The Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) is taking a page out of Commerce’s book: they’re planning a referendum to ask students whether they want their student fees to increase for building upgrades, starting next year.

AUS President Guillaume Houle sent out a mass e-mail to Arts students which says that the vote will continue until March 19 at 5pm. If the referendum passes, Arts students’ fees will increase from $13 to $18 for the academic years 2010/2011 and 2011/2012, $23 for the years 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 and $28 for the year 2015/2016, increasing by the rate of inflation each year after.

The increase is to fund “a new student social and study space” in the Buchanan West Courtyard and upgrades to the Meekison Arts Student Space that would add club offices, group study rooms and multimedia meeting rooms. The fee would cease once the AUS has fulfilled its financing obligations. Houle said that the Buchanan A block will be completed in September 2010, and that the courtyard enclosed by the A, B and C buildings will be “completely revamped.”

Houle explained the AUS’ reasoning behind the referendum.

“The energy emanating from this courtyard will be tremendous and will undoubtedly become the ‘Centre for the Arts’ on campus,” he said, “and the Arts Undergraduate Society simply cannot be left behind without a presence around this courtyard.

“Imagine Arts being able to finally express itself in one, easily identifiable location on campus. Outdoor concerts, plays, social events and other [events] will finally be able to take place in our very own backyard.”

If all goes as planned, UBC’s only freestanding restaurant, The Barn, will close on March 31.

This popular lunching spot for Engineering and Forestry students will stop serving rice bowls and burgers and instead serve parents and their children when it becomes a temporary daycare facility.

The café will re-open in January 2011, adding 24-hour care spaces for toddlers and three- to five-year-olds. The $700,000 renovation is part of a larger project aiming to increase the amount of daycare services available for students on campus.

“We’ve already opened 108 new spaces this year. The total spaces we are looking to open through these renovations is 148 additional daycare spaces,” explained Managing Director of Student Housing and Hospitality Services Andrew Parr.

According to Parr, The Barn has not been “financially viable” for some time. He believes that the conversion makes good logistical and business sense.

So why a childcare centre? “The demand for childcare is very high and we were challenged with the task of looking for more short-term and long-term for the campus,” said Parr.
“With the growth of food [services] in other areas and the demand for childcare I see this as a very positive move for UBC,” said Parr.

Not everyone is as optimistic as Parr about the change. UBC student Jake Malone, who eats at The Barn regularly, is worried that the loss of The Barn will mean less original eating options on the south side of campus.

“There are a few other places on the south side within existing buildings to serve eating purposes, but they are smaller and more indistinct. They lack the qualities that allow for the inclusiveness of The Barn and its atmosphere within,” he explained.

There will be food places opening up on the south side of campus for students like Malone, assured Parr.

New restaurants and cafés are set to open shortly after The Barn re-opens, such as the Niche Cafe, which will be located in the Biodiversity Building. The Earth Systems Science Building and the Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability also have food outlets set to open in the next year.

Parr also said that The Barn’s staff were made aware of the proposal in advance and no jobs would be lost as a result of the closure.

The pre-existing Childcare Administration Building at Acadia Park will also become a part-time childcare facility, and there are plans to develop the Penthouse Lounge at the Graduate Student Centre pending approval.

VP Administration
Ekaterina Dovjenko and Michael Haack sparred off against each other in a seemingly good-spirited and well-mannered VP Administration debate on Thursday afternoon.

Both candidates touted their previous experiences in sustainability and leadership in their attempts to sway the present public, which consisted mostly of other candidates and press.

As they were questioned on the problems of student housing, the new SUB project and how they would deal with rogue executives, not a lot of difference showed between the platforms of both candidates as they both agreed with each other most of the time. The main difference dealt with the importance they attached to the issues.

Dovjenko focused much more on the SUB renewal project and her plans for both the new and the old building, even questioning her opponent on his plans, while Haack used every opportunity he got to illuminate his plans for building and supporting better clubs.

