The Force may be strong in campus politics this year.

The Arts Undergraduate Society elections are underway, and the only candidate for VP Finance just may be a wizened jedi.

Nominations closed earlier today, with Obi-Wan Kenobi the only name approved to be on the ballot for VP Finance. Represented by Arts student Simon Poslurs, Kenobi is one of many ‘joke’ candidates running this year with Star Wars connections—others include Admiral Akbar and Mace Windu—but he is the only one running unopposed.

Elections Administrator Matthew Naylor said that while one other candidate was nominated for the position, they failed to attend the all-candidates meeting, which is grounds for disqualification. The elections committee will make a formal ruling tomorrow.

Kenobi is best known for mysteriously disappearing into a pile of rags upon being hit by with a light-saber by Anakin Skywalker—colloquially known as “Darth Vader”—on the original deathstar. Kenobi is a Jedi High Master, and spent most of his later years in hiding on Tatooine, a desert planet resembling the climate of northern Africa.

The AUS is the largest undergraduate society on campus and represents the nearly 12,00 undergraduates in the faculty of Arts at UBC, with each student paying $13 in society fees. This year’s AUS budget showed an expected income of $270,221.10 against $243,885 in expenses.

Despite the large responsibility, Naylor believes that Kenobi will be able to step into the job.

“There’s a learning curve associated with every position, but I think they’re all capable of performing their tasks,” he said.

Voting for the AUS begins Friday, and continues until March 19.

Miranda Scott, a first-year UBC Okanagan student from Delta, BC, passed away last Friday, according to the UBC website.

According to Chun Li, a first-year student, Scott collapsed while working out at the gym. “When I went upstairs, she was on the blue mat. She looked like she was finishing her workout,” she said. “She got up, looked perfectly fine, and then she took a couple steps and collapsed on one of the guys behind me.”

According to Li, when he ran to get help, another student working out was able to perform first aid. Two ambulances and a fire truck arrived on the scene and she was taken to hospital.

Requests for further details from campus security and police were declined on the basis of a lack of information.

On Monday, March 8, the university lowered their flags to half-mast in memoriam of Scott.
—Andrew Bates

Astronomy and Astrophysics professor Jaymie Matthews, who is nearly as excited about his T-shirt collection as his research, would like students to know that he is anything but intimidating.

An unconventional decorator, Matthews’ office is covered with space and Star Wars memorabilia. His cabinets are also lined with plastic Spongebob dolls, who is the unofficial mascot of MOST (Microvariability and Oscillations of Stars)—Matthews’ coveted space telescope.

What explanation did Matthews give for his wacky décor? “It shows my personality,” he said. “Part of the message I want students to have is that scientists are human beings, they are approachable and they have a sense of humour—good or bad.”

Matthews’ personality and sense of fun, coupled with his talent for Astronomy, have led him to much success in his 17 years as a professor at UBC. He has won numerous awards such as the CAP Medal for undergraduate teaching in 2002, and in 2006 was inducted into the Order of Canada.

Always a stargazer, Matthews can’t remember a time when he did not look up at the night sky with astonishment.

“I’ve always, since my youngest memories, been fascinated with the stars in the sky. I wanted to be an astrophysicist before I knew what that meant,” he said.

Today, as a stellar seismologist, Matthews studies the hidden interiors of stars through their vibrations or ‘music.’ As Matthews explained, “We try to use our satellite [MOST] as an inter-stellar iPod to tap into the music of the stars and translate it into what the stars are like on the inside.”

In addition to being a highly regarded astronomer and professor, Matthews is also a local celebrity. His acting resume includes appearances on the Discovery Channel miniseries Light: More Than Meets The Eye and The Imagination Station as well as guest spots on CBC, CTV, Global, CNN and a Fountain Tire commercial.

He has also done consultant work on the network television shows Fringe and Stargate, and wrote an introduction to time travel for the special features of Stargate’s feature film Stargate Continuum.

Matthews first became involved in film and television through his love of movies, performing, and a desire to share information about science and scientists with the general public.

“The reason I do this is it is a way to get science out to a broader audience,” he said. “It’s great to discover and learn things, but if no one else knows about them, then it’s not particularly important or interesting. It is also good to see a scientist and a professor in non-traditional situations [such as on television].”

While many students appreciate his comedic television appearances and entertaining lectures, which often feature clips from hit television shows such as The Big Bang Theory, they also respect Matthews’ dedication to teaching.

