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SFU places on list of top 50 young universities

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By Graham Cook

Scores highest for international mix and citations categories, lowest for teaching

SFU recently placed on two different lists of the best universities in the world under 50 years old. Both Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Top Universities and Times Higher Education judged Simon Fraser to be one of the best young universities, ranking it 25th and 30th respectively. The Times list, however, pointed to a potentially lack in teaching quality at the university.

QS, which recognizes SFU as 260th in their overall rankings, bases their ranking system very loosely on the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education in the U.S., and takes into account size, focus, research intensity, and age. QS gave the top prize to the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

SFU president Andrew Petter said of the distinction, “to look at universities under 50 and compare them to each other is much more of an apples to apples comparison . . . and obviously I was very pleased to see how we did in both.” However, he also outlined some concerns he had regarding university rankings. “The problem is that I think with these rankings you’re necessarily selecting . . . measures that are quantifiable. I take all ratings with a bit of a grain of salt,” he said. “I don’t take any rankings, these or Maclean’s, to be the measure that we should use to judge our own success.”

One striking aspect of the Times rankings was that, save for 23-year-old Charles Darwin University in Australia, SFU scored the lowest in the “teaching” category. A school’s score in this area is determined by a combination of the 2011 Academic Reputation Survey, the staff-to-student ratio, the ratio of PhD to bachelor’s degrees awarded, the number of PhDs awarded (scaled against its size), and “a simple measure of institutional income scaled against academic staff numbers,” according to the Times website.

When questioned about this aspect of the evaluation, Petter posited that the way these ratings measure teaching “isn’t really necessarily related to the experience the student has in the classroom.” He attributes this flaw to the rankings’objective factors and “indicators that may or may not be relevant.” He further stated that “even if [the objective factors] are relevant, they are certainly not the whole story.”

Petter stressed that these rankings represent some of the best universities in the world. Having comparatively lower scores in some areas, then, may not be a troubling indicator.

While QS did not break down individual scores, SFU’s highest scores on the Times Higher Education list came from the “international mix” and “citations” categories.

Harbour Centre lease extended to 2028

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By Alison Roach

New contract could mean a 75,000-square-foot expansion

SFU has recently renewed the lease on the downtown campus, ensuring that SFU Vancouver will remain there until at least 2028.

The original lease was put in place in 1989, and was set to expire in 2017. This may seem like a fair ways off, but as SFU president Andrew Petter explained to The Peak, “if we were to lose the right to the facility, the time to find an alternative is becoming short.”

This new lease is a result of discussions with the owners of the Harbour Centre Complex, a family business based in Germany that, according to SFU administration, was very keen to enter into negotiations. The lease was officially approved at the most recent SFU board of governors meeting, and the final documents were signed and sealed in the last few months. “The initial impetus was to provide adult programming,” said Petter on the evolution of the Harbour Centre space, “but it has obviously grown over time. There is now a major undergraduate population downtown.”

Though the main objective of the negotiations was to secure the Harbour Centre space for the future, the new lease also provides room from growth. SFU currently holds 175,000 square feet in the building, but a provision has been included in the new contract that would allow SFU to expand into an additional 75,000 square feet in the future. This opportunity will arise three years from now. A review is planned to determine if this expansion can be justified, taking into account the current programming, financial considerations, and alignment with the university’s academic plan. Petter said that they hope to reach a decision on whether to expand or not before the end of this calendar year.

“Most people identify it as the structure that really marked SFU’s establishment of its downtown campus,” said Petter. “It was the Harbour Centre facility . . . that marked the decision that SFU had made to not confine itself to Burnaby Mountain.”

The strengthening of SFU’s ties to downtown falls in line with Petter’s vision of SFU as a strong three campus university, each with their own distinct cultures, rather than a school made up of a main campus and two satellites. “I think with the new vision of the university as an engaged university, it was the move downtown and to Surrey that shows we could engage physically, and established in people’s minds that we were a university that was working down from the mountain and engaging with the community,” said Petter.

“SFU has three distinct campuses, each one, we hope, being the distinct ‘intellectual heart’ of their respective communities,” said Laurie Anderson, the executive director of SFU Vancouver.

Douglas Hume, the general manager of the Harbour Centre Complex Ltd., believes in the importance of having the university in downtown Vancouver. “SFU is not only an excellent tenant, but they’re good for the city. It brings people into the downtown core and adds a certain degree of vibrancy,” said Hume. Anderson agreed, stating, “SFU Vancouver enhances downtown intellectually, socially, culturally, and economically. The range of programs we offer, the free public lectures, the myriad of community ties we have, the money spent by the SFU Vancouver community in downtown businesses, and the joint ventures we’re engaged in; SFU Vancouver’s impact on the health of the urban core of the city is enormous.”

