Gain inspiration, cultivate pride and join us in celebrating the myriad ways you and your engineering colleagues make a difference at the 3rd annual UBC Engineering Excellence event.

The event will be held on Thursday March 1st from 6-9pm at the Four Seasons Hotel in downtown Vancouver. Evening highlights will include entertainment showcasing the UBC School of Music, a three course dinner, and the award presentations.

Please join us in congratulating the 2012 Award recipients:

• Lifetime Achievement – Dan Doyle
• Community Service – Colin E. Smith
• Outstanding Future Alumnus – Sean Heisler & Annelies Tjebbes
• Outstanding Emeriti Faculty – Dr. Charles Laszlo

To RSVP, register now!
www.apsc.ubc.ca/ubcengineeringexcellence

Take advantage of up to $14.00 in savings over single match ticket prices!

Wear your best Whitecaps FC and UBC Thunderbirds blue and join fellow UBC alumni, students, staff and faculty to cheer on the ‘Caps as they battle D.C. United at BC Place!

Before the game, don’t miss the pre-match pep rally* at Shark Club Sports Bar and Grill. There will be some great Whitecaps FC and UBC Thunderbird prizes to be won!

*Please note this is only open to those 19 years of age and older.

Event Details

Pre-match Pep Rally:

Saturday March 24, 2012
5:00 pm – 6:30 pm

Shark Club Sports Bar and Grill
180 West Georgia Street
Vancouver, BC – map

Whitecaps FC Match:

Saturday March 24, 2012
7:00 pm start vs D.C. United

BC Place
777 Pacific Boulevard
Vancouver, BC – map

Cost: Special price of only $25.00 (including HST)

To Purchase Tickets

For booking information, contact Jamieson Brooks or Christine Dunsworth at 604-669-9283 (extension 5) or via email at jbrooks@whitecapsfc.com or cdunsworth@whitecapsfc.com and mention that you are buying tickets for UBC Night! Also tell them if you’re going to be coming to the pre-match event.

The deadline for purchasing tickets is Wednesday March 21, 2012 at 11:59 pm.

You must pick up your tickets on match day at Will Call (located at Gate B at BC Place).

Questions?

Please contact Joan Hall at joan.hall@ubc.ca or 604-827-3146.

That 41-foot house post wasn’t there this morning.

Have you been on campus lately? Did you get lost?

UBC is constantly changing. New buildings are born, old ones pass on, and existing ones gain or lose limbs. Wondering what’s happened on campus since you graduated? Here are a few examples of what to expect:

• Like many other temporary buildings, the hut beside Brock Hall used by the Centre for Women’s and Gender Studies has been taken down.
• The Law building has been replaced with the shiny and green (as in sustainable, not in colour) Allard Hall.
• The old Hillel House used by the Foundation for Jewish Campus Life has been replaced with a new one.
• 

  Last day of service at the Bus Stop cafe (Photo from UBC Archives)

  The Bus Stop Café closed in 1990 and Scottish pipers marked its last day. Although not as legendary, 99 Chairs filled the eatery void for a while before being replaced with a White Spot, which recently became a Triple-O’s.

• The ground is about to be broken for a new Student Union Building, just south of the current SUB (not Brock Hall, the one that came after that).
• Koerner’s pub closed, re-opened, and then closed again. It will be missed.
• Yum Yum’s in the Old Auditorium basement closed, but the Old Aud building has been restored to its former glory.
• The Beaty Biodiversity Museum has opened, housing a complete Blue Whale skeleton. (Bonus: it provides 2-1 admission for alumni who have their free ACard).

Architect's rendering of the Welcome Centre

If you don’t own a compass or a phone with GPS, don’t despair. Once built, the UBC Alumni Centre will be a natural starting point for your campus visit.  Friendly staff will welcome you to the university and provide the information you’ll need to make the most of your time on campus. They’ll help you find your old haunts or point you in the direction of some appealing new hangouts.

October 18 – 26, 2012

Welcome to the UBC Alumni Association’s literary adventure in Cornwall. On this trip we will walk and talk and have a wonderful time in the far southwest of the English mainland, which boasts one of the most spectacular coastlines in the United Kingdom. It is a lovely time to ramble in the rugged countryside reminiscent of the Yorkshire moors so vividly depicted in Emily Bronte’s timeless masterpiece, Wuthering Heights.

This trip will combine mornings spent in discussion and afternoons spent in splendid discoveries. Our discussions are led by our very experienced discussion leader, Gary Schoepfel of the Great Books Foundation, Harrison Middleton University, and Classical Pursuits. Discussions are forums for thoughtful readers – they are lively, friendly, occasionally contentious and lots of fun! The object is not go home with a leader imposed ‘right answer’, but to challenge opinions in the light of a thought-provoking text. Our local Blue Badge Guide will take us to his favourite spots in the area and ply us with local legends and lore.

