DNA 11 sends you a mouth swab that you use to collect epithelial cells from the inside of your cheek. You then mail these back to the company and they conduct a gel electrophoresis run of your genes. The results of this (the black and white bands often seen on CSI and the like) are then photographed professionally and digitally coloured. The result is an abstract painting of whichever colours you want featuring you.

Its a pretty cool idea and I’d imagine I’d have a lot of fun explaining to people what the painting was all about. However, I had some reservations.

I’ve written about genetic privacy before and am aware of the risks of mailing some company my most personal information. If it is stored digitally on a server in the US it become open to the Patriot Act. If they keep the info and the company goes bankrupt then what happens to the genetic information.

I did a little digging around and it looks like DNA 11 is totally legit. First of all they don’t actually decode your genes, they just get a fancy picture of them. Its the same kind of picture that criminologists use to identify two people. Each picture is unique but you can’t tell what any of the lines actually translate to (hair colour, skin colour, etc.). They also guarantee that they will delete and destroy all of the information and samples that they get after they have finished your piece. I sent them an e-mail and they confirmed all of this for me.

They also do personalized finger prints and kisses!

Nerdy? Check. Conversation piece? Check. Beautiful? Check.

Stephen Harper’s decision to shut down parliament has been met with criticism from all sides of the political spectrum. Is it a hugely political move? Yes. Is it to cover up the Afghan prisoner issue (that shouldn’t be an issue)? Yes. Has it hurt him? By all accounts, dramatically. The below poll by The Strategic Counsel explains how badly (source).

So where does that put us now. To understand that we have to start by understanding Harper’s strategy over that past 12 months. Since that ugly Liberal episode that will hereby be referred to as the ‘Dion Debacle’ the Liberals have struggled to maintain their image as the official opposition in Canada. This is largely due to the bill scheduling enforced by the Cons. Every time that the Liberals promise that they are going to bring down Horrible Harper and his America Loving Conservatives, they are faced with a confidence vote in the house that they can’t find the gall to vote against.

A prime example of this was the Home Renovation Tax Credit (I’ve written about this before). Its part of the economic recovery plan and returns up to $1,300 to homeowners who renovate their homes (homepage). They had been advertising the Tax Credit for quite a long time and it had been one of Harper’s promises in his 2008 election (if I remember correctly). The catch is that it was never actually approved by the House of Commons. After a couple of weeks of Iggy running his mouth about how they would ‘take the next opportunity’ to bring down the government, the Conservatives put the HRTC on the floor and made it a confidence motion. The Libs were now faced with a difficult decision: be yellow bellied politicians who can’t be taken seriously or fight an election with the public wondering who took away all that money they were promised. Tough choice, but time and time again in this situation, and others the Liberals have chosen to step down after talking themselves up. They are self defeating their desired image of being a strong opposition party.

You can turn around and say that this is another example of Harper using dirty political tactics to score political points and I would agree with you. He’s hardly the only one to do so however, and I’d argue that the Libs have historically been worse. I was alive to watch Chretien and the AdScam fun. Oh and Trudeau nationalizing a provinces industry to score political points in Ontario and Quebec, that’s not underhanded at all.

The real risk here for Canadians of all stripes is that Prorogation becomes an accepted convention in Canadian politics. If Iggy chooses yet again that he isn’t ready for an election and allows the Conservatives to steamroll him and his spineless party, he opens the door for future political parties to use prorogation as a political tool, something that is good for no Canadians.

Iggy came to campus last week and to much rave review. I couldn’t go but I heard that he talked about a lot of interesting stuff. There was some rabble there too. I didn’t hear from anyone who went however if he committed to actually being an opposition party and bringing down the government. No surprise there, all politicians are pragmatic like he is. You know he is thinking it though; the stakes are so much higher this time. He has damaged the Conservatives more in January than at any time in the last 12 months. He is at as good a position as he is ever going to be. He needs to force an election after the prorogation is over to show 1) that he has grown a pair of cahones 2) that prorogation is not an acceptable convention in Canadian politics and 3) that the Liberal party is confident enough in itself to actually act as the opposition Canadians want (even me).

