A PUBLICATION OF ALUMNI UBC · NUMBER 36 · 2014 BUG BITES It’s only a matter of time before insects become a staple of Western diets. PLUS Stuck in a medical minority BC’s endangered languages Dear Dr. Wesbrook: letters from the front Author Nancy Lee has The Last Word 22 16 DOUBLE FEATURE COVER THE waitinG ROOM THE BUG FARMER A powerful documentary is illustrating the Andrew Brentano, BA’10, is supporting the growth of a grassroots plight of people living with undiagnosed conditions. insect‑farming industry – starting in his own garage. AN UncOMMON EatinG InsEcts is NOT PEOPLE whO haVE A RARE disEasE OR UndiaGNOSED COnditiON can FEEL isOlatED and abandONED. DENOMinatOR “ICKY.” GET OVER IT. RaisinG awaRENEss and BUildinG SUPPORT NEtwORKS GIVES thEM The Rare Disease Foundation is using a collective Professor Murray Isman says eating insects is not only desirable, A VOicE and BOOsts thEIR HOPES approach to create a support network for patients. FOR answERS. but inevitable. THE LOVE BUG FEATURE Afton Halloran, BSc’09, co‑wrote a major UN publication InsEcts ARE A COMMON SOURCE OF NUTRitiON in ManY on the contribution of insects to global food security. 12 VANISHING PARts OF thE WORld BUT haVE YET TO BECOME a staPLE Her fascination with the subject led to a chance meeting. OF WEstERN diEts. THERE ARE stRONG ARGUMEnts FOR OVERCOMinG ANY AVERsiON. VOicES Language activists are determined to bring BC’s indigenous tongues back from the brink of extinction. In Short QUOTE, UNQUOTE 52 3 3 FEATURE Q&A 4 TaKE NOTE 28 DEar 6 ABORIGIN AL GANGS DR. WESBROOK THE LAST Word 6 A SSISTED SUICIDE Hundreds of UBC students served WitH NancY LEE, in the First World War. The university’s 7 BC BIG TREE REGISTRY BA’94, MFA’04 first president encouraged them 10 to send back letters. Q: What is your most prized possession? A: It’s a tie between a handwritten rejection Alumni Q & A letter from Bill Buford at The New Yorker Departments and Sandy, a ragged old panda bear I’ve FICTION A VISION FOR UBC 2.0 had since childhood who’s been washed so many times she resembles a satanic goat. 36 CLASS ACTS President Arvind Gupta will lead the university into its second century. 32 THOUGHT YOU 40 BOOKS OUGht TO KnOW T‑BIRDS COVER 42 A short story by Zsuzsi Gartner, MFA’93. Andrew Brentano, BA’10, holding a bell pepper 44 EVENTS stuffed with fried waxworms (page 16). Photo 47 IN MEMORIAM by Saul Bromberger/Sandra Hoover Photography. TREk 1 editor’s note EditOr Vanessa Clarke, BA ASSISTANT EditOr Alison Huggins, BA GRAPhic DEsiGNER Pamela Yan, BDes BOOKS AND FICTION Teresa Goff, BA COntRibUTOR Michael Awmack, BA’01, MET’09 QUOTE, TREK OnlinE WEB COORdinatOR Elizabeth Powell, BSc beginnings BOARD OF DIREctORS Over the years, I have been feasted on by bugs of all kinds. From the ElEctED Chair Michael Lee, BSc’86, BA’89, MA’92, LLB incessant midges of western Scotland to the ruthless mosquitos of rural VicE Chair Faye Wightman, BSC’81 (Nursing) TREasURER Ian Warner, BCom’89 UNQUotE Ontario – and even a stray cat’s fleas – I’ve been punctured, sucked, MEMBERS at LARGE [2012‑2015] 8,360 bitten, harassed and generally driven to distraction. The only time I’ve Blake Hanna, MBA’82 David Climie, BCom’83 “It’s like saying to Olympic hockey players, eaten a bug, on the other hand, was by accident while cycling with my Judy Rogers, BRE’71 Ian Warner, BCom’89 “We’ve come a long way – from being ‘Men, you play on ice. Women, you play mouth open. It wasn’t a great introduction to entomophagy, but I’m more Number of students in UBC’s 2014 first- Faye Wightman, BSC’81 (Nursing) on slush.’” a university that stood by while its own year class in Vancouver and Kelowna – than willing to try some expertly prepared insect cuisine – starting with MEMBERS at LARGE [2013‑2016] students were forcibly removed from the largest to date. one of those tasty-looking peppers stuffed with rice and fried waxworms Valerie Casselton, BA’77 UBC law professor Margot Young Michael Lee, BSc’86, BA’89, MA’92, LLB their homes, to establishing a program commenting on the complaint made against pictured on the front cover. Gregg Saretsky, BSc’82, MBA’84 that focuses on the crucial role of Asian FIFA and the Canadian Soccer Association by MEMBERS at LARGE [2014‑2017] migrants in the formation of our province Robert Bruno, BCom’97 female World Cup soccer players who claim Ross Langford, BCom’89, LLB’89 and nation.” the organizations are discriminating against Insects aren’t a novelty (or revenge) food item, though. They are a common Barbara Anderson, BSc’78 women by holding the 2015 Women’s World $9.1 and long-standing component of many food cultures. Not only are they nutritious