Both societies held their annual general meetings last Wednesday 

By Alison Roach
Photos by Valkunthe Banerjee

The SFSS held its annual general meeting last Wednesday in the Maggie Benston Centre. The meeting was attended by approximately 50 people and was chaired by SFSS president Lorenz Yeung. It was called to order at 3:00 p.m., after determining that the 250-person quorum wasn’t going to be met, and the meeting was conducted with the reduced quorum number. The proposed agenda, minutes, auditor, and report from the board of directors were adopted without opposition.

The meeting included a report from the society’s treasurer, Kevin Zhang, which outlined changes to spending. This includes increasing forum stipends to $11,000, doubling the SFSS bursary contribution to $20,000, and increasing funding for clubs from $94,546 to $152,000. It was also reported that the society’s food and beverage service — comprised of The Ladle, Higher Grounds and the Highland Pub — had financial losses of $309,279.

Yeung said of this, “There’s been this ongoing question of our food and beverage services. The philosophy is, do we run it as a business, or do we run it as a service. . . . Right now, the board is working on a change in management to help actually manage the pub and other services effectively, and the financial office has taken on a huge project of costing out each and every single product that we have . . . so that we can really get into the details, and analyze what exactly it is that’s causing us to lose money.”

Member Services Officer Humza Khan went over the work being done on SFSS spaces, including the atrium renovations that have been taking place in the Maggie Benston Centre Atrium. The improvements will include three new food vendors, nine new microwaves, and new furniture. The project is expected to be completed at the beginning of the spring semester. Humza also went over the progress on the Build SFU project; SFU and the SFSS have both signed the memorandum of understanding for Build SFU. The SFSS space expansion fund balance is now sitting at over $3.6 million.

In the open Q&A portion of the meeting, several attendees raised concerns over the planned Men’s Centre. Karanvir Thiora stated that there is no overall plan yet for what the Men’s Centre will look like or be located at, and they are currently still working on a mandate. Student Randy Yee brought up potential abuse of power on the SFSS board from his experience of working with them on pub nights, citing a fake guest list and missing money from ticket sales. Yee said, “Some of the members on your board should treat your jobs with more integrity. . . . There needs to be a lot more transparency, especially with some of the funding [for] clubs.” Treasurer Kevin Zhang responded that all club spending is rigorously checked, going through several stages for approval. Yeung added that he takes these accusations seriously, and would speak with Yee after the meeting. The AGM concluded with several cash prizes being raffled off to those in attendance.

The Peak Publications Society also held their AGM on the same day, chaired by Sam Reynolds. The agenda, previous year’s AGM minutes, auditor’s report, and auditor appointment were all approved without opposition. Reynolds then gave an overview of the changes and events fromlast year.

Due to SFU’s growth over the past decade and The Peak’s constant non-increasing costs, the society has a comfortable cash balance. The Peak staff was expanded by five, adding the positions of multimedia editor, copy assistance, layout assistance, and coordinating editor. A contractor was hired to create a new website for the paper, and old archives were scanned in so they are now electronically archived. The Peak  also hosted the regional Canadian University Press (CUP) conference in March.

The board of directors voted to create a scholarship and bursaries in The Peak’s name. The board also voted to start paying contributors for their work — something that has never been done before   — and will be implemented in the spring semester. Finally, the current business and advertising manager Larry van Kampen tendered his resignation, and will be replaced by David Proctor in November. At this announcement, it was called into question whether or not Proctor has the required handsomeness to fill the position, but it was quickly affirmed by the majority of attendees that he does.

The meeting ended with the election of the three at-large positions on the board of directors, with Estefania Duran, Sarah Veness, and Jeff McCann elected into the positions.

SFU professor analyzes hours of videos

By Alison Roach
Photos by PAMR

A new study analyzed videos of 227 falls experienced by 130 elderly individuals, at an average age of 78 years old, to better understand the causes and effects of these falls. The study was co-authored by SFU professor of BPK and engineering science Stephen Robinovitch and Fraser Health Authority manager of senior fall and injury prevention Fabio Feldman. The study took video footage shot at two long-term care facilities located in the lower mainland, New Vista in New Westminster and Delta View in Delta, and analyzed over 600 videos in total. Most of the research done in this area previously relied on first-person accounts of fall experiences, so this study is novel in its objectivity and its comprehensive approach to the analysis of each video.

The aim was to determine what the person was doing at the time of the fall, and the particular potential causes of injury associated with the fall. Of the study’s perspective, Robinovitch said “It considers what we think about as three stages: initiation, descent, and the impact stage.” The report, which was published in The Lancet journal, focused on the initiation of these falls, what the person was doing at the time, and how they lost their balance from a mechanics perspective. Feldman, Robinovitch, and a team of undergraduate and graduate students analyzed each video in teams of three people, analyzing 15 falls per week on average.

From the videos, the team was able to determine some surprising results. From previous research in the area it was believed that most falls would be caused by slips and trips, however slips were found to be very rare in reality, causing only three per cent of falls. Trips were more common at 20 per cent, but by far the largest cause of falls was incorrect weight-shifting, causing 41 per cent of falls. Also, Robinovitch said that “we thought that most falls would occur during walking, and it was common, but there were two other activities that were just as frequent: sitting down and standing.” It was acknowledged as well that many seniors in long-term care use walkers or wheelchairs for mobility, and there is a danger period during the transition from those assisting devices to other chairs, such as in the dining room or living room.

A disturbing fact about the types of injuries caused by falls was unearthed by the study. “The alarming thing that we’re finding . . . is that over a third of falls in this setting involve impact to the head. This is the most striking thing, and it surprised us how frequent impact to the head is,” said Robinovitch. Whereas a younger person would automatically protect their head during a fall by putting out their arms, a senior doing the same thing does not have the same effect. Due to a lack of muscle strength, even though three quarters of seniors did get their arms out in time, it had no effect on their wrist or head impact. This finding emphasizes a need for strengthening in arm muscles on top of core strength to help prevent falls.

Feldman’s work with Fraser Health Authority gives the team valuable relationships with the actual stakeholders, such as care facilities and their residents. One thing they’re working on now is a new type of compliant flooring being installed at New Vista, a one-inch thick sub-layer beneath the floor’s surface. The flooring is being installed in some rooms but not others, and will be monitored by the team to see how it impacts injury from falls, and whether its usefulness makes it cost-effective.

According to Robinovitch, the next challenge for the research team is to start linking clinical data to their findings, to see if there are correlations between certain diseases or medications and the frequency of falls. Robinovitch hopes to involve more clinical experts with a variety of medical expertise in the project. Of the research’s future, Robinovitch said, “The goal really is to continue to work with these partners as a way to develop and test and refine interventions to prevent falls, and to also improve our understanding of the cause of falls and fall-related injuries.”