either. Which shocked me,” She got a little looped with too much alcohol and she fell and Corol added. “I was really quite astounded when my parents she scraped her nylons. She was really getting quite drunk. So, I told me that I couldn’t date Rupee because they had raised me said to her, I think I’m going to take you back. is is not going to to be accepting and tolerant. I was young and I couldn’t go be good.” against their wishes, especially if I wanted to stay at home and When they got to the dorms they were met by the residences finish university.” director. “She saw this East Indian guy with a lady with torn For the next few years, although their relationship had the nylons and mud all over her and she said, ‘at’s just far support of friends and siblings, they opted for friendship over enough, sonny. I’ll take her from here.’” boyfriend/girlfriend status and went about their preparations UVic’s student population was a relatively small group of for careers as teachers. 3,000 and only six or seven of the male students were East Indi- In 1967 — Canada’s centennial year and four years before an. “Eventually the president called me into his office and said, multiculturalism was adopted as an official policy — Rupee Was that you? I said yes. He said, Can you tell me about it? So I received his bachelor of education degree. After the convoca- told him.” e woman later left her job. tion ceremony in “I was in first-year English, sitting over there in the Elliott the Old Gym there Building,” said Corol. “e professor came in and put the Mart- was one of the last let on the overhead projector and that was the assignment — to formal graduation write about the (issue) in a 200-word essay, opposing or agree- galas — corsages, ing with the (residences manager). I never learned until a very tuxedoes, gowns, long time afterward that Rupee (was involved). I remember orchestra — at the being appalled that there was such a situation in Victoria. I felt it Empress Hotel’s was racist. I didn’t even approve of it being called the ‘coloured Crystal Ballroom. date issue.’” For Corol and Rupee, it also grad ’67: the turning point marked a major personal mile- After that initial meeting upstairs in the library, and against the stone. backdrop of turbulent times, their romance began to blossom. “It was the day But there were other, more personal obstacles. ere were ten- of the dance that I sions between traditions — the way things had always been shake on it: told my parents that I was going to done and expected in families — and a dawning era of racial rupee Pallan and Rupee’s graduation. at was the turning and religious tolerance. tom dheensaw at point in terms of our commitment to Although Rupee was born in India, his grandfather was part the 1967 convocation each other,” Corol said. “I told my par- of the first wave of immigrants from India, arriving in Victoria ceremony, about ents, this is what I’m going to do. ey in 1906. three years after came around and were extremely sup- He was a labourer at a time when wages were determined dheensaw lost the portive of us. And they fell in love with according to ethnicity: 10 cents-an-hour if your skin was white, 9 bet on whether Rupee, too.” cents for East Indians, 8 cents for Chinese, 6 cents for Indige- rupee would get a nous. date with corol.

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Two years later they got engaged and took their vows. But it “Dad had After three years, he made vice-prin- still wasn’t going down so well with Rupee’s side of the family. cipal (the first East Indian to do so in “When I told them I was going to get married to a Canadian forbidden Sooke). Four years after that, he became girl, well Mom and Dad just flipped. ey told me they had been principal and by the time his 35-year let down, that their life had been ruined. My dad said he was me to date career ended he was the Sooke district’s going to cut me out of the will. It was just a horror show,” Rupee longest-serving principal. said. “He brought the whole family — aunts and uncles — to the white “I couldn’t have asked for a better job. house one time. He offered to bribe (Corol) to walk away.” Both of us,” he said. “Probably one of my “Probably my father-in-law never accepted me. But he treat- women. saddest days was on the last day of ed me respectfully,” Corol said. “When I provided him with two school when I had to go to my office and grandsons, that was very important. Had it been girls…I don’t he told me take my name plate off the door, close it know.” and walk out.” ey were married in 1969 in Vic West’s St. Saviour’s Angli- I would get Corol taught elementary school for 23 can Church, by a Pakistani Muslim who had converted to Angli- years, almost entirely in the Sooke dis- canism. Even Corol’s paternal grandfather, initially “horrified” married trict as well, and had a flair for computer- by their mixed marriage, came to the wedding. based education. She spent 10 years of “My grandfather figured that if a man of colour, a man of the the her retirement researching 200 years of Muslim faith could become an Anglican then probably there their respective family history. Her self- was hope,” she said. “He was very strict in his religion. It was traditional published book won the 2015 Family His- quite interesting to see (them meet) at our wedding.” tory Book Award from the BC “I remember telling (Corol), if we’re going to get married way.” Genealogical Society. we’ve got to make this work,” Rupee said. “Because if it didn’t After all that time in Sooke schools, they would all say, ‘We told you so. You guys are idiots for doing you get to be known around town. what you did.’ We made a pact and decided to get married.” “ere are so many (former students) I see in our community who stop and say Class Couple hello,” Rupee said. Corol smiled, rolled her eyes in mock Campus life at UVic in the mid-‘60s was all about camaraderie. resignation. “I don’t go shopping with Big crowds went to Vikes hockey games on Friday nights. him. He stops and chats with half the Rupee’s UVic East Indian Club held an infamous party one world.” T night at the Boilermakers Hall in Esquimalt. Students were close-knit. e Pallans still socialize and vacation with friends they met at university. Even now, coming back to campus brings back the feeling of those early days of the university’s history when everyone seemed to know each other. And their academic life gave them the foundations of what turned out to be pretty rewarding careers in the public school system. Teachers with education degrees were fairly rare in the ‘60s and school districts were offering jobs left, right and centre to university grads. Even before she finished her bachelor of education in 1968, Corol had nearly a dozen job offers from across the province. In the fall of 1967, Rupee started with the Sooke School Dis- trict. His first posting was at Savory Elementary in Langford. “I was hired on the spot. I didn’t even have a resume. All I had the Pallans, on a recent were my marks.” return to campus.

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ideas

Five thought leaders tackle some of the grand challenges the country faces today

by mike mCneney PhotograPhy By greg miller and loUiSe maJor Canada, Fast Forward

Here’s something to think about. Suppose you were asked to consider what if? As in, if you could be free from the usual time, ﬁnancial or political constraints what would you change about life in Canada. As the country marks its sesquicentennial — and much like any birthday celebration — it’s a moment to not just mark a milestone and look back. It’s also a time to assess, set goals, possibly move in a new direction. It’s an occasion to ask something diﬀerent of ourselves or our lives. It begins with dreams. Big, audacious, bold dreams that are rarely easy to accomplish. But what if? What if you could implement a law, create a policy, raise public awareness…make something change. What would it be?

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the issue Indigenous Justice

the idea Reconciliation misses the point unless Indigenous communities are empowered with their own land base.

Gerald Taiaiake Alfred (from Kahnawá:ke in the Mohawk Nation) is a professor and founding director of the Indigenous Governance program.

anada should just give us our land back. Because Canada, Land claims today are mainly characterized as an eﬀort Cand Canadians have committed to reconciliation, the by the Canadian government to restrict, or obscure, or assumption is that in doing so Canadians want to heal. ey confuse, or minimize what is outlined in the law. If the want to address the harms of the past, and they want to Canadian government just stopped doing that, it would be a achieve a just relationship with Indigenous peoples. huge step forward. It’s very strategic, on the part of the Canadian government, Most of the land we’re referring to is occupied by resource to frame it as reconciliation because it’s a hopeful vision. And extraction companies. If Native people are brought into the a lot of people are drawn to it. But I think for people like me, contemporary governance of Canada, on the basis of treaties, it and for people in the communities, that’s not what we were would not mean a mass exclusion of non-Indigenous peoples. asking for. What it would mean is a diﬀerent ethic in terms of how powers e root of the matter is, our land was stolen. All of the are used, and environmental ethics as well. It’s not only social, psychological, medical problems that are plaguing positive for Indigenous people, it’s positive for everyone. Indigenous communities are because of that. If reconciliation We weren’t asking for reconciliation. We were asking for doesn’t address the disconnection from the land, it is not our land back so that we can rebuild our nations. And people really doing anything positive with lasting meaning for are starting to come to realize that reconciliation, the way that Indigenous peoples, and therefore justice cannot be achieved. it’s built in the Canadian government’s agenda, is a way to e Canadian government needs to honour the historic distract from the root of the problem. treaties that were signed between it and Indigenous nations. You can’t have collective empowerment without land, All those treaties have outlined in them a land base, and whether you think about it in spiritual terms, cultural terms, nationhood rights, and freedoms for Indigenous peoples in or economic terms. that land base.