Iggy has seen the flop, turn, and river. Its time for him to show his cards to see whether or not he has the full house he keeps talking about.

If you are a student bent on making a positive difference in the world then this is the place to get your start. This year, the 3rd CGIU is happening in Miami from April 16-18. It will undoubtedly be as awesome this year as it was last year. Participants will get to hear speeches from and interact with world leaders in many disciplines. Be sure to check out the webcast from last year’s meeting to get a scope of what happens. More importantly you will meet dozens of other university students from all around the world engaged in globe changing projects.

There is a catch though. Potential applicants need to make a ‘Commitment’ to the Clinton Global Initiative in one of 5 areas: Education, Environment & Climate Change, Peace & Human Rights, Poverty Alleviation, or Public Health. My commitment was the UBC MIX project and fell under the Education category.

If you are interested in submitting a project you are currently working on to the CGIU and attend be sure to check out the CGIU homepage. The early application deadline has already passed but the final deadline is February 22, 2010. It is crucial that you start working on your application early as it is quite a lengthy process.

UBC is also looking at finding some support for student’s who are interested in applying. I’d be happy to help you out with your application and show you mine from 2007. UBC Student Development also wants to help out so please contact Kim Kiloh if you intend to apply. You can look her up in the UBC Directory. The best way to contact me is to e-mail me – geoffcosteloe at gmail dot com (phonetically spelled but you know how to fix it).

Best of luck applying!

Things have gone beyond sideways. As I read the press releases and subsequent articles that came out I felt as though I was slipping into another dimension. How could this be? I think is the question on most people’s minds; and rightly so. How is it that a democratically elected President whose personal crusade is to ‘the eradication of oppression’  (from his facebook) so whimsically cast aside democracy, process, trust, and, lets be honest, common sense? As a council member, I feel oppressed. So do many students judging by the expected attendance at tonight’s council meeting. In truth, it would appear that Blake and Tim (Blim) have actually increased the net oppression on our campus during their time in office. Their actions have eroded the AMS’s ability to engage in any form of discussion with the university administration, VANOC, the BC Government and the federal government making student voices weaker than they were before.

How do I know that this has happened? Because as a senator and student leader I interact with people in these areas on nearly a daily basis. If I was polite I would say that the reason for these burnt bridges was because of a lack of cohesive stance on some issues. If I was truthful I would say that, in the eyes of bodies higher and more important than us, we look like whiny, spoiled little brats, throwing a tantrum in the aisle of the grocery store until Mom gets us the candy that we want. Is that how student leaders are supposed to act?

So how exactly did we get here? The answer is longwinded so I’m going to try and summarize it as best I can. Note that this is only how I see things. I think that many people will agree with me.

What is happening now is the climax of a war that has been raging for quite some time in the backrooms of the AMS. There are two sides in this conflict: idealists and realists. Steve Janke wrote a fantastic article about idealists and realists and he explains it much better than me but I’ll try and sum it up (here: just the first couple paragraphs). It encapsulates our situation very well. Idealists are individuals who have a view of an ideal world and work tireless to achieve it. In their minds, the ends always justify the means. As long as the real world moves incrementally closer to their perceived ideal world then it is worth it. In their minds, trampling on democracy, civil disobedience, and just being batshit crazy can all be justified by the world that they are trying to build (which to them is the world we all want, some of us just don’t know it yet). This is exactly the defense that Blake and Tim have used to justify their claim to the UN: we are lobbying for lower tuition for UBC students. The UN complaint may bring us a planck length closer to lower tuition, so to them, it shall be done by any means necessary.

On the other side of this war are the realists. They don’t have a teleological view of the world. To them, the way the world works is a summation of causes and effects that have lead us to this point. An ideal world doesn’t exist, in fact many of them would probably say that there are moralities such as right and wrong and not universal and are subject to vantage point. There are costs and benefits to every decision. If the benefits to the group outweigh the costs then action should be taken. They don’t oppose tuition reduction in our case, they just don’t want to drop a nuclear bomb on valuable relationships to do it. The costs outweigh the benefits. From reading the comments on posts and blogs this week, I would say that most of the students at our university are realists.