As one of his ex-students wrote in the introduction to his PhD thesis, “Jaymie’s belief in me got me through many hurdles as a young student and was crucial to any success I’ve had as a scientist. I can only hope to have the impact on people’s lives that Jaymie has had on mine and many others.”

[Editor's Note: a previous version of this story did not say that the unofficial mascot of MOST is Spongebob. We regret the error.]

UBC faced no surprises from the provincial and the federal budgets announced last week, according to UBC administration.

“We were pleased to learn that university operating budgets would be maintained for 2010/2011, despite the difficult fiscal environment faced by the province,” said UBC VP Finance Pierre Ouillet. UBC currently has a structural deficit of $32 million for the fiscal year, up from $25 million from September.

According to UBC Comptroller Ian Burgess, UBC Vancouver will receive $521.5 million in operating funds from the province for the 2010/2011 fiscal year, an increase of 4.3 per cent from last year’s budget. Federal government grants for indirect costs of research will remain flat at just under $25 million.

Domestic tuition fees are still restricted by the two per cent cap. Interestingly enough, UBC will receive a Harmonized Sales Tax rebate that would allow UBC to dodge the 12 per cent sales tax, which comes into effect July 1.

Ouillet said the changes allow UBC to have more financial flexibility.

“Very specifically, it would allow us to borrow to build more student housing and invest in green infrastructure to make the Vancouver campus carbon neutral,” he said.

However, Ouillet warned that the university would need to keep a “close watch” on both student financial aid and the annual capital allowance (ACA) program—a fund by the province intended for building maintenance—both of which may face cuts next year to curb the provincial deficit.

In addition to a $6 million cut last year, ACA was reduced by another $7 million this year—putting UBC in a $32 million structural deficit, according to UBC President Stephen Toope’s letter to the UBC community on March 4. Out of the $32 million, approximately $22 million will come out of the administration through either having new revenues or cuts, while $10 million would come out of faculties.

“Lack of funding to maintain and upgrade our facilities…is one of my biggest concerns going forward,” said Ouillet, who specifically mentioned the current situation with the Sauder School of Business as an example. Sauder students will vote this Thursday and Friday on whether they want to pay an annual $500 fee for the $20 million upgrade to the Henry Angus Building.

Cindy Oliver, President of the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators of BC, is skeptical about the provincial government’s treatment of post-secondary education in the new budget.

She wrote in The Georgia Straight, “The budget numbers for post-secondary institutions show virtually no increase in their operating grants. Even more disconcerting is that per student funding is set to decline as the ministry forecasts more students and less overall funding.”

However, the university is not worried about the lack of major cuts to post-secondary education in a time of tightening budgets.

“Any time there is more research money available from the federal government, that’s usually a good thing for UBC,” said James Brander, Sauder Professor and an expert on budget analysis. The federal budget will add $25 million to UBC’s total external research fund of $475 million. The money will help various UBC research projects including Genome Canada, TRIUMF, National Research Council and the Canadian Space Agency.

“The federal government is fairly aggressive with funding research…and UBC will do quite well from that,” said Brander.

Brander is optimistic about UBC’s $32 million structural deficit situation. “Of course there will be small cuts here and there, but there are also expansions in other parts of the university,” he said. “Overall, I think that UBC’s financial future and its academic future really looks pretty good.”

The AMS elections are full of scandals, disqualifications and penalties. Is this year’s the worst? The Ubyssey brings you a history of past scandals during election time.

1971: Hanson Lau is declared president, but the election is thrown out and a new one takes place due to the use of a proxy vote, polls opening late and people voting multiple times. Lau loses the second round.

1975: Someone writes “University Bursar William White” (Bursar was the former title for the VP Finance) on the ballot for ombudsperson. The administrator comes in second. Eileen Brown wins the election after White’s votes are removed and redistributed according to preferential votes. A rule is implemented that all candidates have to submit their nomination papers in person as a result. One election ends in a tie and is determined with a coin toss.

1982: In October, Student Court throws out the Administration Director by-election because of campaign irregularities.

1999: Losing presidential candidate Scott Morishita wishes to challenge the election of Ryan Marshall, but there is no student court to which he can voice his appeal. There is an attempt to revive the court, but it is too late.

2001: The Elections Committee denies the request for recount from defeated Students’ Voice presidential candidate Rob Nagai and VP Academic and University Affairs Josh Bowman. Nagai lost by 47 votes, and Bowman by 57.

2003: Spencer Keys, Arts representative and VP Administration candidate, petitions to have newly-elected VP Administration Josh Bowman disqualified for distributing promotional fliers at Totem residence during the campaign. The Elections Committee rejects the appeal. Additionally, the slate Students’ Progressive Action Network (SPAN) is ordered to remove all campaign posters in violation of a rule against pamphleting on residences.