Board of Governors

While the VP Admin race was a nice example of a collegial debate, the Board of Governors (BoG) debate quickly turned vicious as both questioners and the other candidates (Guillaume Houle, Ahmed Azim Wazeer and Sean Heisler’s campaign manager—who represented Heisler in person while Heisler was present in cardboard form), attacked Blake Frederick and his role in the UN debacle of last December.

Most of the candidates agreed with audience members that damage had been done to the relationship between the university and the AMS, although Houle clarified by saying that the relationship with the AMS was fine and that it was the relationship with individuals that had suffered. He went further to say that the two student representatives on the BoG should be able to work together, adding that he couldn’t work with Frederick anymore.

Frederick was the only one who tried to convince the public not to “buy into the notion” that any damage was done between the AMS–UBC relationship, even though he also confessed to making many mistakes and constantly struggling between personal principles and the will of the AMS.

Heisler’s campaign manager mostly reiterated talking points that had been provided to him, and frequently had to field questions with a promise to get back to the audience after he had talked to the candidate.

Wazeer, on the other hand, refused to go into personal attacks, and said that he would and could work together with whomever would be elected. He focused on the future and on building good relationships with the university and making sure that he had the support of the student body.

VP Academic
After the contentious BoG debate, the VP Academic debate between Rodrigo Ferrari-Nunes and Ben Cappellacci was marked with the ignorance of both candidates about the issues they would have to deal with.

Both candidates fielded questions and tried to focus on their past experiences, be it on Friends of the Farm in the case of Ferrari-Nunes, and Safewalk in the case of Cappellacci. As such, Cappellacci kept focusing on safety on campus, even though he acknowledged that this would no longer fall under his jurisdiction, and Ferrari-Nunes also fielded questions by constantly referring to the need for more research and his plans to build an AMS research institute.

Another embarrassing moment came when neither candidate could properly explain what the UBC Campus Plan entailed, nor what they thought about commercial construction—even though campus development is a large part of the VP Academic portfolio.

UBC Housing and Conferences, along with Campus and Community Planning, held a consultation session for a new seven-storey in-fill housing unit at Totem Park residences.

The project, which will cost approximately $45 million and is scheduled to be completed in August 2011, will add just over 560 new beds to the first- and second-year housing complex. The proposed dorms will be private bedrooms with a shared bath, compared to the current dormitories, which consist of shared quarters and a communal bathroom on each floor.

Hotson Bakker Boniface Haden is the architectural firm hired for the project. They are striving for REAP Gold standard, UBC’s personal green building assessment system based on the LEED Gold standard.
—Samantha Jung

Ding-dong, the witch is dead. I mean the bus loop. Follow campus issues for too long and it’s hard to tell the difference.

For years, students have whined, written, bitched, moaned, groused, argued and sang that the bus loop was a bad idea. Now that it is gone, some will point to this as an example of how students can make a difference, stop the administration and teach the world to live in perfect harmony.

But before we pat ourselves too much on the back for this, let’s keep in mind that the project has been scrapped because TransLink doesn’t have the $10 million needed after a recession, and that changed governance and funding structures have made life difficult for them—not because anyone really cared what students thought.

This is a symbolic victory more than anything else. But then again, the bus loop was always more of a symbol.

Over a 20-year span, UBC built and built, expanded and expanded, transforming itself from a large, yet relatively sleepy university, into a small city, complete with tall shiny condos and a billion-dollar endowment. And for the most part, students got the proverbial shaft—we were never meaningfully consulted, and our opinion was considered a secondary concern, at best.

So in 2003, when the university proposed that the University Boulevard/Wesbrook Place entrance-to-campus-by-default would be turned into a neighbourhood full of market housing, a shopping mall and retail space, which would fund a $50 million bus loop that would go underneath it all…well, you can imagine the student outrage. Or at least what passes for outrage on this campus.

Students on the left criticized the sell-out to corporate and market interests in the heart of campus. Students in the centre (there is no “right” on campus) complained the area for the bus loop was too small and the technology around it still unproven. Thousands signed petitions against it. Songs were sung. Activists arrested. Ask a fifth-year student what that “Trek Park” sign beside the Knoll means if you want the full story.