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the issue Intolerance

the idea e answer to prejudice and discrimination starts with transformative civic education.

Moussa Magassa is the university’s Human Rights Education Advisor and a PhD candidate.

rejudice and discrimination have become a growing soci- Politicians who use rhetoric that is oppressive, petal issue, not only in Canada but all over the world. Anti- discriminatory, or racist — I think, should be weeded out. e Semitism, Islamophobia, institutional and structural racism law should be very clear that there is a limit to the freedom of against black people, Aboriginal people and other minorities, expression and political immunity. sexualized violence and homophobia — I am really worried If leaders can go around demonizing communities, who about where all this is going to take us. am I to not do the same thing? Such leaders should be As a black person, as a Muslim, and as an immigrant who accountable to the criminal code. does not have English as his first language, I can experience Another sad thing in Canada and in many countries is that prejudice or discrimination from all directions. I have often human rights organizations have lost credibility because of the heard from people that it is almost unavoidable to not be adversarial and win-lose approach to human rights law. Human prejudiced or discriminated against for some reason these rights need to serve the cause of the people, not the whims of days. at is our experience. the lobbyists and the academics or the newsmakers’ agenda. If I could, I would give more teeth to human rights In schools, and especially from the primary level, children commissions and the institutions that can educate about should go through a system where they learn and understand discrimination and prejudice using non-partisan laws and about human rights and its corollaries of social justice, educational curricula that do not favour one cultural intercultural communication, civic and democratic education worldview at the expense of others. and so on. High school courses about prejudice and I would say that anyone who is going to run for office in discrimination should not be optional — they should be Canada, whether it is provincial or federal, should have to learn credit-based, in the curriculum. about prejudice and discrimination issues. ese days, we are I call this overall approach, a transformative civic talking that judges should all undergo sexualized violence education. training and police officers and first responders for implicit We all have the right to know and understand human bias, intercultural sensitivity and mental health training. rights. But most importantly, we need to know our responsibilities toward each other.

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the issue Illicit Drug Overdoses

the idea A multi-faceted public health approach to the opioid epidemic.

Karen Urbanoski holds the Canada Research Chair in Substance Use, Addictions and Health Services and she is a scientist with the Centre for Addictions Research of BC.

anada, and BC in particular, has seen an extraordinary rise local crime rates or property damage to nearby residents. Cin overdoses in the past few years related in part to the Harm reduction should be part of a broader package of emergence of fentanyl and other strong opioids. It shows no health and social programs for housing, primary care, and signs of abating. evidence-based substance use treatment. What does the evidence say about how we can respond to e one consistent finding of research to date is that there this crisis? e answer lies in a public health rather than a is not one type of intervention that works for everyone. We criminal justice response to drug use, including ramping up a need an array of services joined, in turn, with a reduced variety of harm reduction and treatment options, and creating emphasis on criminal justice approaches to controlling drug policies to match. supply and demand. ere is a wealth of evidence that the “war on drugs” has As one example, decriminalization has been implemented failed to reduce the supply and demand of illicit drugs, while in a number of countries over the past decade, largely in causing extensive harms to individuals and communities. Europe and South America. In Portugal (the best evaluated People who use drugs have been criminalized and experiment in decriminalization), drug use did not increase; in stigmatized, with negative impacts on their health and safety, fact, there were declines in drug-related harms and health and their ability to access health and social services, and their legal costs in the decade following decriminalization in 2001. capacity for recovery. Differing political and social contexts make it challenging In contrast, there is evidence supporting harm reduction to generalize findings from other countries to Canada, and the approaches (including supervised consumption sites, causes of drug-related harms are complex. prescription of injectable heroin, distribution of clean needles at said, the current situation in BC is a wake-up call. Our and pipes, and drug testing kits). ey reduce harm to the policies are failing people and they point to the need for a bold individual without increasings harm or risk to the broader response. Given the evidence for a public health framework community. For instance, they do not result in increases in for addressing drug use, why would we not?

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the issue Social Media Echo Chambers

the idea Let’s be more media and information literate.

Janni Aragon is Director of Technology Integrated Learning and recipient of the 2017 Harry Hickman Alumni Award for Excellence in Teaching and Education Leadership.

he term ‘echo chamber’ has been used a lot within the last their consumption of the different types of media and its tyear and a half. I saw it used more during the American forms. And this shouldn’t start in university, it should start presidential election. We get online and we end up following when you hand that toddler that smart phone or iPad or other people who share our world views, social views, political something to play with. views. Gone are the days of agree to disagree. What you disclose, it’s all part of communication, Social media can be great as a connector, for sharing information literacy, and media literacy. We need to think information. It’s great in the classroom. about that within our daily lives. e big thing is, when you are online, on social networking Before you download that app, does it require you to use sites, do your research. geolocation? Do you want to give all your data to someone? Just as I tell my students when we’re looking at a research ey may allege that it’s to make the app better, but then at study: Who funded it? Is it reliable? Is it verifiable? Is it valid? some point (in the fine print) it says: ‘we may sell your Were more than 2,100 people surveyed? I tell them to use the information to third parties who will help us with our app.’ sorts of norms found within quantitative research socials in When I query my students about if they read the terms of social sciences. Some campuses are now offering workshops service, or the privacy policies, no one does. No one does. It’s for students about how to spot real news versus fake news. legalese, it’s painful. I tend to (read them) because if it’s (a One of the things that lots of people have been talking product) that I want to vet or encourage people in my about online and offline, is the importance of information department to use, or faculty to use, I need to know more literacy, or media literacy. And I agree with both. about it. I think that we need to educate everyone to think about But (I admit) when I update my iTunes, I don’t read it their digital footprints, their consumption of information, anymore. Apple has me.

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the issue Refugee Protection

the idea Displacement genealogies would create a more supportive climate for refugees.

Scott Watson is a Department of Political Science associate professor specializing in international relations.

here is no shortage of policy ideas to enhance the protec- Beyond reasserting the platitude that ‘all Canadians (with ttion of refugees and the displaced: more resettlement the exception of First Nations) are immigrants’ and thus options, a revamped international refugee convention, rapid should be hospitable to immigrants and refugees, a response teams, sanctuary cities, enhanced development aid, displacement genealogy would provide a fuller contextual open border policies — the list goes on. understanding of the forces and factors that led them, and Among these options are ‘radical’ alternatives that garner others, to Canada. little support and much opposition. ere are minor It would, at the very least, challenge existing categories of adjustments that don’t address the root causes of migration and shake the belief that the existing system is vulnerability and displacement. Yet even minor changes face working well for Canadians and those forced from their significant resistance and a lack of political will. Several homes in another part of the globe. powerful interests benefit immensely from the existing While it is has become far too easy to dismiss others’ configuration. stories, particularly of groups we have been trained to distrust To build grassroots support for more meaningful changes, (such as asylum seekers), knowing and using one’s own story I would have individuals produce their own displacement of displacement offers a potentially fruitful way to change the genealogy. is genealogy would not just focus on who narrative around forced migration. moved where and when, but on why an individual’s family I also think the displacement genealogy would have a chose (or were forced) to pick up and move, and what second benefit in terms of the Canadian relationship with happened to family and friends left behind. First Nations. Many Canadians would discover that their ancestors were In addition to showing how their own families were forced to move due to a wide range of factors that defy easy displaced — prompting the move to Canada — the categorization as ‘migrants’ or ‘refugees,’ but that severely displacement genealogy could focus on who they, in turn, restricted their family’s life chances. displaced. It wouldn’t solve the ongoing issues around Many would also discover they succeeded, in part, reconciliation and revitalization, it would personalize this because they did not face the highly restrictive migration shared aspect of Canadian history that is often neglected. T regime most migrants face today.