For now, the renewal of the lease provides a welcome sense of security. “We’re very, very pleased that we know that they’ll be here for the next 20 years,” said Hume.

Hall wins BoG race

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By David Dyck

Last week, the election results were announced for the position of student representative on the SFU board of governors. The winner was graduate student Angie Hall. Hall beat out three other contenders for the position.

“I’m really excited, I was compulsively refreshing my email this morning,” Hall told The Peak last Thursday, when election results were announced.

“I’m really hoping I can be on the finance and admin committee, looking at the budget for the school and seeing where we can do things better and bring some new ideas to what we can be doing with students’ money,” said Hall. Board members are appointed to various committees by the chair. “To work with some very influential people at the school and in the community will be really exciting,” said Hall.

According to the elections office, the total number of votes received for this election was 424, an extraordinarily low number. Typically there are over 1,000 votes cast.

Board shorts

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By David Dyck

The board of directors had a lengthy conversation regarding transparency last week. In an effort to combat what he described as a “lack of trust” towards the board from forum, member services officer Humza Khan brought a motion to board that would see board and committee meeting agendas forwarded to the forum email list “as soon as the agenda is ready; preferably no later than 24 hours before the set meeting times.”

Khan stated that at the last forum meeting it was evident that forum mistrusted the board. Forum is an advisory body made up of representatives from departmental student unions (DSUs) and constituency groups. It meets every other Thursday. Khan told the board that he believes that this is a step forward in gaining the trust of forum members. Moving forward, the constitution and policy review committee will look at making this an official policy. For now, the motion was passed with an amendment that it will continue until the end of the fall semester of 2012.

Prometheus’ fire fizzles

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By Kristina Charania

Despite lukewarm characters, the explosive effects and ambiguous philosophizing make Prometheus an intriguing adventure

Having been in development for over 10 years with the largest budget to date for a movie in the Alien series, producer and director Ridley Scott has again jumped on board to produce the long-awaited fifth installment of the franchise.

Prometheus takes place in 2089, with devoutly Christian researcher Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and her partner Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) discovering a 35,000-year-old star map that proves humans were created by an alien species. Through funding from the Weyland Corporation, the pair embarks on a two-year space journey to a distant moon in order to find the “Engineers” who created them.

The film borrows many ideas from its precursors — Scott stated that Prometheus is not necessarily a prequel to Alien (additional films are needed to bridge the gap between the two), despite their dual existence in a universe where the Weyland Corporation exploits their employees in the name of scientific advancement. Androids are regular crewmembers, and humans are inferior, expendable commodities to the alien race.

The characters in Prometheus are similarly expendable. Excluding Elizabeth, who doesn’t quite surpass Ellen Ripley from the first four Alien movies, and a subtly condescending android played by Michael Fassbender, the characters are dull and remain stagnant as the film progresses.

While Shaw’s creationist beliefs provoke philosophically heavy, centuries-old questions of the origin of life, the film leaves the answers up to viewer interpretation. The Alien series suggests the presence of Engineers, but otherwise leaves them shrouded in mystery. Prometheus provides concrete evidence for their existence, but continues to conceal most details of their origination, motivation, and whereabouts, hence leaving Darwinist and creationist views unchallenged. Because of the hype created through viral campaigns like the 2023 TED talk featuring Peter Weyland, this unspoken message may disappoint viewers looking for an ending with all ribbons tied.

The special effects in the film are exceptional. Scenes including a dazzling holographic projection of outer space, high-tech spaceship simulations, the dark interior of the moon’s caves, and massive mid-air explosions are exemplary of the effort exerted to produce an eye-pleasing flick.

The movie, despite its minor faults, is still a great science fiction film worth watching.  The shortcomings of Prometheus may make it pale in comparison to its predecessors, but as a stand-alone piece it’ll be worth every cent that you spend at the theatre.

Here Be Dragons explores the histories and borders of heritage

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By Kaylin Metchie

Dragons, the abridged version of a longer research piece by Henry Daniel, previewed at Woodward’s on June 1

The lights fade to black as the overflowing audience waits for the performance to begin. Choreographer Henry Daniel has made it clear to the audience that today’s performance of Here Be Dragons is a workshop performance.

“I’ve told the dancers to make sure to do everything they’re supposed to do as a group together, but for them to keep exploring the idea of play,” he said.

We wait in the dark, having no idea what is about to be presented. Sitting by the door, I can hear the muffled excited voices of the dancers just on the other side.