But along the way, a funny thing happened. UBC got a president in the form of Stephen Toope who seemed to actually care just a little bit what students thought. Plans for the above-ground portion of the project (the shopping ’n’ condos part) were scrapped. In its place was a new SUB, one that the university would pony up $25 million towards and that, logically—though surprisingly—would become the centrepiece of campus.
But for some reason, for 18 months after the new SUB was approved, the bus loop, like the rotten corpse of a fading empire, still persisted as a proposed reality. UBC still had plans approved for it, still spent money preparing the project, still waited for TransLink to pony up the money, and didn’t seem to care that the main reasons for building the structure in the first place had vanished.

Maybe I’ve been getting too sucked into the 40th anniversary celebrations for Monty Python, but for the past couple of years, the bus loop was UBC’s Dead Parrot, a redundant shell they stubbornly nailed to a post and claimed was a good purchase, despite all evidence pointing to the contrary.

“This bus loop can’t be built with the current technology.”

“What are you talking about? We’ve got plans for a remarkable bus loop. Beautiful technology!”

“But nothing has happened. If TransLink doesn’t have the money, why do you insist the bus loop is alive?”

“It’s just resting until the funding comes up!”

But I digress. Suffice to say, in 2003 a bus loop made little sense, in 2009 it made even less, and today, finally, mercifully, it appears to be dead. Ceased to be. An ex-bus loop. And students are better off for it.

Here’s the Plan: UBC has reached Phase 5 of its Campus Plan review, making this the last time that planners will pursue broad-based consultation and gather feedback from students and the community as part of their procedures.

The draft plan presented this year “is the proposed plan for how we are going to build our campus over the next 20 years,” explained Bijan Ahmadian, a student representative on the Board of Governors (BoG).  “This is the last scheduled consultation on the plan. That means we will not have another consultation about the campus building plan until 2030.”

The draft comes in part from a culmination of technical studies, focus groups, and community consultations from the past five phases.

Last year’s Phase 4 notably generated widespread dissatisfaction in the plan when a number of community members and students came together to oppose development on the UBC Farm in south campus. But attendees of the open houses during Phase 5 will notice that the Farm is not currently included as part of the plan.

“The idea here is that there’s a separate process currently underway to determine the use of the 24 hectares,” explained Joe Stott, director of Campus & Community Planning. “In the plan, in the maps, as it stands now, it says ‘stay tuned.’”

At the end of Phase 4, the BoG requested that the land reserve become part of a separate academic planning process and submitted a notice though UBC Public Affairs in December 2008 stating that “no market housing will be pursued in the 24-hectare South Campus area.” However, the message goes on to stipulate that this is “subject to meeting the university’s housing, community development and endowment goals through transferring density to other parts of campus.”

As it stands, though, Stott said the plan is to be updated when recommendations from the Provost are received. “If we get that in by the time we go to the Board of Governors we’ll plug that in, otherwise we will be amending the plan in the future….In the meanwhile,” he explained, “we’re busy trying to continue on with the plan for the rest of campus.”

The first open house took place yesterday afternoon at the Life Sciences Building, but additional open houses are scheduled throughout the week until October 21. There, attendees can expect presentation boards, on-hand staff to answer questions, and possible question and answer periods at the Koerner Centre during the last hour of the open house on October 15 and 20.

Concerned about student turnout and participation, Ahmadian has started student-based initiative “My Campus Plan,” which includes a Facebook group and YouTube video encouraging students to participate as part of its efforts.

“Our goal is to significantly increase awareness and participation by students in giving feedback about the proposed campus plan, so that the final version of the plan will be a better reflection of students’ interests,” he said. “We can’t blame the university for decisions that we don’t like when the participation from students has been so low in giving feedback.”

However, a few students at the consultation are skeptical on how much say students can have at this point.

“We’re too far past that stage. We’re at the stage that if there are small shifts in the plan, you can pass that through. I may be a bit pessimistic, where I don’t think much can change,” said Andrew Carne, an AMS representative from the Engineering Undergraduate Society who attended the first open house.