It is important to note that realists or idealists are found all across the political spectrum. There are idealist conservatives as well as idealist liberals.

Over the past couple years and AMS executives the idealists have been winning the war. We can tell this because of how our system now. Is it any coincidence that Tristan Markle, notorious Knolly, former AMS executive is the partner complaintant on the UN claim (even though he isn’t a student and didn’t contribute a dime to the legal fees)? Is it any coincidence that Stefanie Ratjen, another Knolly and former AMS executive as well as an outspoken and radical critic of the 2010 Olympics, was recently given almost $20,000 by the Student Legal Fund Society to educate students about their rights around protesting at the Olympics?

The idealists hands are so far in the pockets of the AMS that it is basically second base (high five?). There strategy has been cunning and it has worked. Several groups and subsidiaries of the AMS, most notably the resource groups, have been hijacked by these idealists and are being used to actively pursue their own selfish political aims. Certainly the groups do provide important services to students through the Womyn’s Centre, the LGBT support, etc. But in the past years, there sinister side has begun to outweigh their benefits. Did you know that all students pay a small amount of money every year to pay for the Knoll. This rag is how the Knollies got their name and it is filled with hateful rhetoric, attacking all perspectives but their own. I’m sure you’ve all seen it at some point and I don’t need to go into the level of shit that is spewed out of that magazine. Besides, I didn’t bring my waders (fishing joke).

If students at large new about this, they would want it changed. I want it changed. But attempts to do so are criticized by the idealists as being driven by straight, white, christian, men who want to continue the oppression and colonization of indigenous groups through the disenfranchisement of minority…blah blah blah. I will have you know that being a white heterosexual male, traits over which I had no control often serve me badly in council as apparently my voice doesn’t count or accurately reflect students at this university. For more information on this see the minutes of the disability seat debate. It strikes me as humorously hypocritical that these idealists claim that my skin colour should disenfranchise my voice while trying to promote the voice of other disenfranchised groups. Actually that is really funny.

So what will be done to remedy the situation? In about 3 hours council will have an emergency meeting to call for the resignation of Blake Frederick and Tim Chu. They have become the puppets of this idealist movement, the strings being pulled by shadowy figures out of the view of students and councilors. How else can Blake turn around on his facebook page yesterday and claim that the he has received an outpouring of support from students regarding the issue (he has since taken this down, but a photo of it can be found here)? It is the same small group of radical idealists who give him the ideas to run with, pave the way for them to happen, have him do them, then congratulate him on them afterward.

I’m actually surprised that Tim or Blake won’t be at the meeting tonight (the BC NDP convention took priority I believe). They seem to enjoy being martyred for their agenda, like two Jesus Christs of social justice. If we brought a crucifix to the meeting they would probably be the ones driving in the nails.

No doubt we are angry at them, no doubt they have committed a crime against democracy and students at UBC, no doubt that something must be done to remedy the situation. My concern is that it won’t stop with the two traitors this week. The idealists pulling the strings are everywhere in the AMS and they will keep pulling the strings whether Tim and Blake resign or not. They will find more weak willed cowards to put forward as candidates in the next election and the war will begin anew.

As a result, the realists need to think very hard about how to proceed this week. If impeachment is brought forward a week from now I will vote for it, that’s what students seem to want. I hope though, that it doesn’t come forward. The costs of losing an impeachment vote are much greater than the benefits of winning it. If a discussion occurs in which Blake threatens legal action against the AMS or even specific councilors some of us will undoubtedly back down. If an impeachment vote is lost then we will have been viewed to endorse Blake and Tim, re-solidifying their delusions of support.

There are other ways of punishing Blake. Remove every possible power that he has. I firmly believe that Blake and Tim are ideologues. They truly believe in their perverted minds that they have the support of council and students. If we stop their ability to do anything then we separate ourselves from the executives. Telling the university and all the other damaged relationships that Blake or Tim have no ability to represent students or council will be enough to start on a path to recovery. We must maim them so badly that they become lame ducks until the next election in January.