The elections administrator resigns the month before the January elections, causing the Chief Returning Officer to be named as a replacement, but Council refuses to appoint him. Council tries to find a new one in the middle of the meeting, so that there could be someone to run the election.

2004: Board of Governors (BoG) candidate Brian Duong is disqualified because information is leaked regarding who is winning the BoG race while the elections are still going on. He appeals and wins.

2005: VP External candidate Jessica Klug is listed as “Kulg, Jessica” on the online ballot for two days and is then listed as “Jess Klung” on the AMS Elections website after she wins. Elections Administrator Anthony Waldron is MIA for several key events during the campaign.

A rumour circulates that Paul Sutton will be disqualified, and Waldron is noticeably absent. Spencer Keys is allowed to run, although at the time of his nomination, he was out of the country and could not submit his papers in person. Keys wins the presidential race.

2006: Lyle McMahon runs for Board of Governors, but his nomination is rejected because international students are prohibited from running for BoG. He launches an appeal against the decision. McMahon never serves on BoG, but in response to pressure from BC’s Student Societies, the restriction is removed on March 30 of the same year.

2008: The VP Administration race is canceled due to campaign irregularities allegedly provoked by candidate Yian Messoloras. Messoloras had been encouraging students to use Webvote on his laptop to vote for him. Elections Administrator Brendan Piovesan waits beyond 72 hours to correct the “election irregularities” and stops the elections a day before the polls close. Tristan Markle is declared the winner in mid-February.

Newly elected VP Academic and University Affairs Alex Lougheed comes under fire for voting multiple times in an attempt to protest against the non-anonymity of the voting system. Student Court rules that Lougheed should be disqualified, but AMS Council overturns the decision and allows Lougheed to stay on in his position. The term “Lougheed-gate” is coined by media.

2009: Tensions run tight to get the Condorcet system to work in a hurry, as campaigning begins with the Elections Committee still unsure whether the system will be implemented in time. Presidential candidate Blake Frederick is disqualified for his apparent engagement in “slate-like behaviour” two days after being declared victorious. Runner-up Alex Monegro alleges that Frederick was campaigning and postering with other candidates who had similar platforms. The Appeals Committee later overturned their original decision and re-named Frederick president.

TORONTO (CUP)—For Daniel Bader, being a Jewish student at the University of Toronto during Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) is like walking on eggshells.

“It was as if people were too afraid to speak out against it, in fear that they would be assaulted,” Bader said of his past experiences. “It made me very uncomfortable.”

Students like Bader welcomed the news that the Ontario legislature unanimously passed a motion condemning Israeli Apartheid Week on February 25.

Approximately 40 campuses worldwide will be holding IAW events this year with the intent to, according to its organizers, “educate people about the nature of Israel as an apartheid system and to build boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaigns as part of a growing global BDS movement.”

At least two provincial governments and the federal government are making known their displeasure with IAW’s organizers.

Peter Shurman, a Progressive Conservative Legislator—who represents Thornhill, which is home to York University, as well as Ontario’s largest Jewish population—presented a motion to condemn IAW to the 30 sitting members in the 107-seat Ontario legislature on February 25.

Shurman said he went forward with the motion after receiving a lot of pressure from his constituents, who live, work and study around Toronto’s York University and were getting increasingly frustrated by the racial tensions at the school.

“People in the community said, ‘I wish we didn’t have to have this,’” he explained.

“There’s something inherently wrong with an event that has that name. There’s nothing wrong with people expressing opinions—right, wrong or otherwise. That’s one of the great things about Canada, but there is something wrong with beginning the dialogue with a premise that’s one-sided,” he added.

“My attitude is you have to get rid of this word, ‘apartheid,’ because that’s not what Israel is,” Shurman said, noting that he believes the current dialogue curtails his own freedom of speech on the subject.

Shurman said reaction to his motion has been immense.

“We’ve stimulated others to do likewise. This thing has taken on a life of its own, far beyond what I expected when I filed the resolution,” he said.

But not everyone is pleased that politicians are getting involved in a student movement in this way.

“We think it’s outrageous that the motion was passed without any knowledge of the situation in Palestine in general. None of the (Ontario legislators) ever attended any of our events or asked questions,” said Yafa Jarrar, spokesperson for Carleton University’s Students Against Israeli Apartheid.

“We think it’s an attempt to suppress freedom of speech and freedom of expression,” she added.