EX‑OfficiO PREsidEnt’S DEsiGnatE Professor Chris Lee, director of UBC’s Cup on artificial turf – men have always played million and healthy, but the process of raising them holds significant advantages for Barbara Miles, BA, Post Grad in Ed. new program on Asian Canadian and on grass. (The Globe & Mail, October 2) O UBC PREsidEnt Asian Migration. The program was Amount donated to UBC for Alzheimer’s the planet over that for other forms of protein, such as beef. Alumnus Andrew Arvind Gupta, BSc, MSc, PhD created as part of a tribute to Japanese research by alumnus and Canadian Brentano is helping to drive this sustainable approach to our food supply in North UBC ChancELLOR Diamond pioneer Charles Fipke. Lindsay Gordon, BA’73, MBA’76 Canadians who were forced to leave the America (see page 16). Based in California, he’s set up an online forum for sharing ASSOciatE VicE PREsidEnt, ALUMni / West Coast during the Second World information on rearing insects for human consumption and has established EXECUtiVE DIREctOR, ALUMNI UBC War. (UBC media release, September 18) “... it wouldn’t have taken much for anybody Height of the proposed a company offering kits for households to use in producing their own supply. Jeff Todd, BA to take over that territory. It’s not that ISIS is wooden residence tower 53 m In conjunction with this grassroots approach, Brentano is also exploring scalable a ridiculously weak organization with no capacity. for a student housing Trek magazine (formerly the UBC Alumni Chronicle) complex at UBC, which is published two times a year by the UBC Alumni models of insect production for industrial-scale output. “We’re in the early stages But its success to this point has been more a would make it the tallest Association and distributed free of charge to function of the weakness of Syria and Iraq than of something that is about to blow up and get huge,” he says. UBC alumni and friends. Opinions expressed “Perhaps there is a solution to wooden building of its anything else. This is a classic example of a group type in the world. Brentano is not the only individual at the forefront of change to feature in in the magazine do not necessarily reflect the the problem of online misogyny views of the Alumni Association or the university. with some capabilities and resources expanding this issue. In 1913, Dr. Frank Wesbrook was appointed first president of UBC, that does not require invasive Address correspondence to: into a vacuum. If we want to get rid of ISIS, we need the province’s first university. Envisioning a “people’s university” that would The Editor, alumni UBC government surveillance or 6251 Cecil Green Park Road, restrictive practices like those to find a way to strengthen the Iraqi state and solve build a “better social fabric,” he set about overseeing construction of a new Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z1 4.5 years taken by authoritarian countries. the Syrian civil war. Until we do those two things, campus at Point Grey, developing programs, stocking the library and hiring email to [email protected] ISIS isn’t going to go away.” Letters published at the editor’s discretion If female empowerment is faculty in preparation for the opening in 1915. But with the outbreak of war in and may be edited for space. ultimately better for everybody, Professor Allen Sens of UBC’s Policital Science 1914, construction was interrupted and funding became scarce. UBC started its then male Internet users Department in a Q&A about the conflict with ISIS. operations from “temporary” headquarters near 12th Avenue and Laurel Street, ADVERTISING Number of years it will take students Julian Radlein, BA’07 would be helping themselves (UBC News, October 21) to earn a UBC Bachelor and Master of and over the ensuing months hundreds of students, as well as some faculty, [email protected] 604.822.8917 by opposing misogyny and Management Dual Degree. Beginning would volunteer to serve in Europe. Wesbrook encouraged the student soldiers September 2015, the new course is the COntact NUMBERS at UBC harassment in online forums.” to write back with news, which he would make available to their peers at home Address Changes 604.822.8921 first in Canada and will allow students UBC PhD candidate Eric Michael to integrate undergraduate studies with (see page 28). He responded promptly, often stressing his anticipation of their via email [email protected] “Attn Drivers: don’t!” Alumni Association 604.822.3313 Johnson in an op-ed published in graduate-level business training. return, when the university, and Canada, could benefit from their leadership toll free 800.883.3088 Slate on September 24.