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Forum the

neW by brad buie, ba ‘99 look oF populism

pundit faced with predicting the ing them voice. Such leaders are often news (such as the ‘Euromyth’ about the outcome of a national vote today charismatic, or at least different from the EU banning bananas of incorrect curva- amight be a lot more likely to hesi- ruck of politicians, in that they appear ture). tate than a year ago. Before the Brexit ref- unfiltered and unabashed. To support- In the case of Brexit, the populist erendum and the rise of Donald Trump, ers, they come across as real. Leave movement blamed the European experts were confident in opinions that Ideally, populists can invigorate liber- Union. Membership in the EU, the Leave were based on polling data and comfort- al democracies. Either the so-called side argued, deprived the UK of its able margins of error. elites sit up and take notice of people’s sovereignty as Brussel’s civil servants But when ballots defy predictions, dissatisfaction or they are swept from made the rules, migrants took the jobs and populist sentiment prevails, is it power at election time. On the flip side, and the UK gave more than it got. e proof that insiders and elites just don’t populists may foment anxieties out of all “America first” rhetoric expresses a simi- get it? And what are we to make of pop- proportion to their causes and enact lar sentiment: in deals with other coun- ulism? How is it different in today’s muddled, ruinous agendas. tries, whether on trade such as NAFTA, world and how does it echo the past? What do historians say is behind pre- on defence such as NATO, on the envi- In a recent Ideafest panel discussion sent day populism? In America and ronment such as the Paris Agreement on on campus, and in subsequent inter- across Europe, they cite widespread climate change, the US was being views, four historians offered their anger toward others who represent per- deprived of a past glory. insight. ey acknowledge the rising ceived threats (to their values, prosperi- Can bold populist campaign plat- populist trend but they also agree that it ty, or cultural identity). Wealth forms become policies that deliver on isn’t necessarily a new or unique senti- inequality is a big part of it too. Not since their promises or will they prove to be ment. Nor is it tied to any one ideology. the 1930s has such a gap existed. Oxfam near-sighted and backfire? Populism reflects the state of a International reported this year that ese four historians provide a few democracy. Voters express hopes, anxi- eight individuals have the same wealth cautionary notes. eties, frustrations and populist leaders as the poorest half of the global popula- tap into those ideas and emotions by giv- tion. Terrorism looms. And there’s fake

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1. POPULIST “The Brexit referendum was not the first time the UK has grappled with questions MOVEMENTS ARE related to freedom of movement or trade NOTHING NEW. agreements. In the immediate post-war period and extending into the 1970s and “In 1945, the United States, with six percent of the world’s population, controlled 50 percent of its wealth. e result of early 80s, an influx of migration from the that for the next 25 years was high income, home ownership former empire resulted in substantial and consumer spending. In the midst of this prosperity, conservative populism bubbled. Joseph McCarthy spoke to it efforts towards restriction. These set of when he denounced the government elite that controlled US measures were widely supported by the policy. And figures such as Barry Goldwater in the mid- 1960s spoke to it when he spoke of the distrust of the public on the grounds that they feared the rising liberal state, especially with regard to civil impact that immigrants were perceived to rights reform and the Great Society.” have or might be anticipated to have on Jason Colby, associate Professor of history, specializing in the modern US welfare services such as schools, hospitals, housing and access to jobs.”

niCole longpre, postdoctoral student in modern British history

2. now, as then, populism is a consequence of …and frustrations. “You could make an argument that populism is a corrective of liberal democracy, a reminder that many people What feel disenfranchised; they no longer trust the political system, they don’t feel represented by political history parties; maybe it is a matter of steering established actors in a direction that makes them more responsible.” tells us oliVer sChmidtke, Professor and UVic european Studies Scholar in the departments about it of history and Political Science UVic torch SPring 2017 27 Torch 2017 Spring.qxp_Torch 2017-05-04 1:27 PM Page 28

3. 4. …and of POPULISTS MAY USE failures AND ABUSE THE MEDIA to address those BUT THE PUBLICS’ frustrations. MISEDUCATION IS ALSO SELF-

“Having visited the EU’s office in London and seen the kind of material they had INFLICTED. available, it was really not designed to efficiently communicate their purpose “If you start calling everything “Often we think of social and function to the general public, and fake news and you break media as diversifying our there was very little effort to use the sorts down even more people’s news feeds. But we also of public service announcements that a faith in an objective truth we domestic government would normally can all agree on, then the real know quite the opposite use (civics education in UK schools is fake news can become just as occurs. People go back to really focused on the domestic government, not on the functioning of the EU). legitimate as other sources the very same news feeds. e Remain campaign also fell short on like the New York Times or So we’re receiving from a this score, taking for granted that every- CNN. It’s not that we haven’t one in the UK already knew what the EU seen a government criticize narrower spectrum of the was about and how it worked, which evi- the press, but we’ve never media, which adds dently they did/do not. is was exacer- seen the government go after bated by widespread coverage in the momentum to the the press as a legitimate mainstream and in the tabloid press, polarization.” emphasizing the corruption and the participant in American opacity of politics at the EU level.” democracy.” martin bunton, Professor of history of the modern middle east, world history and niCole longpre Jason Colby colonial land policies

5. aFter the Votes are Counted, issues may persist — or Worsen. “e Vote Leave campaign bus that traveled “Populism often doesn’t have a coherent policy around the UK for six weeks famously agenda. To the surprise of Trump, he realized claimed: ‘We send the EU £350 million a that health care is very complex. Once people week, let’s fund our National Health Service realize these promises can’t be easily instead. Vote leave.’ Not only was the implemented by shutting the doors to statement an ‘alternate fact’ in that the UK immigrants or by slapping high taxes on receives money back from Europe, but once imported goods, the frustration may lead to a the referendum passed, the leaders on the new spiral of disillusionment. You don’t know Leave side abandoned the idea.” where this is going to lead.”

niCole longpre oliVer sChmidtke

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6. Which brings us to the fact that liberal democracies are not a given.

“What allows democracies to work is well “What then is the right response to populist leadership? I educated and engaged citizens. We don’t put caution against the idea that one ought to respond to a right our trust in one charismatic leader. It needs to wing populist leader with a left wing populism because the only path that it seems populism can lead to is one of increasing work on the ground level and by citizens who polarization, increasing breaking of the social trust on which take ownership. What we’ve learned is how democracy relies and risking key elements of the democratic fragile democracy is. We take it for granted; it process: the rule of law, the role of a free press, the judicial can be taken away and that’s what historians system and the welfare of minorities.” can also tell us.” martin bunton

oliVer sChmidtke

7. “The biggest barrier to the rise of a populist movement in And that Canada Canada is the first-past-the- post electoral system. It’s seems to be more incredibly difficult to get elected to office without affiliation to a major political populism-resistant party, so if you were a populist, you would have to win the leadership of one of than elsewhere. those parties in order to win office. This would change if we “My impression is that young “Multiculturalism has become a adopted a different electoral Canadians often take for defining mark of Canadian national system, obviously. identity allowing this country to be granted the social contract defined by the commitment to inclu- Regionalism is also a major and the mutual obligation that siveness and tolerance regarding problem, since in order to be Canadians have built. ey cultural diversity. Populism with its successful the movement don’t understand that it’s renewed emphasis on narrowly would have to have support defined national interests and values across most of Canada.” T more fragile than it seems. e is directly opposed to this vision. peril is that when large Populism proposes traditional niCole longpre sections of your country modes of national identity linking respond to economic change the notion of what constitutes the national community to a particular and immigration with fear, ethno-cultural group (with the which is understandable for implied exclusion of those who are people to react that way. e deemed alien to this community). danger is in no longer seeing e competing vision is one in which the collective identity is tied to fun- your fellow Canadians as part damental rights and values irrespec- of you, that you’re all in this tive of origin and ethno-cultural together.” background.”

