October | 2006

From the monthly archives: October 2006

SOME THOUGHTS ON SAVING THE PLANET

By Lillian Ting On October 25, 2006 · 1 Comment · In >FAQs, >archive, >commentary, >education, environment

There are 35000 undergraduate and 8000 graduate students at UBC-Vancouver, 4000 faculty members, and who knows how many staff. Together we can make a difference. Here are a couple suggestions to start off for the love of our planet:

1. GIVE UP VITAL FLUIDS
Don’t get the wrong idea. What I mean is coffee, [...]

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GUZZLE THE SUN: ENERGY TECHNOLOGY OF THE FUTURE (FATHER AND DAUGHTER II)

By Lars Rose On October 23, 2006 · Leave a Comment · In >archive, >textbook, climate change, environment, sustainability, technology

10 year old Laura was bored. Sitting in their fuel cell vehicle, they had to queue at the “petrol” station. Not that there was any petrol anymore, prices above $50 per liter had convinced even the hardiest advocates of “ye good old times” to change to other means of transportation.

She was sitting in one [...]

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A Short History of Canada’s Most Famous Citizen: The Canadarm

By David Martin On October 20, 2006 · Leave a Comment · In >archive, >humour, Featured Posts, politics, technology

1981
The Canadarm debuts as the universe’s most famous arm when it makes its inaugural flight on the space shuttle Columbia.

2001
The bigger, better, longer Canadarm2 is installed on the International Space Station.

2006
Twin Canadarms on the Space Station are the undisputed stars of NASA’s space program, at least [...]

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WHO ARE YOU?

By Nancy Sayre On October 18, 2006 · Leave a Comment · In >archive, >creative

We are missing:
Artists, Writers, Musicians
Sculptors, Publishers and Playwrights.
Shapers of thought, carvers of constellations and
pilots of philosophy who haven’t shown up.

What are you doing while pages lay empty,
when books are bound without your stories?
Radio and television fill our ears
with white noise. [...]

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WASTE REDUCTION WEEK: OCT 16-22

By Jess Klug On October 16, 2006 · Leave a Comment · In >archive, >education, >news, environment

This week marks the 6th annual Waste Reduction Week in Canada. Since 2001, Waste Reduction Week in Canada has been organized by various non-governmental, and not for profit environmental groups across the country. The goal of Waste Reduction Week is to educate Canadians on waste statistics and provide helpful tips for reducing waste.

At UBC, [...]

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EMPIRE CREATION AND DESTRUCTION

By Dr. Eric Schulman On October 13, 2006 · Leave a Comment · In >archive, >creative, >humour

In Which the First Empire in Human History Comes and Goes
___________________________

DUMMM-DA-DUM-DUM.
DUMMM-DA-DUM-DUM-DUMM!

THE STORY YOU ARE ABOUT TO READ IS TRUE. ONLY THE UNIVERSITY HAS BEEN CHANGED TO PROTECT OUR FUNDING.

JOE [voice-over]: This is the desert. Also called the Fertile Crescent. Now there’s nothing but sand as far as the [...]

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AMAZONIA

By Alaina Janz On October 6, 2006 · Leave a Comment · In >archive, >creative, biodiversity, environment

The sun stretches across sky,
a long yawn over the horizon,
and drinks from the river wide.

The wind is gone again, on a whim,
chasing rain and cloud.

Trees wade in the water, their bellies
now exposed, rubbed black with current.
Awaiting the yearly floods, they huddle
under [...]

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THIRD WORLD DEBT

By Gregory Queyranne On October 3, 2006 · 1 Comment · In >archive, >textbook, development, health, politics

Innumerable afflictions plague the world’s poor and disadvantaged. The financial debt owed by underdeveloped countries to international financial institutions, commercial and regional development banks, as well as to the governments of developed countries, is undoubtedly one of the greatest of these hardships, and certainly a tremendous force working against the eradication of global poverty. Due [...]

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