Gord Grdina walks across the stage and began to play the oud, a fretless Middle Eastern instrument similar to a lute. He plucks a string, and I am immediately transported into a dream. This weightlessness multiplies once the dancers enter the stage. They throw pieces of fabric into the air that seemed to be suspended in time for a moment before floating down to earth.

The acoustic element of Here Be Dragons is thorough and powerful. Grdina watches the dancers intently, accenting their movements. Live singers encircle the audience, and a musician takes to an amplified saxophone mouthpiece. There is recorded sound combined with electro-acoustic filtering. Sound emanates from all corners, increasing the ethereal, dream-like state the first images placed the audience in.

Here Be Dragons is part of Daniel’s Project Barca. “Barca had a double meaning,” Daniel explains. “It is a shortened version of Barcelona, and it also means a small boat in Portuguese. I wanted to make a boat to go on this journey [of creating the performance].”

The initial concept for Barca and Here Be Dragons came after Daniel’s recent trip to Barcelona. “As a Caribbean person with a history that has a lot of Spanish and colonial history, I thought about that date in 1492 when Columbus left Spain. They had no idea North America existed and no idea about the Caribbean. It created the rationale that if you go far enough west, you’ll end up in the East,” he says.

A refreshing aspect of the performance was the monologues spoken by the dancers in multiple languages — Japanese, a Trinidadian dialect, and a third I couldn’t quite place. Spoken word is not common in dance, since dancers speak with their bodies, not their mouths. The dancers spoke about their families’ histories, tracing them back to the year 1492.

“I asked some different people to come to the project, and I told them when they came that I wanted them to trace their family histories back to 1492. And of course, they couldn’t. But they would go back as far as they could go, then we would start to create virtual stories with links to real historical facts.”

As Daniel stressed in his pre-show piece, this was a workshop performance. The final version of the performance will take place in January 2013. Until that time, Daniel has a busy schedule with research in Spain.

“I want to work on the beginning of this piece with dancers from Spain. I am very interested in why this journey took place, what was the state of Spain at the time and why Columbus had to go.”

“In an ideal world, dancers from here would go to Spain and dancers from Spain would come here. I’m not sure if that is going to happen.”

British Columbia U-Passes to go electronic in summer of 2013

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By Veronka Bondarenko

Next year, expect the U-Pass to change again

VANCOUVER (CUP) — Beginning in the 2013 summer term, the current version of the U-Pass will be replaced with a Compass electronic fare card that will require students to tap the card next to a sensor whenever they wish to enter a SkyTrain or SeaBus.

The new U-Pass will be made out of plastic and students will no longer need to pick up a new one every month. Instead, the same card will be valid as long its owner is enrolled at UBC and eligible for the pass program.

“These cards, similar to ones used in Hong Kong, London, and other major cities, are designed to be more convenient for customers than the current variety of passes,” said Kyle Warwick, VP external for UBC’s Alma Mater Society (AMS).

According to TransLink’s information officer Drew Snider, this initiative stems from TransLink’s overall decision to replace all paper tickets with the electronic Compass Card. Snider said that these changes, first proposed in late 2010, will allow TransLink to simplify the current transit system, which now makes use of over 150 different transit passes, and keep better track of the way the transit network is functioning.

“Our planners are really looking forward to Compass, as the data generated by customer movements will help them manage the transit network more effectively, with a better grasp on where resources are needed most,” he said. “This way, they can make the most efficient use of taxpayer dollars.”

According to Snider, the switch is also expected to fight fare evasion. Like the thin plastic U-Passes that had been issued at UBC until last September, the new U-Pass will once again have the passenger’s name printed on the front of the card.

Also, the new sensors that are expected to be installed in TransLink’s buses, SkyTrains and SeaBuses will help ensure that only those who have paid their fare are able to get aboard.

Still, some UBC students are concerned that requiring people to tap their U-Pass next to a sensor will only increase wait times for express buses, such as the 99 B-Line, which runs along Vancouver’s busiest east–west corridor and is already notorious for its long lines.

“It might actually complicate things even further,” said third-year arts student Alvin Chang. “The lineups are going to be even longer and it’s going to take more time to get into a bus.”

And while both TransLink officials and AMS representatives are confident that the new U-Pass and Compass Card will be an improvement over the current fare system, many details still need to be worked out. Among them is the price of the new U-Pass, which has yet to be determined.

“The AMS, along with other student societies and post-secondary institutions, is currently in the process of working with TransLink and the provincial government to ensure the new U-Pass remains a great program for students,” said Warwick. “This includes working hard to ensure that it remains at an affordable price that students will strongly support during a renewal referendum.”

