September 13, 2007 Vol. 43 No. 22 The University of Western Ontario’s newspaper of record www.westernnews.ca PM 41195534 MUSTANGS TO WATCH FOOD FIGHT INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH Our new feature brings a weekly snapshot of a top Battling the Frosh 15 Geographer Belinda Dodson had to Mustang athlete. Meet food bulge takes a bit of do just one thing to become an inter- football’s Michael Faulds. planning and willpower. national researcher – move to Canada from South Africa. Page 18 Page 7 Page 11 Music grad CANADA RESEARCH CHAIRS makes career Earthquake researcher returns leap to UN B Y PAUL MAYNE (CRC) to explore ways to miti- quake Hazards and Ground earthquake will occur, but we gate damage from earthquakes Motions, Atkinson will receive can predict the expected ground disarmament If a major earthquake hit the by better predicting how they $200,000 annually over the next motions, so that buildings can be London region, how would the will strike. seven years to support her designed to withstand the shak- B Y VANESSA MARTIN major older buildings cope? Atkinson is one of four new research into the ground motion ing,” says Atkinson, who comes R ANDIN While the likelihood of a sig- CRCs announced today at West- of quakes so that patterns can be to Western from Carleton Uni- nificant local earthquake are not ern, where two additional chairs discerned and predictions can be versity in Ottawa. Seven years after graduating great, it is not impossible - and were also renewed. One of the made about future motions. Atkinson’s work is used to from the University of Western that’s something in which West- country’s most top research An international leader in the improve building codes and Ontario with a BA in Music, I ern earth sciences professor Gail awards, the Chairs program field of engineering seismology, thus, to ensure the safe and cost- find myself writing this to you Atkinson has a keen interest encourages and promotes top Atkinson says it’s possible to effective design of earthquake- from a picturesque village situ- Recruited back to The Univer- research and innovation in uni- understand how quakes behave, resistant structures. She is also ated near Lac Léman in Switzer- sity of Western Ontario, where versities, with Western receiv- and how they will affect struc- involved in developing systems land. I live here with my hus- she took her graduate studies, ing $4.8 million in new funding tures in its path, such as build- used to rapidly calculate ground band Michel and our cat Indira. Atkinson will use her new posi- this year. ings, towers and bridges. motions to provide early warn- Am I the most sought after musi- tion as a Canada Research Chair As Tier One CRC in Earth- “We can’t predict when an ing of potential earthquake dam- cian in Europe? Well, not really. Since 2003, I have been work- ing for the United Nations Insti- tute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) in Geneva. It is dif- ficult to believe that only a few years earlier, I was experiencing the highs and lows of daily piano practice in the rooms of the Music building. I savoured every moment of my four years at Western. And it was not an easy decision to change careers. In time, how- ever, I found that my career path was not really all that unusual. Over the past few years, I have met many people from differ- ent UN organizations who have changed career plans not once, but twice, and sometimes in the span of a few years. So when I am asked questions like “What is the most effective route to a job in a UN organiza- tion?” or “Does the UN favour particular universities in their selection processes?” it is diffi- cult to provide a clear answer. Everyone who works at a UN organization has followed a dif- ferent path to get there. For me, it all began when I was accepted for Rotary International’s Ambassadorial Scholarship soon after graduating in 2000. A year later, I left Canada to read for a Master’s degree Continued on Page 9 INSIDE: Academe 22 | Access Western News 22 | Classifieds 23 | Coming Events 21 | Commentary 4 | Student Services Bulletin 22 2 SEPTEMBER 13, 2007 WESTERN NEWS CAMPUS DIGEST THE MEDIUM RETURNS FACUltY MENTORS Fresh from its award-winning The Faculty Mentor Program Shinerama blitz run at The Fringe Festival in Lon- will sponsor the first workshop/ don, Menotti’s tragic one-act opera information session on Fri., Sept. The Medium returns, fully staged 14 in the Teaching Support Cen- and performed by students and tre, Room 122, The D. B. Weldon faculty of Western’s Don Wright Library. The afternoon will begin Faculty of Music, on Friday, Sept. with a “Meet and Greet” Recep- 14 at 12:30 p.m. in Talbot Theatre. tion ( 2 to 2:30 p.m.) followed by For information, please call 519- an information session on “Prepa- 661-2111 ext. 85694. ration of the Research Grant