Jason Colby oliVer sChmidtke

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VieWpoint Tapestry

borders divide cultures, they don’t have to do the same to empathy

by ashli akins, ba ’09

had worked with indigenous Quechua weavers in Peru for ashli akins (left, almost a decade when one day I noticed something new in with her friend itheir weavings. ey had invented a symbol (or changed the Pamela, in Peru) meaning of an older one) to represent the value of education in graduated in their communities: open and closed books stitched along the environmental tapestry edge. studies and latin When I told colleagues in Canada, I was met with comments american studies, like But they can’t do that! It’s not part of their tradition! ose before receiving a reactions sum up a key problem with globalization and devel- master’s in opment: the “museumification” of culture; that somehow tradi- international human tion is fixed and stagnant, unchanging. rights law from As part of my work with Mosqoy, the charitable organization oxford. She is a Phd I founded 11 years ago to promote educational and cultural student at UBc. rights in the Peruvian Andes, I lead Canadian students on cul- turally responsible field trips. Youth who start with romanti- cized mantras of museumification change after they meet an complex layered truths once the mask of romanticization is elder, take part in a natural-dyeing workshop, or learn from the removed. It’s okay to be grateful and confused, to be proud and land. ey no longer think in terms of us and them. ashamed, as long as we do something with these contradictions. As we mark Canada 150 at a time of such political polariza- Words themselves do not make change and are too easy to hide tion and socioeconomic disparity, let’s think about cross-cultur- behind in this digital age of “slacktivism” and “clicktivism.” al understanding, and the impacts of development and In my work, I’m surrounded by activists who often feel paral- colonization. Perhaps we can use this moment to push our- ysed by pain and guilt. eir ambition fades to apathy. I too selves and each other toward greater empathy, to critically have lost and found my breath too many times to count. One of examine our roles as friends, collaborators, allies, and support- the most important tasks Canadians can do right now is to not ers, and to ask how we can make a positive impact for future become paralysed. To understand where we sit within the big- generations who will live on this land, inside and outside our ger picture, focus on what inspires us — and act. We are needed. nation’s borders. If those who care the most become the most burnt out, silent, Vancouver embraced the motto “City of Reconciliation” after and broken, so too will our country and communities. talking to First Nations elders, and it named the celebrations Let’s tackle the many challenges by supporting one another. “Canada 150 Plus: Moving Forward Together.” To me this is the Let’s start by listening to those who are most affected and greatest honour we could do to celebrate what we consider home. marginalized. As individuals, let’s focus on one or two issues and engage with the rest simply by being educated, empathetic My work in social justice and human rights keeps me abroad citizens. more than half the year. I am grateful to come home to a country I will choose to honour strangers on the street by not objecti- that supports independent artists, acknowledges women’s fying or ignoring them. I will vote. I will host potlucks. When I rights as human rights, and welcomes many immigrants and can, I’ll buy from local artists and retailers, and support socially refugees. But it’s also a place that denies genocide and indige- and environmentally conscious businesses. And I will support nous sovereignty, and that gentrifies urban neighbourhoods by others’ causes through social media shout-outs and simple acts rendering housing inaccessible to many. Mine is a complex of gratitude. home and we are a complicated family. e Quechua women have taught me the beauty of celebrat- When I’m away, these are the stories I share, not the sugar- ing histories while interweaving new meanings, tools, and coated “I am Canadian” slogan. Some of the most interesting methods. We are the protagonists of our living history, the cura- cross-cultural dialogue stems from these juxtaposed stories tors of a story that future generations will read. Let’s make it a because every country — and every culture — reveals its own story about empathy. T

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proFile

ryan cochrane at rio: “i knew it was going to be my last olympics.” A Canadian Champion ryan Cochrane’s performance in the 2008 olympics saved Canadian swimming

by alistair ogden, ba ’18

Bright light of Beijing: the medal that saved team canada from an eight-year drought.

ften in sport, there’s an expectation of a final moment of glory, one where a competitor defies the odds, achieves victory, and is cheered off into the sunset. But for the majority of athletes, that goal is never reached. After winning medals at both Beijing 2008 and London 2012, Rio 2016 was supposed to be swimmer Ryan Cochrane’s final triumph. e Canadian swim team’s co-cap- o tain had his sights on a medal in both the 400-m and 1500-m freestyle events. But two frustrating performances later, he’d finished well back. A storybook ending wasn’t to be but his legacy of achievements in the pool and his impact on the Canadian national team are profound.

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“I knew that (Rio) was going to be my last Olympics,” said Cochrane, BA ’14. “So, e national team was at an historic when my (1500-m) race was halfway over and I knew it wasn’t going well, it was a pretty low point. Cochrane’s teammates had hard event to deal with.” been unable to reach the podium and Seven months after Rio, Cochrane announced his retirement from competitive Canada’s eight-year medal drought in swimming and took on a job with a software company in Victoria. the pool looked set to continue. “It’s been a shift,” he said. “(ere are) parts of being an athlete I miss an incredible But after a performance in the pre- amount already. e newfound freedom I have is really nice, but working a nine to five liminaries that briefly gave him an job at a desk is quite a substantial change. It makes you very thankful for the experi- Olympic record, Cochrane launched ences you’ve had.” himself firmly into the running for the In the months between his last race and the announcement, Cochrane toured the 1500-m freestyle. On the last day of com- country with the Swimming Smart campaign, completed a project-management diplo- petition, Cochrane dove into the pool to ma, and spoke at the Walrus Talks Victoria. But an inner debate between retirement take on the world’s best. Fourteen min- and a return to competition was going on throughout. utes and 42.69 seconds later, he’d won “I took some time after the games to reflect and try to see a more holistic view of my bronze — the first Canadian Olympic last 20 years,” Cochrane explained. “Everything that I’ve done is intertwined with the medal in swimming since Sydney 2000, sport and so (deciding) was very difficult. I thought there was going to be a moment of and the first Canadian medal in the 1500- clarity and there really wasn’t.” m freestyle in 88 years. “I don’t think when I went through Cochrane has no shortage of fantastic experiences to reflect upon. After entering the the process of my first Olympics that I pool for the first time as a competitive swimmer at age nine, he medalled and won in really appreciated living in the moment race after race, earning opportunities to travel and compete for over a decade. or how long I’d dreamed about that,” e first indication of Cochrane’s potential came at the 2005 Canada Summer Cochrane mused. “It took probably four Games in Regina, when he won five medals. e following year, he came to UVic and or five years to really think, ‘I was able to established himself on the international stage with strong performances at the Pan accomplish that at 19’… Everything (was) Pacific and Commonwealth Games. so quick and exciting.” en, at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, Cochrane earned a quintessential place But swimming competitions weren’t Canadian swimming history. the only part of Cochrane’s life that flew

ryan’s reach

ryan Cochrane, ba ’14, was Canada’s most decorated international swimmer when he announced his retirement in march. some of his career highlights:

3 olympics 5 World Championships 3 Commonwealth games 1 silver medal, 2012 olympics (1500-m freestyle) 1 bronze medal, 2008 olympics (1500-m freestyle) 8 World Championship medals 3 pan-american games medals  Commonwealth games gold medals

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by. “I look back on my time at UVic and I wish I had been more invested in student life,” reminder of how many steps and how he said. “I was always one step out the door with sports.” many people it takes to get to that oppor- “One of my favourite memories is the professors I had who appreciated that I was tunity. Yeah, you dive in the water and in sport but also really pushed me to excel at school,” said Cochrane. “(ey) were it’s an individual sport but there’s no way invested in how you were doing, they wanted to see you succeed, and whether that you could do that without all of (that was in the classroom or outside of it, it was about creating the best person that that support).” student could be.” Now that he’s back on dry land for Despite Cochrane’s early introduction to the Olympics in Beijing, it wasn’t until he good, Cochrane hopes to be involved in attended the Vancouver 2010 winter games that he understood how strongly Canadians a similar support system for the next can get behind their athletes. “I wasn’t really aware, up until that point, how many wave of Canadian Olympians. Canadians were that passionate about sport,” he said. “at (memory) was something I “I think it would be exciting to be able carried with me every year that we were away. Knowing that there is a pride in being to share (my knowledge) with our next Canadian.” generation of athletes,” he said. “Every- Cochrane’s coach, Randy Bennett, died of lung cancer in 2014. Cochrane described thing I’ve known is sport-related and it’s Bennett as a “mentor, a visionary, and a friend” who had been training him since he exciting to take a job outside of sport and was a teenager. But the pair got to share the experience of earning a silver medal for apply those skills to the working world. Canada at London 2012, a performance Cochrane considers one of his ﬁnest. But I also think (sport) is one of those “When I was standing on the podium…(I knew) second was the best I was going to things I can never give up.” T do and that made me very proud to see the ﬂag going up in that position. It’s another

