UVic year in review

During the past year UVic researchers discovered a quasar, shed new light on the nesting habits of marbled murrelets and unveiled an in vitro method of fertilizing trees. The UVic Vikes added several new national titles to an already impressive list of national championships. The University unveiled new research centres and is poised to launch a new Centre for Innovative Teaching in early 1999. And let's not forget the engineering students' prize-winning 'spam bridge' and the 24-hour Bug Push in steady rain!

Here's a look back at 1998:

January

¥UVic's law school is ranked number one in Canada for the third consecutive year in a survey of recent law grads by Canadian Lawyer magazine.

¥UVic students were among 3,000 protesters who marched to the provincial Legislature on January 28 as part of a national day of protest against increasing debtload.

¥Faced with decreased funding, UVic athletics announces the Vikes men's and women's volleyball teams will be classified as Level II sports and after the conclusion of their current season will no longer compete in CIAU competition .

 

February

¥Construction of the 'Alex Fraser Spam Bridge' wins four UVic engineering students top honours in the Western Engineering Conference and Competition. Using materials like coat hangers and duct tape the students had to improvise a method to transport cans of Spam from point A to point B, 10 feet away.

 

March

¥Three UVic graduates--executive vice-president of Canadian Pacific Ltd. Ron Gamey, artist Carol Sabiston and environmentalist Ric Careless--are named the 1998 recipients of the UVic Alumni Association's Distinguished Alumni Award.

¥The Vikes women's basketball team win the CIAU national championship--the sixth national title for the team.

¥UVic law students beat out teams from 15 Canadian law schools to win the prestigious Gale Moot competition in Toronto by arguing a recent Supreme Court decision.

¥UVic political science students win the gruelling five-day North American Model United Nations competition in Toronto by representing American foreign policy against teams from Europe, eastern Canada and the eastern U.S.

¥UVic opens an international affairs office as the clearing house for the University's rapidly growing number of international exchange and co-operation agreements and the first stop for international visitors to UVic. Former Dean of Fine Arts Dr. Anthony Welch is appointed as the office's first director.

¥Ground preparation begins on the Centre for Innovative Teaching, a building dedicated to developing and using new teaching methods and technology. Its classrooms are capable of broadcasting signals elsewhere in the building, on campus and around the province and the globe. The centre will be officially opened in early 1999.

 

April

¥Dr. Sibylle Artz, director of the school of child and youth care, is elected 1998 Academic of the Year by the Confederation of University Faculty Associations of B.C. Although a relatively new academic, Artz spent 20 years working with children and youth in schools, foster homes and on the street prior to earning her PhD and focusing her research into violence and adolescent girls.

¥UVic launches a full-time, one-year certificate program in the application and management of information technology (AMIT) to address the challenge of providing Canadians with the skills for the approximately 20,000 unfilled technical positions in Canada.

¥Renowned conductor and violinist Yehudi Menuhin receives an honorary degree April 28 at a special convocation that includes a musical program performed for Menuhin by UVic students, faculty and staff and community members.

 

May

¥UVic cuts $1.68 million from its 1998-99 operating budget reflecting a continued freeze on tuition fees, protection of some core academic expenditures and modest cuts to most of the University's departments for the fifth year in a row.

¥An updated economic impact study reveals UVic annually injects $299 million into the economy of the Capital Region. UVic President Dr. David Strong announces the updated study in an address to the annual general meeting of the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce.

¥Three UVic writing instructors win BC Book prizes: Marilyn Bowering wins the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize for Visible Worlds (HarperCollins); Cameron Young shares the Bill Duthie Booksellers' Choice award with Ian and Karen McAllister for The Great Bear Rainforest (Harbour Publishing); and Patricia Young wins the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize for What I Remember From My Time on Earth (Anansi).

 

June

¥During the 1998 spring convocation ceremonies, UVic awards its 50,000th degree.

¥UVic astronomer Dr. Geraint Lewis announces the discovery of an ultra-luminous quasar--brighter than any object previously observed in the universe--discovered by Lewis and three colleagues in Europe and the U.K.

¥Germanic studies professor Dr. Michael L. Hadley and linguistics professor Dr. Joseph F. Kess are elected as fellows of the Royal Society of Canada, Canada's most prestigious academic honour.