The best way to win this war against the radical idealists isn’t to remove Blake and Tim. That will feel good and appeal to our desire for vengeance but it won’t fix the problem. I ask you then whether it is worth risking it. It may just add fuel to their fire. What really needs to happen is several years where real students run for positions. Students need to vote in the election. That is the real point of all this.

Hopefully this will be a catalyst to get an truly engaged and representative student society. That is the real lesson in all of this.

Let the circus begin.

Dec 1 – Updated tags, removed note at beginning, expanded SEO Pack

Today, the Conference Board of Canada released a report ranking the health-care outcomes of 16 developed countries. Of course, the US received a D came last (but we expected that, it was written by a Canadian group after all). Canada received a B and came 10th out of the 16 while the US received a D and 16th. Those damn Europeans always seem to beat us out. Gasp! Say it ain’t so!

Our egos were stroked enough by beating the US so handily that we failed to see what the report was truly trying to tell us. Go back and read what the rankings were looking at again. They were looking at health-care outcomes not systems. Obama and Congress are trying to find the ‘best’ system, not the ‘best American system’. The terms of the US debate on health-care centre around how much the Feds should be involved in the health-care system (a public/private debate) instead of focusing on the real issue: How can we make more Americans healthier? If the debate was refocused, some tangible results would likely result.

Rising rates of diabetes are a great place to start. Canada and the US came 14th and 15th respectively on mortality due to diabetes. Japan came out on top. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the differences in diabetes mortality rates between the three countries isn’t a result of different health-care systems (Canada and the US have dramatically different systems and come in right next to each other). It is more likely a result of the differences in overall lifestyle. Over several decades Japan has encouraged a culture of activity in its society. We’ve all seen videos of crazy Japanese companies leading afternoon exercises with all of their employees.

This culture seemed to have worked. A 2003 OECD report shows that 24.9% of Japanese are overweight (BMI>25kg/m) and only 3.2% are obese (BMI>30kg/m). Compare that to the US where 65.7% are overweight and 30.6% are obese and the problem is clear. Americans are fat and Japanese aren’t. It isn’t a genetic thing either, Japan gave us sumo wrestling remember.

Whats wrong with being fat? It leads to Type 2 diabetes for one. 95% of people suffering from diabetes are Type 2 ‘adult onset’ diabetics. Increases in these diabetics can be attributed to “aging population, rising obesity rates, increasingly sedentary lifestyles, and higher risk for diabetes for Aboriginal people” (source). It no wonder then that as we (Canadians and Americas) are getting fatter, we get less healthy.

Second, diabetics are expensive.

• People with diabetes incur medical costs that are two to three times higher than those without diabetes. A person with diabetes can face direct costs for medication and supplies ranging from $1,000 to $15,000 a year.
• By 2010, it’s estimated that diabetes will cost the Canadian health-care system $15.6 billion a year and that number will rise to $19.2 billion by 2020.

Its no wonder that the Canadian system is running short on cash or American insurers charge exorbitant premiums. Fat people make health care expensive for all of us.

Despite this, all of the talk in the US around health-care reform has centered around a ‘public option’. Why not drop the ideological part of the battle (which is the causing the deadlock) and find easy ways to make American’s healthier. Building more community centres where people can work out, aiding youth athletics programs, and helping at risk kids get into sports for life. It can’t stop there though, staying active throughout your whole life will make you healthier, is free (or nearly free), and will make your government/insurer happy.

It isn’t hard to start either:

In a large study, people at risk of type 2 diabetes were able to reduce that risk by 58% by exercising moderately for 30 minutes a day and by losing 5 to 7% of their body weight. In people over age 60, the risk was cut by almost 71%. Other large studies have shown similar results in reducing risk. (Source)

Besides which, I’d much prefer to see Obama pump money into programs that directly affect change in the US than fill the pockets of an inevitably inefficient bureaucracy.