Pro- posal” (2:30 to 4 p.m.) UNITED WAY HARVEST BIOTECH WEEK LUNCH National Biotech Week will be The annual 3M Harvest Lunch marked in London Sept. 24-28, will launch the community-wide led by the local agency TechAli- United Way of London and Mid- iance. Canadian biotech activi- dlesex campaign Friday, Sept. 14. ties involve 200,000 jobs and rev- Police Chief Murray Faulkner, enues of more than $4.2 billion. who leads this year’s campaign, This year includes the launch of will unveil the fundraising tar- a city-wide Biotechnology Aware- get during the lunch which takes ness Campaign for all secondary place 11:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. at the schools within the Thames Valley John Labatt Centre. Emcees Rich District School Board and the and Elaine from 97.5 EZ Rock London District Catholic School kick off the program at 12:30 Board. Also included is Business, p.m. after which Faulkner will Science, Technology & You, a announce the goal. For $5, guests business workshop organized by receive a deli sandwich (vegetar- TechAlliance, Industry Canada, ian available), salad, dessert and and the National Research Coun- beverage. Tickets can be ordered cil. Workshop registration is at online at www.uwlondon.on.ca www.techalliance.ca. On Sept. and on the day of the event at the 27, the BIOlympics will allow John Labatt Centre. students to compete in biotech- related challenges. WESTern’s SPONSORED EMPLOYEES 25 YEARS AGO AT WESTERN Charlotte Sikatori, Program Coordinator, SWOMEN Rural Western has rejected partici- Regional at the Schulich School of pation in an Ontario Universi- Medicine & Dentistry, and Cath- ties Athletic Association proposal erine McInerney, Library Assis- for promotional sponsorship by a tant at the Allyn and Betty Taylor brewery and distillery. Western Library and UWOSA representa- was the only OUAA member to tive, are this year’s sponsored reject the $50,000-proposal. employees for the 2007 United Orientation was held at Spring- Way campaign. Western hopes to bank Park and included a kissing top last year’s record-breaking contest, canoe jousting, tug-of- donation of $475,229. Last year’s war and ‘bum’ contest. campaign co-chairs Jim Weese, An experimental satellite Dean of Health Sciences, and hookup has opened the door to Rosemary Lawrence-Pitt, Direc- Western and University hospi- Photo by Paul Mayne, Western News tor Advancement Services, will tal experts providing televised TOP: These University of Western Ontario Engineering students were more than happy to ‘pull their weight’ in return for the 2007 campaign. health care delivery to two remote fundraising for Shinerama. The students, plus a cross-section from other faculties, wrapped up the summer- Western kicks off its United Way Ontario hospitals. long Epic Pull project Saturday at White Oaks Mall. Students hope to have raised more than $50,000 through campaign at the Sept. 29 Home- sponsored ‘pulls’ of an RV in cities across Canada. coming game. TOP DOCTORAL ABOVE: Washing cars, singing and dancing, carrying groceries -- students were out in full force Saturday for STUDENTS the annual Shinerama weekend to raise funds for cystic fibrosis research. It was a definite thumbs-up for Who’s NO. 1? first-year Social Science students Laura Magee, Lucas Stevens-Hall and Angela Boisvert as they canvassed Cherryhill Village Mall. Nominations are open for The latest issue of Western TVO’s 2008 Ontario’s Best Lec- Graduate Review is out, an online turer Competition. Nominations publication profiling six outstand- are open until Oct. 2. A panel of ing graduate students at Western judges will select 10 finalists to and their high-calibre research. deliver lectures on TVO’s Big In this edition, profiles cover stu- Piled Higher & Deeper Ideas in March, 2008. For more dents in Psychology, Engineer- a grad student comic strip information view: www.tvo.org/ ing, Sociology, French Studies TVOsites/WebObjects/TvoMicro- and Chemistry. To read Western site.woa?bestlecturer_about Graduate Review, please visit: www.uwo.ca/sogs/WGR/index. html 25 YEARS AGO IN WESTERN NEWS n Western has rejected participation in an Ontario Universities Athletic Association proposal for promotional sponsorship by a brewery and distillery. Western was the only OUAA member to reject the $50,000-proposal. n Orientation was held at Springbank Park and included a kiss- ing contest, canoe jousting, tug-of-war and ‘bum’ contest. n An experimental satellite hookup has opened the door to West- ern and University hospital experts providing televised health care delivery to two remote Ontario hospitals. 4 SEPTEMBER 13, 2007 WESTERN NEWS THE WAY WE WERE: 1924 Contributed by Alan Noon ([email protected]) JJ Talman Collection/Western Archives A popular visitor destination on campus has long been the greenhouse complex attached to the Biology Geology Building.