Shurman said he’s received word that a member of the Manitoba legislature is interested in pursuing similar debate in that province because of the Ontario motion.

But condemnation of the provocative awareness week isn’t only happening at the provincial level.

Edmonton MP Tim Uppal is also planning on introducing a similar motion to the House of Commons, having said in the past that the week itself, as well as the position that Israel is a racist state, is “one-sided, intolerant and unbalanced.”

“This has helped create a public opinion environment where Jewish students who happen to also support Israel are subject to condemnation and opprobrium,” Uppal said in a statement on February 26.

In a statement issued by federal Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff on March 1, he said his party also condemns IAW actions.

“The very premise of Israeli Apartheid Week runs counter to our shared values of mutual respect and tolerance, regardless of nationality, race or creed,” Ignatieff wrote. “It is an attempt to heighten the tensions in our communities around the tragic conflict in the Middle East.”

Students Against Israeli Apartheid spokesperson Jarrar said that her group is planning on writing letters to the politicians who will vote on the matter in the House, as well as university professors in hopes of garnering support for their cause.

“I don’t think politicians have the right to condemn or ban or make statements about student activism,” Jarrar said.

“The irony is that they failed to condemn when Israel was attacking Gaza in December [2008],” she added. “They’re not putting their energy in the right place.”
Bader believes that the government made the right move.

“The government has an obligation to promote free speech and freedom of religion,” he argued. The protest week, he said, “is hateful to Israel and to the Jewish population of Canada, who should not have to walk by people calling for the destruction of a country.”

Despite its negative associations, Jarrar said that IAW is very important because much of the world is complacent when it comes to Israel-Palestine relations.

Israeli Apartheid Week began six years ago in Toronto. The week’s events feature lectures, panel discussions and celebrations of Palestinian culture from March 1 to 7 on some campuses and March 8 to 14 on others. In the past, though, it has sometimes been linked with violence, aggression and hate.

A handful of students at the University of Western Ontario reported receiving death threats this year after joining the “UWO Students against ‘Israel Apartheid Week’” Facebook group.

Last year, altercations were reported at UBC between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli students in a residence building. And at New York University, students were suspended following a two-day occupation of their school’s cafeteria to raise awareness of the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

On February 17, Mark Latham, coordinator of the continuous Voter Funded Media (VFM) contest, informed the AMS Elections Committee that he noticed a few irregularities in the online votes. The announcement came five days after the results were officially certified by the AMS.

Latham reported that he noticed a significant number of votes cast around the end of the voting period that were from the same IP address.

The Elections Committee retained the auditing company Forensic Data Recovery (FDR) to investigate the online votes cast in this year’s elections. FDR is an industry leader in computer forensics and data recovery and preservation.

No paper ballots were affected.

It was found that 731 votes were cast from a single IP address from 12:44pm and 4pm on January 29, the final day of voting. While FDR noted that this could have come from a public computer terminal, they also found that 18 of these ballots, which have been labeled “suspect voters,” contain ineligible student numbers.

They have concluded that the 731 ballots cast are not legitimate votes.

How did it happen?

Chief Returning Officer Ricardo Bortolon told The Ubyssey that the infraction was committed because of the way the online voting system is set up.
He explained that the security check is at the front end of the website, as it asks for your CWL before you can proceed to the ballot.

“When you fill that out and submit it, there’s no secondary check,” Bortolon explained. “What can be done is that page can get cloned and [someone can] make up student numbers and submit that.”

Background

Editor for UBC Insiders and 2008/2009 AMS VP Academic and University Affairs Alex Lougheed said that the AMS had to create an online voting system that used condorcet, which made its debut in his year.

“The Elections Committee of my era was tasked with ensuring that was possible,” Lougheed said. “I provided some advisement as to how they could proceed, and ensured they had the resources to do so, which is the role of the VP Academic.”

Who could be affected?

1. Voter Funded Media

$1900 Radical Beer Tribune
$1800 UBC Spectator
$1600 Social Capital
$1200 UBC Insiders
$1000 AMS Confidential
$500 Geoff’s Place

2. Senate-at-large

Johannes Rebane – 2343*
Joel Mertens – 2112*
AJ Hajir Hajian – 1997*
Spencer Rasmussen – 1727*
Nader Beyzaei – 1715*

Alyssa Koehn – 1340
Ryan Bredin – 1275
Gary Tse – 1047
Blake Frederick – 963
Blair McRadu – 925
Miriam Sabzevari – 873
Aminollah Sabzevari – 760

*Elected as of February 12

“I find it quite frustrating and disheartening that a fellow UBC student would sink to such a level as to try to ‘fix’ the election,” said newly elected Student Senator Johannes Rebane.