With all the money he’ll save we can afford some extra twinkies apples. One of them a day could keep a public health-care battle at bay.

That’s what researchers University of Bath are looking at. Lead by Adrian Bowyer, the team has created RepRap: an open source machine that is capable of creating (at least in part) a copy of itself.
You may have heard of three dimensional printers before. They print an object layer upon layer so that the final product has shape and form. These printers usually cost tens of thousands of dollars to buy. RepRap is trying to change all that.
Lets say your friend had a RepRap. They could download open source designs to create anything: coat hangers, doors, desks, whatever you could dream up. These might be made in small pieces that you have to assemble, but almost anything is doable. Great, your friend has his own little factory, but how does that help you?
What if your friend could program RepRap to make a copy of itself? Then you can have your own little factory on your desktop, to create whatever you need or more RepRaps for your friends.

Check out this awesome video below and RepRap’s homepage!

RepRap from Adrian Bowyer on Vimeo.

Its been a fair challenge to figure out but I thought I would share with you what I’ve learned so far.

There is a steep learning curve to cryptics. It often requires recognizing certain words in the clue that direct you to solve the clue in a specific manner. These various manners are relatively consistent and include double definitions, hidden words, reversals, cryptic answers, anagrams, and more that I don’t totally understand yet. The best way to learn is to jump right in, so here is our first example clue (from Wikipedia):

Found ermine, deer hides damaged (10)

You’ll notice that when read as a sentence the clue makes almost no sense. This is the case for almost all cryptic clues. Remember that this isn’t the Jeopardy style crosswords that you are used to. The clue itself won’t direct you to the answer, it is a puzzle within itself.

I have found that the best way to start solving a clue it to do two things: look for a ‘style’ clue and trying to split the clue into two parts. Almost every clue can be split into one part that gives a rough synonym of the word (sometimes they are very misleading) and another half that gives you the tools to solve the clue. The split between these parts is often in an unexpected spot. So in this clue, you might assume that it is the comma, which is wrong. A good way to find the split is to look for the ‘style’ clue. These are often verbs. hides is the ‘style’ clue in this cryptic and it tells us that this is a hidden word style, meaning that the word is actually hidden within the other words of the clue. If you had read the clue as a sentence you would have read hides as skins, but again, nothing is as it seems.

You’ll be happy to know that the hard part is finished. Next, we have to find where the answer is hiding. The (10) at the back tells us how many letters are in the answer was two words it would read (4,6) or something of the sort. Because hides is our divide between the two sections we can look at damaged and see that it has only 7 letters in it, which isn’t enough for our solution. We then move to Foundermine, deer and, looking within it we find

Found ermine deer,

The solution to this clue is undermined, a ten letter word contained within the first half of the cryptic and is somewhat synonymous with damaged, the second half of the cryptic. The nice thing about cryptics is that when you get the answer you are 100% sure you are right unlike regular crosswords that can sometimes have several ‘correct’ answers to a question.

Okay, on to another clue. This one is a bit tougher (which seems impossible, I know).

Returned beer fit for a king (5)

Again, we start by looking for a ‘style’ clue or cutting the cryptic in half. Like last time, the ‘style’ word is a verb, but unlike last time it doesn’t sit in the break between the halves. Returned is the ‘style’ word and it indicates a reversal. Other clues for a reversal can be ‘receding’, ‘in the mirror’, ‘going the wrong way’, or ‘rising up’ (for vertical solutions), and ‘going left’ for horizontal ones. This ‘style’ involves reading a word backward to get the solution.

Our next step is to figure out where the break in the cryptic is. Because Returned comes immediately before beer it would be a good assumption that they want you to read beer backwards, spliting the cryptic into beer and fit for a king, where fit for a king is our rough definition or synonym. The only problem is that the solution contains 5 letterTerry › Edit Post — WordPresss (as indicated in the parentheses) and beer only has 4 letters. Here is where a scrap piece of paper comes in handy. If you think (and write down) all of the synonyms for beer with 5 letters in them you will eventually come up with lager. Reading lager backwards (as indicated by returned) we ret regal, something that is fit for a king. It sounds like a huge leap of thinking, but it is incredibly satisfying when you get an answer.