This renewal referendum, which is required every time UBC’s AMS renews its U-Pass contract, is set to have students vote during the fall 2012 term.

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By Colin Sharp

Newest kid on the lady rapper block brings an unpretentious freshness with her debut EP

Female rappers are an interesting case study. Despite the fact that we’re approaching 40 years of hip hop, very few female emcees have been able to maintain a lasting career. Queen Latifah stopped making music, MC Lyte faded away, and Lauryn Hill went crazy. I mean, aside from Missy Elliot (who hasn’t done anything herself in seven years) and Jean Grae, where are the respected female MCs?

Part of this may be because of their tendency to fall into stereotypes. They’re either empowered women and respected lyricists like Latifah, or they’re sexualized products that have male rappers ghostwrite their verses, like Foxy Brown or Lil’ Kim. One of the most fascinating and promising things about Azealia Banks, an upstart 21-year-old from Harlem, is the way she blends several aspects of what it previously meant to be a female in hip-hop.

Banks attacks every track she is on with fervor. The technical skills and flow she displays on every track are incredibly impressive. She has the kind of talent that usually results in a female rapper like Jean Grae that tries to seem like one of the guys, but Banks fully embraces femininity — she just happens to do it in an incredibly abrasive way. Strip away the pop music veneer of Nicki Minaj and you’ll start to get an idea of Banks.

1991 is the first collection of music from Banks. It’s good to see that she’s stuck with what makes her a unique talent in hip hop. The result is a type of music that hip hop should have had years ago. Artists like M.I.A. and Santigold are frequently referred to as rappers despite the minimal amount of time they spend rapping. Azealia Banks takes a similar aesthetic, grabs the tracks with the hardest drum tracks, and actually raps. It’s not exceptionally creative, but it is an appreciated progression of this style.

All the songs on the EP are enjoyable and upbeat, but it still manages to go into a tailspin halfway through. The track “Van Vogue” closes with two minutes of distorted vocals with no backing track. With a meager four tracks and a total running time of a little over 16 minutes, devoting two minutes to this is a waste of time. That’s an acceptable move when your name is Ghostface Killah, the distorted vocals involve getting Raekwon to talk shit about 50 Cent, and none of this happens until the end of Supreme Clientele, one of the finest hip hop albums of all time. When you’re Azealia Banks though? Not so much.

The EP recovers though, and 1991 is a great listen. Don’t expect to come away with a new opinion on what hip hop can be, but do expect to have a fun time dancing around to some obscene lyrics.

University seeks bids for WebCT replacement

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By Sheliza Thobani

With consultations over, the university is now seeking bids from potential software developers

SFU’s learning management system (LMS) has been WebCT since 2001, but now Blackboard Inc. has announced they are ending support for this application in December of 2012. This change has prompted SFU to undergo the WebCT Replacement Project to seek a contender for a new LMS. A request for proposals was issued on May 31 with a deadline for accepting proposals set for June 28.

For the replacement application, SFU began consulting other universities and students: 250 face-to-face consultations were completed in addition to 6,800 surveys. According to Mark Bachmann, communications officer, “flexibility [in an LMS] was the number one priority outlined during the consultation process.” The importance of technological features and functionality were stressed as the primary concern, followed by teaching and learning. Other features include accessibility and effective group communication among students. Bachmann quoted students’ concerns: “Does it let me access my marks on the bus [and] does it let me collaborate with other students?”

In addition to consulting with students, instructors, and staff, SFU must find a candidate to implement the new LMS. A 50-page document was composed so potential LMS providers can go through the whole application process. It has been posted on a government website (bcbid.com) where suppliers can bid on the proposal. For their bids, they fill out their background, capabilities, experience, and examples of past work. Bachmann says, “It’s almost like a job interview; because a company has to answer questions and provide references.” SFU is open to hiring a commercial system — a package built and sold by a company — or an open source system created by a community of developers. “We welcome commercial vendors and we welcome open source platforms [depending on which fits our needs],” said Bachmann.

Once a selection of shortlisted candidates has been chosen, and the June 28 deadline has passed, volunteers will test out the systems. Various tasks will be compared on each application, so that faculty members and students can see which system will meet SFU’s requirements for a new LMS.

Ski Ninjas: Skinny Couple

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By Kyle Lees at Ski Ninjas

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Simon Fraser University’s independent student newspaper since 1965.

Contact us: [email protected]

© The Peak Publications Society 1965-2024

Simon Fraser University’s independent student newspaper since 1965.

Contact us:
[email protected]

© The Peak Publications Society 1965-2024