University-wide broadcast:

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Kelvin Choi

I am calling out to all fellow undergrads… we need your help. On September 4th 2012, there will be a force that threatens the very foundations of our place of mind… A legion so dangerous that UBC must cease all classes and operations in order to call arms and prepare for battle. We will safeguard and protect our home. We will muster every available student; part-time or full-time, grad or undergrad; to face an army that is beyond anything we ever encountered.

There will be deaths. Brave, valiant, and worthy students all alike will fall in the hands of the enemy. Others may see this as a suicide mission. They think this is impossible. But we will not give up. We will not lose our place here in UBC.

Or we will die trying.

We cannot do it alone. Every working hand will help available will help our cause. Enlist here: http://www.involvement.ubc.ca/2012-student-leader-opportunities/

Godspeed.

Posted in 1st year blogs, Orientations | Comments Off

yummy yummy in my tummy

Posted on February 6, 2012 by bianca

HEY YOU! How much do you love heavenly desserts that melt in your mouth and hearty meals that really hit the spot? And, yeah, the mere thought of it probably expands your waistline by two sizes and elevates your cholesterol levels to a point where fifty bowls of Cheerios can’t even lower it… but what if I told you that it doesn’t have to be like that? Check out my good friend’s amazing raw/vegan food blog (WAIT!!! Before you roll your eyes in disgust and read something else, hear me out!) at http://tiedyenutrition.com/ - I promise it’s worthwhile. Trust me, I’m one of those carnivorous foodies and I’ll admit, I use to liken vegan food to tree bark – but that was waaay before I tasted my friend Mitra’s vegan cooking. Absolutely mind-blowing how something so good for your body could be that delicious… give one of her quick and simple recipes a whirl and you won’t look back at those overly processed, chemical-laden chocolate bars that, I swear, are slowly deteriorating your cerebral cortex.  (*Avocado chocolate mousse?! Do you SEE the picture of it?!?! Heavenly!) Now, I love my fried chicken and I’ll probably be sticking to it for the next little while, but it’s so interesting to see how many options for healthy, and most importantly (to me, at least), delicious eating there are available. Just because it’s raw or vegan doesn’t mean  it tastes like freshly mown grass tossed with some soil.

 

Check it out! :)

xoxo

Posted in don't clog your arteries, i love food, it doesn't taste like tree bark i swear, raw, uncategorized, vegan, yum chocolate mousse | Comments Off

Outweek 2012 Schedule

Posted on February 5, 2012 by Tyler
Here’s the schedule for Outweek 2012: Monday, February 6, 2012 12:00 pm – 1:00 pmFlag Raising Ceremony @ SUB Flagpole 12:00 pm – 4:00 pmAwareness Fair @ SUB Concourse 6:00 pm – 7:00 pmX-Queeries @ SUB 204 Tuesday, February 7, 2012 1:00 pm – 2:00 pmBondage Workshop @ SUB 207 2:00 pm – 3:00 pmTrans [...]
Posted in Events, UBC | Comments Off

It’s that time of year again…

Posted on February 5, 2012 by Zahra

Sorry for being MIA for the last little while!  I’ve been meaning to write, but the task was always shoved to the bottom of the pile.

My midterms start tomorrow!  I’m sure some of you have already suffered the banes of university life.  Luckily, my schedule is treating me well…1 tomorrow, 1 on Tuesday, 2 the following Wednesday, and then the last one of Thursday!

I know I’m lucky, because I’ve heard of some pretty harsh exam pile ups.  Which begs the question, why can’t we apply for hardship during midterms, and only during finals?

I could write a whole persuasive essay on the practicality of why midterms can’t be moved, but I think Dr. Shelley Reid, my CLST 301 prof, sums it up really nicely:

“Your bachelor’s degree is worth much more than the sum total of your knowledge of biochemistry, organic chemistry, or even the meaning of the root term for the belly-button*.  It is instead evidence to society at large (including those who decide whom to admit to medical/dental/nursing school, if that is your goal) that you have developed particular skills, such as the ability to cope with the stress of competing—and possibly even conflicting—demands, and to cope with grace and finesse.  Partly it is a matter of time management, but it is also a mental activity: we all know that the weeks around midterms and final exams are stressful, and by surviving them you show your ability to handle both your time and the stress of competing demands.”