Here’s a fun one (maybe its just me who thinks its fun). Its also a pretty straightforward one.

I’m a leader of Muslims!

Before we start this one, an important point should be made. You should always ignore capitals and any punctuation in a cryptic, they are only there to mislead you. The only exceptions to this rule is when the cryptic ends in a ! or ?. A ! indicates that the cryptic can’t be broken into two discreet parts or that the whole word is a definition. A ? indicates a need for a dramatically different interpretation of the words.

This clue could actually be one that you would see in a traditional crossword and you might be able to guess the answer right away: Imam. Further inspection will confirm this. In this case the ‘style’ clue is the ! and leader of. When you see words like leader, follower or something that seems like a sort of hierarchy, it usually is. In this case we look at the leader of the word Muslims to get M (the first letter). When you put this letter after I’m a you get I’maM and ignoring punctuation and captials makes the solution even clearer. It is truly genius to be able to hide a solution in a question and that makes seeing it even cooler.

One more really hard one (I couldn’t get it):

Bishop turned on the gas light (6)

So initially I thought that turned was the ‘style’ clue and directed me to do a reversal (it being turned). I was way off however. Turns out that the break in the cryptic is between gas and light. Light is the definition/synonym and the rest is the tools to get there.

Now they throw a rather obscure reference at you. On a chess score sheet, the bishop is referred to as B. Chess is an unfortunately overly referenced part of cryptics. A synonym for turned on is ‘lit’ and a elemental symbol for a gas (helium) is ‘HE’. Put these all together and you ge B+LIT+HE= Blithe. Blithe is a rather unused word now. It dates to before the 12th century and means being joyous and happy or light-hearted. (I guess its the opposite of dreary). Hence the second half of the cryptic, light. How you would ever make those jumps blows me away.

Search around the internets and you’ll find some free cryptics. A good site by GP Tucker has them here.

There is also a some places to learn about other styles that come up (there are quite a few more than are mentioned here). This is a good one.

I’ll post 3 more and see if any Terry readers can get them.

Equilibrium shown by graduate with weapon (7)

Gold metal of the mouth (4)

Counts on parts of swimming pools lacking extra opening (7)

Remember, getting the answer means nothing. To prove you got it you have to explain how you would get the answer.

Good luck!!

So recently feathers have been ruffled people have been causing a ruckus around an ad attempted to be published in the two major Calgary papers. The ad, produced by the Vancouver Humane Society (VHS), depicts a competing cowboy calf-roping a calf as a bully/baby relationship.

Peter Fricker of the Vancouver Humane Society on Monday:

We think the calf roping is one of the cruelest of rodeo events. We felt that there wasn’t any other major animal protection group taking on that issue at the stampede.

Obviously, whats good for the goose must be good for the gander he has some hangups.

One may wonder why the Vancouver Humane Society is the one doing the protesting. Are the Calgary Human Society volunteers to busy working in their oil rigs and churches to care about a poor defenseless animal? VHS must have thought so: they didn’t even contact the CHS before pitching the ad. Actually, the CHS has chosen the high ground and rather than crowing complaining about the issue from a distance, they are actually on the ground involved in the Stampede. Rodeo events at the Stampede are monitored by both the Alberta Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the CHS.

The role of livestock and animals central to the theme of the Stampede. The event has persisted for more than 97 years since Guy Weadick produced the first “Frontier Days and Cowboy Championship Contest in 1912″. The idea was and remains to be a celebration of the pioneer spirit that settled the Prairies. Along with the rodeo there are shows and exhibitions such as the World Blacksmithing Championship, petting zoos, milking demos, and live auctions. The Aboriginal Plains People have been a crucial part of the celebration since the Stampede’s 1912 inception and allows us city folk to learn and take part in tipi raising contests, trying bannock, and learning about traditional music and dance. It truly is an event that allows Calgarians and Albertans to be proud as peacocks about their history.

And yet, it is the apparent horrors of the Rodeo that always attract the attention of animal rights activists like moths to a flame.