As for what students should be considering when giving feedback and attending the scheduled open house sessions, Stott suggests students should consider whether the move to boost on-campus student housing is actually going to achieve the desired result. “We think the university can provide more affordable housing, make a more lively community and we’d like to hear people’s feedback on that,” he said.

Ahmadian reminds interested participants that you don’t have to attend in person, as online feedback forms provide nine questions and are supplemented by an online discussion guide. Feedback will be accepted until Oct 22 at midnight.

“I encourage everyone to help us create a buzz on campus because only we are responsible for having our voices heard,”  Ahmadian said. “It’s like one of those astronomical events that only happens every so many years, so you don’t want to miss the opportunity to be a part of it.”

1. What is the underground bus loop?

The underground bus loop is part of UBC’s plans to create a “university town” on campus, more commonly known as the “U-Blvd” project, and to replace the “temporary” bus loop on Wesbrook Mall. It was originally designed to go under a shopping mall and block of condos on University Boulevard to provide accessible transportation. According to former AMS VP Administration Tristan Markle, the university has scrapped the condo plan but is still going ahead with the $40 million bus loop project.

The AMS has been vocal about their opposition, lobbying the Board of Governors  to halt construction. Students-at-large have also voiced their opinions: in April 2007 a petition was signed in opposition to the entire U-Blvd project. A protest space called Trek Park was created, which caused a number of confrontations between police and students.
In April 2008, 20 students were arrested after a “peaceful protest” turned ugly in an incident that is now known as “Knoll-Aid 2.0.” Included in those arrests was Stefanie Ratjen, who was the AMS VP external at the time.
Today, the AMS still maintains their opposition to the cost of the project, lack of capacity and inability for trolley buses to access the bus loop.

3. How the new SUB fits into it

AMS President Blake Frederick told The Ubyssey that the AMS has started planning for the underground bus loop in their plans for the $110 million SUB Renew project.
How exactly the two plans will fit together, Frederick said, is yet to be determined.

4. If you want it, get on with it

Almost seven years later, the project seems to finally be in the construction stage. The university has reevaluated the project multiple times. Students were finally granted involvement in the planning process during the 2007/2008 year, when the AMS executive pushed for inclusion.

The project has experienced many delays. In January 2006, a construction boom, combined with poor budgeting, forced the project to schedule construction in phases, which delayed its start. One of the architectural firms pulled out of the project in the summer of the same year, restarting the hiring process. Relocation of the underground utilities were complete this past summer, and the walkway by Shoppers Drug Mart was restored.

5. two part project: UBC not worried

The Board of Governors decided to separate building the actual bus loop from building the ramp and tunnel leading to it.
You could end up building a tunnel to nowhere,” students told the university when they announced the separation of the two parts of the project in 2006.
Managing Director of Infrastructure Development for UBC’s Land and Building Services John Metras said that this is not possible. “The board is very supportive of the project, so no, there’s really not a chance that one part would go ahead and the other part wouldn’t,” he said. “This [project] has gone on for quite a number of years; really at this point we’re in the implementation process.”

6. Looking ahead

The university is still committed to the project, and are waiting for TransLink to get back to them with design details and a construction schedule. They are expecting a decision from TransLink by the end of October.
Despite concerns that the bus loop is too small, John Metras, managing director of infrastructure development for UBC’s Land and Building Services, said that the university is comfortable that the facility at its current size will meet the needs of commuters, and that they’re “relying on the technical expertise of Translink.”
“We’ve heard all of the concerns,” he said, “and I think there’s been efforts to try to address some of those concerns, but ultimately…the project will go ahead.”

Walter Gage residences underwent renovations this summer, much to the delight of new tenants in East Tower—but renovations for North and South Towers will have to wait until summer 2010, or longer.

Common areas are now replete with leather couches, wall-mounted flat screen televisions, wooden floors and a breakfast bar in place of the dining table. Renovations this summer took just under three months, according to

Director of Facilities and Building Services, David Kiloh, who also gave various reasons for the delay in renovation plans for the remaining South and North Gage Towers.