¥Nine outstanding men and women receive honorary degrees during six spring convocation ceremonies. They are: artist Flemming Jorgensen, astronomer Dr. Graham Odgers, child care pioneer Elsie Stapleford, philanthropist and fundraiser Eric Charman, percussionist and teacher Trichy Sankaran, First Nations educator Daisy Sewid-Smith, philosopher-theologian John B. Cobb, Jr., health informatics researcher Dr. Vimla L. Patel, and director of University of Washington's Centre for Educational Renewal Dr. John I. Goodlad.

 

July

¥Forest biologists Drs. Danny Fernando, John Owens and Patrick von Aderkas of the centre for forest biology announce they have, for the first time, successfully reproduced Douglas fir embryos through the use of in vitro fertilization (IVF). The IVF process, when coupled with hybridization or genetic transformation, could lead to the development of economically superior trees.

¥UVic's Y2K team announces that it is ahead of schedule in making the university's computer systems Y2K-compliant. It expects to finish its work early in 1999.

 

August

¥A UVic survey team discovers marbled murrelets, rare and threatened seabirds, are nesting within 20 kilometres of downtown Victoria in the Greater Victoria watershed and Sooke Hills Wilderness Park.

¥At the request of the university, both Oak Bay and Saanich municipalities reduce the speed on Ring Road to 40 mph on August 22.

 

September

¥UVic's writing department celebrates its 25th anniversary with special events and readings by illustrious grads such as Gail Anderson-Dargatz, W.P. Kinsella, Richard Van Camp and Joan MacLeod.

¥The faculty of law opens a business law clinic providing law students with valuable hands-on experience and community clients with legal information about starting and operating a business.

¥Research scientist and entrepreneur Dr. Tim Walzak is appointed new president and CEO of the UVic Innovation and Development Corporation which co-ordinates the transfer of new technologies to the private sector and generates financial support for UVic research.

¥Geographer Dr. David Chuenyan Lai wins Heritage Canada's Gabrielle Leger award, the foundation's top honour for heritage conservation, for his work in preserving Victoria's Chinatown.

¥UVic opens the Centre for Global Studies, under the directorship of former foreign affairs deputy minister Dr. Gordon Smith, to conduct research on solving problems of global governance relating to sustainable development, human security and national security.

¥Theatre professor Dr. Giles Hogya is appointed dean of fine arts and Dr. Vern Paetkau is appointed dean of science.

 

October

¥UVic researchers receive up to $1.15 million in research infrastructure funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation to support leading edge research in forest regeneration, ocean-floor exploration and the environment.

¥UVic's board of governors approves an expansion and upgrading of Dunsmuir Lodge to allow it to meet the growing national and international demand for mid-career training and life-long learning opportunities.

 

November

¥A Centre on Aging study of seniors in the Capital Regional District shows most seniors are content with how their lives turned out and as happy now as when they were younger. The baseline study also indicates that the community with the highest seniors population in the district is Sidney (33 per cent).

¥The school of child and youth care celebrates its 25th anniversary. Since first offering classes in this ground-breaking program, the school has grown to be one of the most respected in its field.

¥Filmmaker Atom Egoyan, fundraiser Donna Thomas and artist Ted Harrison receive honorary degrees at the 1998 fall convocation ceremonies.

¥17,222 graduate and undergraduate students are enrolled at UVic as of Nov. 1.

¥The Vikes women's cross-country team win the CIAU national championships Nov. 14 at the University of Waterloo--the university's 36th CIAU title. The Vikes men's rugby and men's and women's rowing teams also take national university titles.

¥The new youth and society research unit prepares a two-year plan of action. The team of university researchers with interests in youth issues and youth well-being was formed following the murder of Victoria teenager Reena Virk in 1997.

 

December

¥With donations still coming in, UVic's United Way campus campaign passes the $90,000 mark. Fund raising activities included a kiss-a-pig contest, a doghouse raffle and the Engineering Students Society annual 24-hour Bug Push where teams of students pushed a Volkswagen 129 times around Ring Road.

¥The UVic Speakers Bureau, whose 140 volunteer members include UVic graduate students, faculty and staff, books a record 246 speaking engagements over the fall season. The speakers share their expertise on more than 400 topics with community groups and organizations throughout southern Vancouver Island.

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