SAVE with pride when you show your

USE IT FOR SAVINGS FROM… Cinecenta Softmoc Shoes Contiki Holidays University Centre Show your Alumni ONECard at Farquhar Auditorium CARSA to access VIKES FOR LIFE IMAX Victoria alumni membership deals. Visit Monk O ce UVic Bookstore vikesrec.ca for pricing! Optics International UVic Food Services Paris Jewellers 9 Elements Spa & Royal BC Museum Re exology See the full list of 50+ card partners at and more… alumni.uvic.ca

Pick up your lifetime UVic Alumni ONECard If you live outside of Victoria, for $20 from the ONECard O ce in University email [email protected] for more Centre. Bring your student number and one information. Get updates on the piece of government issued photo ID with you. UVic ONECard at uvic.ca/onecard

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alumni liFe + Class notes Class + liFe alumni alumni board Vital Link at 90, Joy barrett is the good-humoured matriarch of the alumni board

by mike mCneney

oy Barrett’s home in Esquimalt — built with Jher late husband Bill 55 years ago — sits high enough on a rocky hill that, when it’s clear, she can see the Gulf Islands. “I can call my son and daughter-in-law (Salt Spring residents) and tell them whether it snowed overnight.” She makes regular visits to a local Starbucks where the staff treat her like family. She’ll have the odd beer. She keeps tabs on the Canucks. And as she reaches the age of 90, she maintains a big role on the board of the UVic Alumni Association, representing the Victoria College Alumni Chapter. In the last several years, she helped organize tia Normal School, in 1855. Her mom taught. As and emcee nearly two dozen of the group’s did her aunt and other relatives. “My mother “Lunch-and-Learn” events featuring talks by UVic wanted me to keep the family tradition going,” she researchers and grad students. Vic College alumni says. “I didn’t let them down.” also support a pair of bursaries that last year pro- Barrett’s first teaching job was in Duncan in vided financial assistance to five students. 1947, where the Vimy Dancehall had been con- She’s a career educator who can’t help but verted into a schoolhouse. But most of her many keep teaching. She makes it a point to remind years of teaching were spent in elementary younger alumni board member about UVic’s his- schools in Victoria, interrupted for a few years tory and how it was founded on academic tradi- when she had her son. Mothers, in those days, tions that began in 1903 with the opening of were forced to retire from teaching jobs. Victoria College. She returned to the classroom in 1959, teaching “To me it’s very important that (the other elementary school — first at Sir James Douglas board members) know their roots,” she says. and then at Willows — for the next 28 years. “e first thing that strikes me is her commit- She made lifetime impressions on countless ment to UVic and Vic College, how highly she val- young people, including Helen Raptis, PhD ’01, ues it,” says Alumni Relations Director Terry now a professor in the Faculty of Education. Cockerline. “e other thing is her open mind, “When I entered school, I spoke very little how willing she is to engage others. She’s a English,” says Raptis. “I was as shy and quiet as a taskmaster. I love how she keeps people going mouse. I remember being taught how to read by with wit and humour. She’s an absolute pleasure Mrs. Barrett. She — and other teachers who fol- as a volunteer and Victoria College alumni would- lowed her — led me to a career in teaching. She n’t be nearly as involved if it wasn’t for Joy.” continues to serve the educational community long after retiring (and that’s) truly exemplary.” T Barrett attended Victoria College in -1./-.0, when classes were in Craigdarroch Castle and she would take the street car from the family home in Vic West. But World War II veterans had come home and the college was bursting at the seams. e next year, classes moved to the more spa- cious Lansdowne campus. It also housed the Vic- toria Provincial Normal School, which is where Barrett took her teacher training. Her great-grandmother was in the first class of new teachers who graduated from the Nova Sco- another satisfied customer.

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GIvInG TuesDay’s Tally lead Change

uVic’s alumni relations and or Lesley Patten, BCom ’06, June brings an end of her two- annual giving team Fyear term at the helm of the UVic Alumni Association’s organized the university’s board of directors. ﬁrst foray into giving Her time as president, she says, has been highlighted by tuesday on nov. 29, raising association’s growth and engagement, and more contributions money to support students to the Alumni Fund. She also points to the association’s stu- and the alumni Fund. giving dent-focused support of the new Centre for Athletics, Recre- tuesday is the international ation and Special Abilities. eﬀort to promote charitable Bursaries funded by alumni provide access to CARSA’s giving as an antidote to pre- incredible options for healthy living. holiday season “A letter we received (from a bursary recipient and future commercialism. alumna) as thanks for the CARSA membership shows what we can do,” Patten says. “It enabled her to go to the gym, improve $21,286 her grades, improve her mental health and give back to her total gifts received. community.” Patten will remain on the board (as past-president). Peter been there 209 Jong, BSc ’03, takes over as president. lisa baskin, BSc ’15, with hot chocolates given out her self-portrait of study across campus served with Vrooman at agm exhaustion (hour four, the alumni board wraps up the year’s business in June. the hydrology midterm prep), Countless annual general meeting (on the evening of June 21 at the was among the more Sugar sprinkles in UVic University club) will also feature tamara Vrooman, ma ’95. popular of the many great colours. the president and ceo of Vancity credit union will talk about shots contributed to the banking and social change in a sit-down discussion with alumni flashback foto contest in 27 board member (and chek tV news anchor) stacy ross, Bfa ’97 february, during alumni first-time donors. following the association’s business meeting. Visit uvic.ca/alumni Week. 63 to book your seat. Volunteer hours.

events uVic alumni toronto alumni September association annual summer mixer June general meeting Class of ’67 June 21 August 50-year reunion health information september 15 science pub night Canada day all- uVic golf Classic June 8 | Victoria alumni Celebration august 2 Vikes Championship June 29 | California breakfast uVic law Centre Vancouver september 26 0th anniversary July Canadians baseball June 9 night Canada day all- august 21 Details + uVic spring Canadian alumni registration: Convocation Celebrations June 12–16 beijing and shanghai alumni.uvic.ca

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unintended consequence of Bc John gomez, Ba ’87 included her on its list of the “25 1970s online.” (economics/Sociology), has been smartest women on twitter.” appointed president and ceo of John “deke” Vancouver-based mineral JoyCe thierry lleWellyn, d’arCangelo, Ba ’70 1980s exploration company, inomin Ba ’88 (Writing), was recently in (history), produced A Trail to mines. china to teach screenwriting for Remember, a popular collection terry Collis, Bed ’85, has an four months in the Vancouver of stories about the city’s “good update: “completed my ma in J. kelly hoey, Ba ’87 (Political film School’s campus at Shanghai old days” which he published in psychology from adler School in Science), is a venture capitalist University. cooperation with the trail and author of Build Your Dream historical Society. due to an Network: Forging Powerful tony Wilson, llB ’85, was editing error, the title of the book Relationships in a Hyper- appointed the honorary title was incorrectly identified in the Connected World (published by Queen’s counsel by the Bc autumn 2016 edition of the Torch. tarcherPerigree). the book, attorney general and minister of released in January, promises “a justice. an elected bencher of the steVe guppy, Ba ’77 (Writing), fresh new approach to mastering law Society of Bc since 2012, he’s ma ’88 (english), has published a this timeworn skill in a world also been a small business textbook for poets and creative where everyone is posting, liking, columnist for the Globe and Mail writing classes. Writing and and friending fast and furiously, since 2010. he continues to Workshopping Poetry: A susan Collis-durrant and but many are failing to leverage practice franchise law at Constructive Introduction was terry Collis their connections successfully.” Boughton law in Vancouver and published in december 2016 by Forbes named her one of the five remains active in law reform as a Broadview Press. Steve also 2000. Just retired as principal of “women who are changing the member of the Bc law institute. retired in december after over 29 special education in an okanagan world of Vc/entrepreneurship” years as a professor in the school district. enjoyed helping and in 2013 Fast Company department of creative writing students with special learning 1990s and journalism and the and behavioral needs. my wife department of english at susan Collis-durrant, phil ChoW, mPa ’91, writes: Vancouver island University. Bed ’87, and i just moved back to “What’s new with me is that i Victoria and are loving it! Susan started my own digital consulting kelly manning, BSc ’77 taught primary students for many agency, noticedwebsites.com. i (Physics/mathematics), attended years in the okanagan and loved was working in the public sector, the 2017 Privacy and Security to teach reading to grade 1 but wanted a change. i started an conference in Victoria. students. life is great with travel, internet-based business because “reminisced with attendees family and our first grandchild.” of its many advantages and about: being the technical opportunities. i can’t say i miss architect for the dialup version of J. kelly hoey the office cubicle. Because i can Bc online in 1988, and about solving the ‘highly visible problem’ with Bc Pharmanet name search performance in Ceilidhe maher, Ba ’16 1995; seeing news reporters (history), and lauren hume, waving Bc online printouts Ba ’06 (Psychology), were part of showing Premier Bill Vander Zalm the crowd at the 10th anniversary was still on the board of fantasy launch of alumni Week in gardens, and that fantasy february at the UVic Welcome gardens had purchased a Petro centre. canada property without going to public sale offer — an