One reason is due to the fact that Gage Towers serve as hotel guest suites for the general public in the summertime. Kiloh explained that the choices that are made to upgrade facilities take into account the 12-month cycle. The cost of living in residence is year-round, even if student demand is only for eight months.

“We don’t want to do something that’s good for students and terrible for our summer business; [also], we don’t want to do something that’s great for our summer business and terrible for students,” he said.

New furniture was ordered from Arold, a Québec company, while televisions were sourced from media services. Old furniture was donated to the Salvation Army, and what was not suitable for donation and resale was separated for recycling and landfill.

Gage Towers have gone through a variety of renovations since being built in 1972. These included a full kitchen renovation in the 80’s, a second shower installation four years ago and new windows installations more recently. Student demand for a more “homey” feel in common areas and furniture took priority over individual student rooms, leading to the most recent changes in East Tower quads.

“The second reason,” Kiloh said, “is that we wanted to make sure that we had time to amend things. If things had gone only mediocre in terms of feedback in East Tower, we could alter our plan before we embarked on the next phase.”

As for the choice to renovate East Tower over the others, it banked on the overall shape of each tower’s quads, of which, East Tower was said to have had the worst carpeting and floor conditions.

North Tower is set to go through with renovations during summer 2010, and South Tower during the same time
period, if all goes as intended. “We’re undecided in South Tower because the carpeting there [and] the current flooring, is not in a dire condition,” he explained.

Students aren’t too concerned about the changes, despite not being informed beforehand.

“These renovations are what people have wanted,” said Abhi Ramalglan, a fourth-year Commerce student who has lived in Gage for three years. “Before we were saying the couch is crap and the TV is from the 90’s. Now you feel like you’re living in 2009.”

When asked whether renovations would affect the student rental costs, Kiloh suggested there would not be direct correlation, which explained the current rental costs being equal for both renovated and un-renovated suits in all towers.

“Maybe it’s not 100 per cent fair, but it’s not something that I would make a big deal about,” said Laura Rodgers, a third-year Biochemistry student. “As far as I know, there haven’t been renovations in individual rooms.”

“To be honest I am here because of location and the convenience for me to get to class. I spend little time at my quad. Renovation is nice, but doesn’t really bother me.”

No general announcements or advertisements were targeted towards students regarding the renovations, and no students knew whether they would receive renovated quads upon move-in.

“There’s no official message that East Tower has been renovated, but it gets around. I’m pretty sure that most people know,” said Rodgers.

Plans to locate a hospice near student residences—Vanier and Marine Drive—have been scrapped due to negative feedback from community and student consultation.

The consultative process, led by Campus and Community Planning (CCP), included an open-house for the campus community as well as correspondence and consultations with administrative groups such as the AMS
Campus Planning and Development Committee (CPDC), UBC administration and Board of Governors (BoG).

“While the community generally supports the concept of a hospice, we have received objections to the location on Marine Drive, south of the intersection with University Boulevard,” explained Joe Stott, Director of Campus and Community Planning, “Consequently, the University and the sponsors of the project, the Order of St John and the Faculty of Medicine, have decided to search for a new location for the hospice on the UBC Vancouver Point Grey campus.”

Bijan Ahmadian, one of the elected student members of the BoG and chair of the CPDC, said the decision to change the hospice location demonstrates how constructive engagement between students and the university can produce results.

“The location is now potentially available for amenities that can improve the student experience for those living in that neighbourhood,” said Ahmadian, adding that “the change in location prevents creating a dysfunctional interface between students and hospice residents.”

The “dysfunctional interface,” many believed, would have been caused by noise created by resident traffic, which would have been exacerbated by plans to increase the number of resident beds in Totem Park, and restaurant additions to the Marine Drive Commons Block. This type of noise, many students believed, may not have been compatible with the desired hospice atmosphere.

Stott explained that the evaluation of alternative sites will be considered by the President’s Property and Planning Advisory Committee (PPPAC), and the choice of the site will then be ratified by the UBC Executive and the BoG.

Ahmadian hopes to “explore options for including students in a collaborative way” in the search for another appropriate location for the hospice.