Rebane’s feelings are shared by some who are worried about this year’s AMS elections fraud, which have possibly put the results of a few races in jeopardy due to a deliberate interference with the voting system.

At AMS Council last Wednesday, the AMS Elections Committee gave an interim report on the investigation that is currently being conducted on the online voting system.
Elections Administrator Isabel Ferreras told Council that while the executive positions and the international student seat have not been affected, the results of the Senate Elections and Voter Funded Media contest (VFM) are potentially at risk.

Rebane told The Ubyssey that it devalues the campaigning done by himself and his fellow candidates.

“It compromises all the hard work that we as candidates put into our campaigns,” Rebane continued, “and causes nothing but headaches for everyone else who has to deal with the mess.”

Matthew Naylor, an Arts councilor, is an editor of the VFM blog Radical Beer Tribune, which took home the top prize of nearly $2000 in this year’s contest. Naylor hopes that, if indeed the results are affected, the AMS deals with them in an appropriate manner.

“It would be unfair for the AMS to hold contestants financially liable for their mistake in using a system that was not secure,” he said in an e-mail interview.

“The best thing that the AMS could do would be to pay out the difference to all those competitors who were underpaid, unless it is discovered that one of the contestants themselves was manipulating the system.”

Editor of UBC Spectator and current VP Finance of the Science Undergraduate Society Justin Yang told The Ubyssey that he thinks that, if the results of the VFM contest are altered, the best thing would be to “adjust those outlets that have been unfairly and negatively affected.”

AMS President Bijan Ahmadian told students on Wednesday that the executive has been conducting business as usual in light of recent events.

“This hanging over our heads is a bit of an uncomfortable feeling,” he said. “We have gone forward running things as usual and waiting for things to make their due process.”
Neither candidates nor Ferreras are keen on the idea of having a byelection, so what will be done if the results are changed remains to be seen.

For now, candidates and students will have to wait another week for more answers, as a tentative date has been set for March 15 for an emergency AMS Council meeting to discuss the final report.

Congrats, you live in the skinniest province

UBC nutrition researcher Jennifer Black has discovered that BC has the lowest rate of obesity, according to UBC Reports.

Males in Vancouver and females in Richmond hold the lowest rate of obesity in all of Canada.

Black plans to look at the reasons behind obesity. “These factors include family income, the availability of healthy and affordable food, and opportunities to be physically active,” she said.

Study: shoppers worried about contamination

A recent marketing study at the University of Alberta suggests that people are less likely to buy something if they know it has been previously touched, reported The Globe and Mail.

For example, if the last blue sweater in a store is hanging in the change room, a prospective buyer is less likely to purchase it than if it was hanging on display.

The reason for this, the study claims, is because an item that has already been tried on or touched is subconsciously perceived by our minds to contain an element of contamination.

UBC to have “Sustainability street”

UBC’s Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability (CIRS), set to open next year, will be the “greenest” building in North America, according to The Vancouver Sun.

The $37 million building will produce solar energy, treat sewage for irrigation, provide safe drinking water and be greenhouse gas positive.

John Robinson, project director for the CIRS building, noted that the building will also be its own laboratory for research and development and practice in the art of sustainability.

“In terms of sustainability, we can’t find anything being built anywhere in the world right now to match it. But these things are a bit of a moving target and we will have to wait and see when it opens,” said Robinson when asked to rank his building with other green buildings in the world.

The building construction is set to be finished in the summer of 2011 on Sustainability Street.

Student presents “frailty” research

UBC-O student Kaitlyn Roland will present her research on the development of “frailty” in adults to the provincial government on March 8, reported UBC Reports.

Her research looks at the experiences of community therapists who have worked with the elderly in order to create a theory on the subject.
—Katarina Grgic

3pm—The Ubyssey has learned that the culprit who cast over 700 illegal votes in this year’s AMS elections did not do so at an AMS polling station or a computer in the SUB.

Elections Administrator Isabel Ferreras revealed on Wednesday’s AMS Council meeting that 731 votes in total were cast from a single IP address from between 12:44pm and 4pm on January 29, the final day of voting, something she referred to as “suspect voters.” She also noted that 18 of these “suspect voters” had ineligible student numbers. For the most part, however, the votes of these “suspect voters” were random.

The final report is supposed to be presented to the Elections Committee this week, and an emergency AMS Council meeting is tentatively scheduled for Monday, March 15.
—Samantha Jung