Please join fellow UBC Alumni and friends on this delightful and enriching trip to Cornwall. This group is limited to 16 participants to ensure stimulating literary discussions.

Signature Moments:

• Hiking on Bodmin Moor
• Discovering Georgian Pencarrow House
• Exploring the seaside town of Fowey (rhymes with joy!)
• Taking tea at the Lukesland family home
• Learning to discuss a novel intelligently

Itinerary at a glance

Day 1: Arrive in London and pub dinner

Day 2: by train to Cornwall and our hotel in Fowey

Day 3: Walking the rocky tors of Bodmin Moor

Day 4: Visiting Pencarrow House and its gardens

Day 5: Exploring Fowey

Day 6: By ferry to the fishing village of Polruan and walking to Polperro

Day 7: Tea at Lukesland and the wild landscapes of Dartmoor

Day 8: Back to London

Day 9: Depart London

More Details

Download the travel brochure (includes full itinerary).

Visit the WorldWideQuest page for this trip.

Join your fellow UBC alumni and friends from U of T for a production of The Neverending Story – based upon the novel by Michael Ende. Adapted and Directed by David S. Craig.

Bastian is a bullied boy who escapes his troubles by burying himself in books. His latest – impulsively stolen from an old bookshop – draws him into the most thrilling adventure of his life. Fantastica, the land of stories, is facing oblivion from an enemy known only as The Nothing. The Childlike Empress has chosen an unlikely hero, a boy of Bastian’s age named Atreyu, to shoulder the daunting task of saving their world. As the adventure unfolds, Bastian discovers that he needs to find the key to change both their worlds.

For more information on the The Neverending Story and Young People’s Theatre, visit the Theatre website.

Presented in partnership with U of T and Queen’s University.

Event Details 

Saturday, March 17, 2012
2:00 – 5:00 pm

1:00 pm: Ticket pick-up
2:00 pm: Performance
3:30 pm: Exclusive cast Q&A followed by an ice cream party

Young People’s Theatre
165 Front Street East
Toronto, ON (map)

Cost: $16 for adults and children
Tickets will be sold and assigned on a first-come, first-served basis as seating is limited.

Space is limited so register today! For more information or assistance please contact Mary Markou at  mary.markou@utoronto.ca or 416-978-5881.

The UBC alumni of Central Florida are getting together again. If you’re in the area, come along for some great food and conversation!

Event Details

Saturday, February 25, 2012
Noon

Location:
Shin Jung (Korean Restaurant)
1638 E. Colonial Drive
Orlando, FL 32803

RSVP

If you have any questions, or would like to RSVP, please email annremedios@hotmail.com

Did you miss The Next Step: Making Debt Work for You?

The panel of financial experts offered our alumni a lot of great advice. Here are a few tips from the February 1st event:

• The fact that you qualify for a lot of debt doesn’t mean that you should use it all. You need to have a plan for repaying anything you borrow.
• Think housing prices put the idea of owning your own home out of reach? Consider co-ownership of property with friends or family members. Lenders are increasingly offering options for this type of arrangement.
• Revolving debt (such as credit card debt) can become a trap, so beware. Mortgage debt can be a good form of debt because real estate assets (particularly in the Vancouver market) usually appreciate in the long-term. Student loan debt is a complicated issue but it can be good if it will lead to you increasing your future earning potential. Once again, you need to have a plan for how you will repay it after graduating
• You can seriously damage your credit rating with retailers’ credit cards as they’re so easy to forget about (not being one of your regular monthly bills). Saving 10 per cent off today’s purchase isn’t worth it if you don’t pay it off by the due date. Use them with caution.
• Don’t forget! Bad credit decisions stick around for a long time (6 years).
• Have an impulse spending problem? Put your credit card(s) in a case with your spending goals written on the outside. Every time you pull it out to use it, the message will remind you not to compromise your long-term goals for short-term gratification.
• Buying property is a good long-term investment, but can be risky in the short-term. Don’t count on being able to renovate and then quickly flip your property.
• You can get a free credit report from both Canadian credit bureaus, Equifax and TransUnion. It requires patience, however, as it is sent to you in the mail. You can also get your credit report online for a fee.
• Paying a bill a few days late won’t really hurt your credit rating. Doing so on a regular basis will affect your rating.
• If you’re experiencing temporary repayment problems, contact your creditors and be open about your situation. They get nervous when they don’t know why you’re not paying.
• Keep all of your credit balances below 50% of the limit. Maxing out your credit can affect your credit rating.
• Bankruptcy is not an easy way out. It’s a long and costly process and will affect you for many years. There are often other solutions and it should only be considered if nothing else works.