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now also work anywhere there’s they can use to help find the Wi-fi, i plan to travel for up to a perfect business advisor.” year, once my business becomes self-sustaining. always glad to daryl des marais, Bcom New Sensations hear from fellow grads, ’99 (entrepreneurship), spent the classmates or students if any last few years as a mentor for neuroscientists and questions or like to connect or Junior achievement events: engineers at the University reconnect. i hope to visit UVic in futurepreneur mentor and a of Pittsburgh — led by dr. the near future. from pictures, it rotary club calgary chapter. Past robert gaunt, meng ’00 looks like the campus has associates can connect on — have created a natural changed a lot since i last visited. i linkedin. sense of touch for a don’t see any bunnies in these paralyzed man. pictures!” as reported in the journal Science Translational Medicine, the handiWork: alumnus robert peter Fast, Bcom ’95, team implanted electrodes gaunt is helping to restore the received the UVic alumni in the patient’s sensory sense of touch for people with association’s Volunteer of the cortex. the electrodes spinal cord injuries. year award. Since 2000, Peter has received signals from the been behind the formation, robotic arm. When a researcher pressed the fingers of the growth and success of the Vikes prosthesis, the man felt the pressure in the fingers of his men’s Soccer alumni chapter. in paralyzed right hand, effectively bypassing his damaged that time, the chapter has raised spinal cord. more than $120,000 for student it’s the first time technology has been used to safely awards and team operations. the annual alumni game, dinner and silent micro-stimulate the human brain to create a natural sense auction usually draws about 60 former players. of touch. “there were places on his hand where he hasn’t felt in 10 years,” gaunt said. the findings drew international media attention and the miChelle Cornish, Ba ’98 ann eriksson, BSc ’94 researchers demonstrated the technology during a lab visit (Psychology), has published her (Biology/environmental Studies), from former President Barak obama. first book, Keep More Money: Find published her fifth novel, The With a sense of touch, users of artificial limbs would have an Accountant You Trust to Help Performance, in october 2016. more precise control over their ability to pick things up. You Grow Your Small Business, “for this project we are (now) trying to show that Increase Profit, and Save Tax. “it ping kitnikone, mPa ’94, performance in realistic tasks such as grabbing a cup or was written for the business was named as canada’s fragile object is improved because he can ‘feel’ the objects owner that wants to find an ambassador to Vietnam last year. he is holding,” gaunt said via email. “this is a tough problem accountant but doesn’t know She joined the federal though!” where to start,” she says. “By the department of external affairs the goal is to create an artificial limb that can be time they’re finished the book, and international trade in 1994, controlled by thought and provides natural-feeling they will have a list of questions working in a range of positions in feedback to the user. ottawa and overseas, including gaunt’s contributions to advances in sensorimotor consul general in mumbai. control and neuroprosthetics are a long way from his days in the Saanich school system and helping to lead Science Venture camps during his undergraduate years at UVic. 2000s “it’s getting to be a long time ago now,” gaunt recalled, “but the things that really stand out to me from that time JeFF angus, Bcom ’09, runs were the fourth-year design class, my various co-op marketing for PlaySight experiences — and the robotics and mechanisms classes interactive, a global sports with ron Podhorodeski and my classes with ned djilali.” technology company. after miChelle Cornish

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starting out at the company’s US honour to be recognized by the headquarters in new Jersey, he Sloan foundation for the work roots in uViC: moved to los angeles last year to that i am doing and for david Prowse and open a west coast location. he colleagues to see the potential in Brian king of the received his mBa at the my research to make a large-scale acclaimed band, University of oregon in 2015 with difference,” he said. his focus — Japandroids. a focus in sports marketing. which spans from norway to central america, and from the Cynthia korpan, ma ’09 Pacific northwest to the gulf of (anthropology), is one of two mexico — seeks explanations for inaugural recipients of the how marine organisms use the educational developer dynamics of their environment to leadership award from the grow, feed and thrive. the educational developers caucus. it $60,000 US fellowships (126 were recognizes her “exemplary handed out in the US and contributions to educational canada) support the next development in canada.” cynthia generation of scientists in Travellin’ Band works at UVic’s learning and furthering their research teaching centre where she programs. Japandroids — the Vancouver-based power-punk pairing of manages professional singer-guitarist brian king with daVid proWse on development programs and anita deneault, ma ’02 drums — is touring behind its third album, gathering critical teacher assistant training. her (indigenous governance), praise and US network tV appearances. ground-breaking work led to the Secwepemc (Shuswap/cree), has king, BSc ’05 (geography/earth Science) and Prowse collaborative development of the written and published Sunflower: were students when they met and formed the band in 2006. ta competency framework, now A Flow to Light, a “journey in my their new release, Near to the Wild Heart of Life, launched used in multiple institutions experience of energy.” a reiki with an appearance on the late Show with Stephen colbert across the country. master, she has worked for 14 at the end of January, earned a four-star review from Rolling years in the healing field. Stone. brad gemmell, BSc ’06 it takes its title from a passage of James Joyce’s novel, (Biology), an assistant professor Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. king, who grew up in at the University of South florida, nanaimo, says that novel, and clarice lispector’s Near to the earned a 2017 research fellowship Wild Heart, influenced the new record’s themes of for early-career scholars from the awakening and the band’s evolution from the raw energy of alfred P. Sloan foundation. he their previous recordings. joined USf’s department of the album was recorded in Vancouver, toronto, new integrative biology in 2015 where orleans and mexico city. the mult-city recording approach he studies zooplankton and other is fitting. like most recording artists trying to make a buck small marine organisms and the these days, they have well-worn passports. impacts of climate change on anita deneault in support of their last album they went through the their ecosystems. “it’s an extreme “heaven and hell” of performing more than 200 shows in 40 Jesse kooVik eyer, BSc ’02 countries. that tour ended, after more than 18 months, in (Physics), made it all the way to 2013. they took a badly needed break and didn’t go on the shortlist of 72 candidates stage again for three years. (whittled down from nearly 4,000 album three finds them back out on the road with a applicants) to become one of string of tour dates that, by the end of the year will have canada’s next astronauts before taken them across north america, europe, the Uk and missing the cut. Born in iqaluit, several festival dates including Barcelona’s Primavera and also raised in Pond inlet and Sound. cape dorset, Jesse says he dreamed of becoming an brad gemmell

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Alumni Leaders meet the 2017 distinguished alumni award recipients, selected by the faculties, divisions and the uVic libraries. unfortunately, snow forced cancellation of the award presentations during alumni Week in February. We admire them, no matter what the elements bring.