* [Editor Note: in CLST 301, we learn the Greek and Latin roots of medical and biological terms]

To me, this is a really inspiring way to look at our stressful situations.  I’m constantly reflecting back on the instances when I was so fixated on achieving something, a detail which now seems irrelevant and almost pathetic.  We need to look at the bigger picture, and not get rooted in that one stressful day, that one hectic week, or that once-in-a-lifetime horrendous exam schedule.  Even if it doesn’t seem like it at the time, there is always a small skill to be learnt out of every experience.

Good luck with your exams!

Posted in Academics, Careers/Work, Wellness | Comments Off

TerreWeb Seminar Series Schedule

Posted on February 5, 2012 by Tyler
TerreWeb‘s Seminar Series for this Spring have a theme of Perspectives on Challenges for Effective Communication of Science and Global Change. All their seminars take place in FSC 1003 from 1:00 PM until 2:30 PM, and they all take place on Thursdays. Unfortunately, I missed two of the seminars that I particularly wanted to see [...]
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John Marsden’s The Dead Of Night

Posted on February 4, 2012 by Tyler
The Dead Of Night by John Marsden My rating: 3 of 5 stars This is the second book in the Tomorrow series, following Tomorrow, When the War Began, by John Marsden. It continues the story of Ellie and her friends as they try to survive an invasion of their home country, Australia, by some un-named [...]
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Sasquatch! Music Festival

Posted on February 4, 2012 by evan
Last Thursday was the big reveal for this year’s Sasquatch! Music Festival lineup. I went to Sasquatch last year and had the time of my life. Aside from the most gorgeous venue, The Gorge Amphitheatre, the quality of music and … Continue reading →
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Ah, spring is in the air!

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Samantha B
I have to wonder if Vancouverites feel the same way, but to me this weather is just heavenly.  A week of sunshine after nasty grey rain, and temperatures ten degrees above zero, this is spring, and I am loving it!  Coming from Winnipeg, this is great.  Back home it’s still the middle of winter right [...]
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Final Exam Schedule Is Out!

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Tyler
Guess who has no finals this term? 8D
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APSC 150 Quiz 1

Posted on February 2, 2012 by miracle

It’s February and we’re a month into second term. We had our first major assessment this week in the form of the first APSC 150 quiz. (If you by any chance are reading this because you’re stressed for the quiz, trust me, you’re way overstressing by leaps and bounds.) APSC 150 is a mandatory engineering course at UBC covering general engineering principles from four different sections; Things I wish I knew as a student, Chemical Reaction Car, Mining and the Environment, Advanced Materials for Commercial for Aircraft Structures. Each case has a final quiz consisting of 20 multiple choice questions and account for 10% of our total grade.

I was really treating the quiz as a midterm of sorts because of its large grade weight, but really the “quiz” was hardly even qualified to be called that. It was a complete joke! The quiz was an exact copy of the practice quiz posted up online!! The couple hours I spent memorizing procedures, like the Life Cycle Assessment and the Stakeholder Analysis, turned out to be completely unnecessary. There was instead even a question on why we shouldn’t talk during lectures. Really, this is the first time in all my life that I finished a quiz for which we were allotted an hour in under five minutes. I appreciated the easiness but I think even actually felt a bit annoyed at how overly easy the quiz. It caught me off-guard. Anyway, I’m just hoping that the rest of the midterms can be even a fifth as easy as the APSC 150 quiz.

Here’s to a great second term!

-Raf

Posted in APSC 150, Engineering, preparation, questions, quiz 1, Student Life, studying, Things I wish I knew as a student | Comments Off