The events that occur at the Calgary Stampede rodeo and at other rodeos around the world are based off of the daily activities of the ranching pioneer’s who settled the plains (save perhaps bull riding, that started out of boredom). If you are moving a herd of cattle from one grazing area to another and a calf breaks away from the main herd, whats a cowboy to do? Call the SPCA to pick it up for them? No, you rope it, just like they’re doing in the competition.

These events didn’t start out as a competitive event. When Weadick started the Calgary Stampede and Exhibition, it was to exhibit the prairie way of life. There was no professional rodeos, just local joes who came out to meet, have a laugh, and have a go. The historical culture that persists at the Stampede should be celebrated as a part of this nation’s history, just as we still allow various aboriginal Canadians to practice their traditional hunting.

What about the actual animal injuries as a result from tie-down roping? The VHS claims that “Calves roped while running routinely have their necks snapped back by the lasso, often resulting in neck injuries.” They are all hat and no cattle. In reality, injuries are incredibly rare. A report done by the New Zealand Rodeo Cowboys Association (NZRCA) and the National Animal Welfare Advosry Committee (NZ) states:

The NZRCA has collected statistics over the last 20 years and reports that there is a very low level of injuries. Injuries are probably overestimated since any sort of injury from a small laceration to a fractured limb or death are recorded. In the period January 1999-Feburary 2000, injuries recorded by veterinarians, from trucking and yarding associated with rodeos, as well as those related to the events, numbered 42 out of 5527 animals (0.76%). Calf roping accounted for 4 of those injuries (out of 646 calves) and one calf was euthanased. Reports from the USA also indicate that there are few injuries associated with the modern rodeo. For example, one minor injury out of 915 calfroping runs (August-September 1994), 15 injuries from 27,767 animal runs at 19 rodeos (1998-1999) and 15 injuries from 26,584 animal runs at 21 rodeos (1998-2000).

Full report here.

That’s far fewer injuries than you would expect sending your kid out to play little league soccer.

The animal rights debate will resurface at every Stampede, and it should. It is important to make sure that we are keeping watch of our practices and treating the livestock well. But lets get real here: the Malibu princesses walking around with a little dog inside their purses are being just as cruel as the cowboys at a rodeo. These activists, although well intentioned, are making a mountain out of a molehill overreacting.

We wouldn’t want to celebrate the role that animals have had in our society and history would we?

I’ll be watching the Stampede this week, cheering on my favourite roper – Fred Whitfield.

Original Source:

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2009/06/29/rodeo-ad-humane-society-calgary-stampede-calf-roping.html?ref=rss

Happy Canada Day everyone.

Today is one of my favourite days of the year because we get to celebrate the 142nd birthday of our country. Its not just a paltry rip off of July 4th either, its the day we get to gloat about living in the best nation in the world.

As part of the day of civic pride, I thought I would share with you my favourite 5 Canadians. These are people who inspire me and we should all be proud of. The list isn’t in any particular order.

1. Sue Johanson – Sex Educator and Education Activist

If you have never seen Sue live, its a real treat. At 88 years old, she shakes up our stereotypes of women, sex-education, and octogenarians with hilarious, candid stories. I remember her describing (and acting out) how boys will attempt to hide their unwanted erections in grade 8 math class. Through stories like this she manages to connect to her audience on levels no other health worker can. Yes, her messages are very much the same as any other RN or health worker (wear condoms, talk to your partner, don’t pressure/or be pressured in to anything, etc.) but her real value is that when she talk, people really listen. They leave believing that they aren’t alone in what is usually an awkward growing experience and that they can talk to their friends/parents/doctors about issues around sexual health.

Sex truly is a universal motif. As uncomfortable as it may be to talk about, its the one thing that almost every person on the planet has (or will have) some experience in. Sue taps into that universal knowledge bank and proves that you can have an impact on lives no matter how old you are.

She was also awesome on The Hour. Check out the intro here.