Continuing studies documents with lasting chief of the Xat’sull (Soda creek) Vancouver island communities, Denise Blackwell, cert ’94, engagements with the first nation and the author of leading large outbreak member of langford council communities in which they are They Called Me Number One: investigations and influencing since 1992. She is also a capital produced. Secrets and Survival at an Indian public health policies. regional district director, after Residential School. previously serving as chair and gustaVson sChool oF sCienCe vice-chair. business laW David Hannay, mSc ’95, and Lenora Lee, Bcom ’02, was the Herman Van Ommen, llB ’84, Roberto Racca, Phd ’90, are two eduCation first woman promoted to Qc, is president of the law of three principals of JaSco Andrea Minter, Ba ’04, is the partner in kPmg’s Victoria office Society of Bc and nationally applied Sciences. their owner of russell Books in and she’s a trusted advisor to recognized for this work in partnership in environmental Victoria, the business her clients in the public, private and arbitration, securities, and marine noise monitoring, grandfather started more than non-profit sectors. dispute resolution. modelling and mitigation has 50 years ago. helped to make JaSco a leader human and soCial libraries in ocean sciences, with about 75 engineering deVelopment Martin Segger, Ba ’69, former employees in several countries. Maher Fahmi, maSc ’94, works in Simon Hall, mSc ’10, is the director of the maltwood art semiconductor design and provincial director of health museum and gallery, served on soCial sCienCes telecom munications and is VP sector information Victoria council and has Bob Cummings, Ba ’89, WestJet of product development for management and it, building produced books and films executive vice-president, microsemi corporation. on his master’s research on Bc’s about the city’s art and commercial. he led his team’s non-emergency health architecture. creation of the airline’s “owners” Fine arts information service. advertising campaign — the Althea Thauberger, mfa ’02 — mediCal sCienCes most successful branding effort an artist, filmmaker, and humanities Dr. Murray Fyfe, BSc ’81, is a in the company’s history. educator — creates social Bev Sellars, Ba ’97, is a former medical health officer for

denise blaCkWell andrea minter maher Fahmi althea thauberger lenora lee simon hall

beV sellars herman Van ommen martin segger dr. murray FyFe roberto raCCa bob Cummings

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astronaut since he was a Born and raised on the august, i wrote my last exam at child. “around nine years old, i kahnawake reservation, she is a UVic. a week later, diploma in made a conscious decision that i multi-disciplinary visual artist hand and gown in the wind, this wanted to become an astronaut,” working in print-making, Victoria-born would-be he told cBc news. “i was already painting, drawing, video and writer/editor packed up his life fascinated with space.” after his performance. “i hope to create and moved to the heady streets undergrad, Jesse got his master’s artworks that reflect the values of of north Vancouver. despite a degree in aerospace engineering this land, which are cultivated rough landing, things stabilized from the georgia institute of and nurtured by the indigenous to the point where i can look technology, and a Phd in peoples of this territory,” she said. hugh kruzel back at the move and say, yeah it aerospace engineering from the “i see my role as a way to was all worth it. i’m a graduate of University of toronto. he works as acknowledge that reconciliation hugh kruzel, cert ’10, writes: the Professional Writing program, a space systems engineer with between indigenous and non- “i have to credit the gustavson where dr. elizabeth grove-White Planet labs in germany, indigenous peoples is a process master’s certification in Project instructed me in the art of killing specializing in earth-imaging in which i can facilitate a management with my recent my ‘darlings’ and Susan Boyle satellites. collaborative approach for strong career and assignment opined that i’d ‘never be an relationships (and) co-created successes. i am now in my third editor. i have spent the past three dagmar rothWell, Ba ’03 art.” (Corina Fischer photo.) year with the northern centre for years as the managing editor of (english), has a tasty update from advanced technology (in Positive Living magazine. the armstrong, Bc: “lex and i have a Sudbury). innovation, publication, which services the new venture! it starts with ‘c’ and occupational health and safety hiV-positive community of Bc, rhymes with ‘please.’ that’s right. training, the world of start-ups, has been the perfect vehicle to We’ve dropped everything and and in day-to-day operations — put into practice the skills taught jumped feet first into the cheese norcat is a vibrant contributor in PW. though i miss The Martlet business. no more llamas and to regional economic offices every now and again, i am alpacas for lex (dangerous!) and prosperity. What a wonderful placated by the occasional my book project on the sandbox to play in.” publication in The Vancouver Sun armstrong thrift shop scandal or whatever website will have me. has been delayed (lawyers!) for lindsay katsitsakatste lindsay J. mCCunn, Phd ’16 i have worked, volunteered, and now. instead, we’ve caught the delaronde (Psychology), first graduated from interned with the dalai lama bug for cheese-making and we’re UVic with a Ba in psychology in center, arts Umbrella, Color, up to our elbows in squeaky natalie edWards, Ba ’15 2004 before working for the Bc Western Living, and Whitecap curds. our goal is to open a (Psychology), checks in from provincial government in various Books since arriving on the cheese-theme bed-and- ontario: “i have an exciting new capacities until 2008. She mainland. i have just finished a breakfast.” brand i created for children with returned to UVic do an mSc and a slate of workshop and speaking disabilities. Since graduating, i Phd in psychology, specializing in engagements. this spring, i leap have worked to create environmental/architecture into the deep end: i am set to 2010s mySpecialtoolbox.com for psychology. “i was very pleased to outline a continuing education therapy and sensory equipment be hired as an assistant professor course proposal for capilano lindsay katsitsakatste in canada. i also sell customizable of psychology in 2015 at the University so that i can use the delaronde, mfa ’10 (Visual toolboxes to help meet the University of Washington tacoma, summer to work on a book. arts), ma ’16 (indigenous individual needs that children but will be returning to canada to (detective fiction or essays about communities counselling face diverse developmental take up a position as professor of Bruce Springsteen, yet to decide.) Psychology), an iroquois mohawk needs. my online store also has a psychology at Vancouver island of course, the money is horrific, artist, has been named the city of resource tab to provide families University in the fall of 2017.” and life in Vancouver is Victoria’s indigenous artist-in- with the federal and provincial unsustainable by any sane metric, residence. the new program is an funding that can be used towards Jason motz, Ba ’11 but i couldn’t be any happier with opportunity to develop artistic therapy equipment/sensory (english/Professional Writing), my present station if i was works and engage the equipment.” sent in this about his post-UVic slathered in ranch dressing. and community for a one-year term. life so far: “Six years ago this though i will never be the success

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that my younger, less cynical self amelie patterson, BSc ’15 melissa yue, Ba ’13 (applied yearned to be, i am doing things (Biology) has been named Banff’s linguistics), writes: “i’m part of a that i love. Without UVic, PW, The first poet laureate and will spend new worker co-op here in town Martlet, and all of the profs who the year as a public ambassador called real english Victoria challenged and/or encouraged for the arts in her hometown. language co-op. We’re an me, i would have been another after leaving UVic she opted for a innovative english as a second casualty of self-doubt, a balloon career as a folk-rock singer and language school that uses adrift in oblivion. this is much songwriter instead of pursuing project-based learning to give better.” her initial plan, veterinary students an authentic language mike nesselbeCk medicine. She returned to learning experience.” mike nesselbeCk, Bcomm alberta and immersed herself in ’16, says inspirations from the entrepreneurs think of business the calgary music scene. “i read a University of Victoria related to ideas. “no one should be lot of poetry. i love poetry entrepreneurship led to his discouraged from starting their anthologies because i find them creation of own business from a lack of similar to a good playlist when Businessideainsight.com. it’s a ideas,” he says. you’re driving,” she said in a resource built to help aspiring media release.

the young alumni council’s ﬁrst paint nite, initially postponed What’s new by snow, attracted about 40 would-be emily carrs who picked With you? up a brush (and a drink, for inspiration of course). be in the next Class notes. send news and photos to: [email protected]

2016, two weeks before turning brian J. lamb, died on Jan. 79. in his rowing career, he won Farewell 74. 27, 2017 at the age of 72 following gold for canada at the 1956 a lengthy illness. admired for his melbourne olympics and silver in thomas edWard ViC derman, Ba ’67 (english), gentleness, patience, wisdom rome in 1960. he also won a gold burgess, BSc ’64 (Biology), was died on march 17, 2017 at 72. first and integrity, he served on the medal at the 1958 common - regional wildlife biologist in the elected to Saanich council in UVic Board of governors from wealth games in cardiﬀ. he was lower mainland from 1973. he 2002, he was respected for his 1995 to 2001 and as chair from among the ﬁrst inductees into and colleagues surveyed environmental advocacy, 1997 to 2000. he was awarded a the UVic Sports hall of fame. mountain goats, tracked grizzlies especially on climate change, 1999 fellowship of the institute of for census purposes, manned recycling and bike lanes. as a chartered accountants for dr. andreW rippin, former hunter-check stations, teacher at cedar hill, lansdowne, contributions to the profession dean of humanities, died on nov. established elk herds, and and Shoreline middle schools and and to the community. 29, 2016 in Victoria. donations in banded and transported canada Spectrum community School he his memory can be made to the geese. tom and Judy (Smirl) were introduced students to lorne loomer, founder of Bc cancer foundation or the married in 1964 and raised three computers and multimedia arts. the UVic rowing program in 1965, Brain tumour foundation of children. he passed away feb. 6, passed away on Jan. 1, 2017 at age canada. T

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FareWell Legend and Enigma peter Verin, Jan. 10, 1945 – January 9, 2017

t was Sunday morning, December 29, 1996. e sial figure on campus. In addition to his radio pro- The “Blizzard ientrance to UVic was blocked by a snow drift grams, he wrote opinion pieces for e Martlet that towered above the head of anyone foolish and volunteered with the Vancouver Island Public of ‘96” enough to try and gain access to campus. ere Interest Research Group (VIPIRG). was no easy way in or out. Over 65 centimetres added to had fallen overnight, snowing in campus security It’s only with his passing, in hospital after a brief staff and one lone volunteer DJ at CFUV, the cam- illness in January, that a few facts have come to the legend. pus radio station. light. Peter was fluent in French and seems to have at volunteer was Peter Verin, well known to been raised for a portion of his life in Montréal, but many who studied and worked at UVic from 1970 lived most of his life in Victoria. He had family in onwards. Peter was on the phone with the station eastern Canada who regularly sent him money, manager, who had tried and failed to make it to the which was often used to rent storage spaces around station, in the Student Union Building. e snow town for the sorting and recycling of refuse. was as high as the diminutive man’s shoulders. He On any given day Peter could be seen in the had been in the station preparing for his early library or at the Student Union Building, leaning morning radio slot when the snow had started to casually against a wall and engaged in deep con- fall overnight and soon found himself snowed in. versation with an intrigued undergrad or graduate Over the next three days Peter kept on broad- student on a whole host of subjects. His main pas- casting, making the required announcements and sion though was the environment and he could be weather updates, catching snatches of sleep found climbing undaunted into dumpsters to col- whenever he could. He stayed in touch with cam- lect and recycle what he found. A common sight pus security via phone and was finally relieved by was Peter lugging around huge bags of the “trash” a handful of fellow volunteers and staff. he intended to recycle and he kept numerous e “Blizzard of ‘96” added to the legend grow- stashes hidden across campus. ing around Peter when I started working at CFUV Eventually due to disputes with the student in the late ’90s. At that time Peter had two regular and university administration he was removed radio programs, one a news and talk program on first from the Student Union Building and then the environmental issues he cared so deeply the entirety of campus. about, the other a freeform and often chaotic mix- For the last decade of his life Peter relocated to ture of music and monologues. the Mackenzie and Quadra area where Rev. Al During those years, I worked late into the night Tysick of the Dandelion Society held a well- on the station’s monthly music magazine and attended memorial service. Rev. Al spoke moving- would find myself drawn into long, intense con- ly of the many people that Peter touched and versations with Peter about anything and every- showed kindness to over the years. e crowd was thing: from minutely analyzing the lyrics and an eclectic mix of UVic employees, former stu- music of his beloved Dylan; to the ethics of vege- dents, city workers, politicians and members of tarianism or the politics of the day. But despite his the homeless community. eagerness for dialogue, his personal background, Close friends note that Peter was a proud man even to good friends, remained an enigma. who refused to use off-campus shelter, accept Homeless largely “by choice,” a rabid collector most forms of aid or eat anything other than raw and sorter of campus debris, various rumours vegetarian food. Considering the often rough and swirled around Peter. Rumours he would rarely ready conditions he lived under he was amazing- confirm or deny: that he was a former professor; ly resilient and gentle and will be missed not only held a PhD in philosophy; spoke multiple lan- by the campus community but the wider commu- guages; some even compared him to Socrates. nity of Victoria. Articulate and often insightful in conversation, – randy gelling, ba ’00, former CFuV station manager Peter was a well-loved and sometimes controver-

2 UVic torch SPring 2017 rUnran/Wikimedia commonS Photo. Torch 2017 Spring.qxp_Torch 2017-05-04 1:29 PM Page 43

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Vox alumni Flight for Canada Canada 150 brings back memories of the unity rally

by mark leiren-young, bFa ’85

t’s not every day you get the chance to save the I assumed icountry. And that was pretty much what my friend Donna told me when she called and asked they’d think if I was going to buy a ticket on a “Unity” flight. It was Oct. 25, 1995 and Canadian Airlines it was crazy announced a sale on all flights to Montréal, so people from outside of La Belle Province could Take advantage of your alumni privileges. or corny. attend a rally to convince Quebecers to cast their votes to stay in Canada. Donna was going, she Get preferred rates and coverage that fits your needs. Instead, thought I’d want to go too. As we prepare to celebrate Canada’s 150th everyone anniversary — and mock the British for Brexiting — it’s easy to forget just how close we came to los- thanked me ing our country. e first referendum in 1980 I knew I didn’t want and wished Quebec to go, but I didn’t know why. Quebec was spot the an abstract concept like gravity or getting a date. Canadian: Supporting you … me luck. By 1995, I’d spent some time in Québec and leiren-young at the and the University of Victoria. fallen in love with the idea that somewhere east of 1995 Unity rally. You could save the Rockies there was a part of Canada that made As a member of the UVic Alumni Association, you have our country cooler instead of just colder. I’d trav- with preferred access to the TD Insurance Meloche Monnex program. elled all the way across Canada and was smitten “Yes,” I said. 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I arrived at the rally in my Van- A few nights later Quebec Premier Jacques couver Canucks jersey with the name of my fave Parizeau bitterly blamed “money and the ethnic player, Cliff Ronning. And I brought a Québec flag vote” for the narrow loss for separatism — just mark leiren-young’s that Donna wrapped around my neck like a cape. over 50,000 votes. ere was also one other villain Get a quote and see how much you could save! The Killer Whale Who As I walked to the rally people on the street in his scenario — all the people like me who’d Call 1-888-589-5656 Changed the World stopped me to talk. Some sounded Anglo, some flown out to “interfere.” Or, go to tdinsurance.com/uvicalumni was shortlisted for a sounded distinctly Quebecois and all of them were You’re welcome. Bc Book Prize. asking the same question. “Are you really from BC?” Happy Canada 150. T The TD Insurance Meloche Monnex program is underwritten by SECURITY NATIONAL INSURANCE COMPANY. It is distributed by Meloche Monnex Insurance and Financial Services, Inc. in Quebec, by Meloche Monnex Financial Services Inc.  UVic torch SPring 2017 donna Wong-JUliani Photo. in Ontario, and by TD Insurance Direct Agency Inc. in the rest of Canada. Our address: 50 Place Cremazie, 12th Floor, Montreal, Quebec H2P 1B6. Due to provincial legislation, our car and recreational insurance program is not offered in British Columbia, Manitoba or Saskatchewan. All trade marks are the property of their respective owners. ® The TD logo and other TD trade-marks are the property of The Toronto-Dominion Bank. Torch 2017 Spring.qxp_Torch 2017-05-04 1:30 PM Page 45

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The TD Insurance Meloche Monnex program is underwritten by SECURITY NATIONAL INSURANCE COMPANY. It is distributed by Meloche Monnex Insurance and Financial Services, Inc. in Quebec, by Meloche Monnex Financial Services Inc. in Ontario, and by TD Insurance Direct Agency Inc. in the rest of Canada. Our address: 50 Place Cremazie, 12th Floor, Montreal, Quebec H2P 1B6. Due to provincial legislation, our car and recreational insurance program is not offered in British Columbia, Manitoba or Saskatchewan. All trade marks are the property of their respective owners. ® The TD logo and other TD trade-marks are the property of The Toronto-Dominion Bank. Torch 2017Spring.qxp_Torch2017-05-041:30PMPage46 oFF Campus oFF Victoria Bc V8n 3X3 3964 gordon headroad complex ian Stewart alumni house springtime blossoms.springtime trackingwhen itstarted daily sunshine) gave way old,dependable to good (Environment Canada said Vancouver had thegloomiestMarch since 1951, An unusually long spellofovercast skies onthesouthcoast thiswinter light keVin By PhotograPhy Fairﬁeld’s Finest cherry (sakura)cherry trees, intheFairﬁeld neighbourhood ofVictoria. Photographer keVin light keVin found these prime examples,found prime these onJapanese

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