2. My Grandfather/Canadian Military

If there is one area that Canada has continued to punch about its weight class in it is our military. We have a record of sacrifice and honour in all of our engagements. Our politicians have played a part in this record, putting Canadians in harm’s way only when it is necessary to protect our citizens or values (some people think otherwise).

My late grandfather served for his entire career in the Forces. He was a shining personification of the Canadian military: polite and modest yet strong, steady, and ready to quietly do what needs to be done. The members of the forces that I know have similar traits. They are some of the most professional people I have ever encountered. They are certainly an inspiration to me and hopefully, one day they will get the respect they deserve in this country.

3. Jack Layton – Leader of the NDP/Crazy Socialist/Trekkie

People who know me probably think that this is a strange one to be on my list. I can’t stand Jack Layton. I don’t like his party and I don’t like his vision for the country. What I can respect though is him as a model politician. I met Jack on UBC campus once after he gave a brief speech about some of his economic plans were he to become PM. It was nuts: something about restricting the amount oil and gas that will be shipped to the US every year. After he was done he walked out into the audience to meet with the students who came to hear him. I shook his hand and asked him about his plan.

Me – “You do realize that your plan for Canadian business is akin to nationalizing private industry. Is that how it is intended?”

Jack – “Yes.”

Its very rare to meet a politician (Federally or even at AMS council) who will give you a straight answer. I can respect that. He knew that we were at odds about the issue so instead of trying to appeal to my sentiments or forcing his upon me he simply stated his position. Canada could benefit from a more straightforward style of politics and Jack Layton emulates how politicians should present themselves.

I just hope he never gets any real power. That would be some scary stuff.

4. Terry Fox

Maybe the only person on my list with a true international following, Terry is one of the most iconic figure of just before my time. Living in the second largest country in the world should not only fill us with pride, it should be seen as a challenge. Running/biking/wheeling from one ocean to the other is a time honourd challenge. It is a task that is daunting to most people. But, some individuals, given significant motivation and an unbreakable will, rise to that challenge. Terry Fox should the world the power of Canada’s quiet determination. He is undoubtedly a Canadian who will forever be immortalized in our psyche.

5. Roberta Bondar – Canada’s First Woman in Space

Dr. Bondar is a example of Canada’s continuing role in international science and exploration. Not only was she a contributor to Canada’s successful space agency, CSA, but she continues to impact science, business, and medical communities as a public speaker, consultant, and activist. Her space research concerning the adaptability of humans to chaotic environments has been beneficial to major companies, like Pfizer, and government organizations, like the FBI.

It is important to also remember Canada as a scientific leader. Roberta Bondar belongs up with Canada’s most prolific researchers such as Banting, Polanyi, and the inventors of McIntosh apples, the zipper, plexiglass, green currency ink, and basketball.

So there you have it. A list of my favourite Canadians.

Whose on your list?

PS – I’m preparing a list of my least favourite Canadians to be released on Trudeau’s birthday. I’m also open to suggestions for that.

I’m pleased to announce UBC MIX’s first partnership: Science One Biology and HIST 104!

This partnership is a great one and the faculty involved are certainly diving into it head first.

There are several components to this partnership. I’m going to go ahead and outline what the plan is.

There will be 4 joint classes over the course of the term. Each of these classes will involve a different activity that will bring the students together. These activities include a case study, a joint video, and a guest lecture discussing ecology and conservation.

The students will also be paired up as pen-pals and discuss the activities between each other from the students respective perspectives. These pen-pal communications will be worth 5% of the student’s grade.

The final activity that the students will be working on will be a project in groups of four. These groups will have to compile a small report after exploring, identifying, and photographing various trees in the campus ecosystem. This assignment will be worth 10% of the HIST students grade and an amount TBD in Science One.

Everyone involved in the project is very excited about the upcoming semester and to see the UBC MIX model in action. We’ll be sure to keep you posted on the partnership as it moves forward.

We are still looking for more partnerships for September, if you are interested in getting involved send an e-mail to ubc.mix (at) gmail (dot) com. For more information check out our temporary homepage here. This is only one example of a partnership. There are many other options, many that are not as involved as this.

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