OCTOBER 22, 2003

Presid

By Charles Jago, President and
Vice Chancellor

One of the recommendations of
the UNBC 2002-2007 Strategic
Academic Plan was that members
of the senior university adminis-
tration report bi-monthly to stu-
dents on developments at the
University. In launching this
process of regular reporting I
wish to focus on two issues: the
expansion of the UNBC Prince
George campus and budget plan-
ning.

All of us have reason to take
pride in the incredible beauty of
our campus, but as many of us are
aware, space is a critical issue.
UNBC has grown steadily from
August 1994 when Queen
Elizabeth formally opened this
campus. During the ten years
since that event, the university
has grown in student enrolment,
faculty and staff complement,
program offerings, and research
activities, making space more and
more a scarce commodity.

To address these space con-
cerns, the university currently has
two construction projects under-
way. The Northern Health
Sciences Centre, emerging to the
east of the Bentley Centre, will be
the new home of the Northern
Medical Program. It will house
the teaching facilities required to
support medical education as
well as research facilities that will
allow UNBC to develop robust
research programs in the Health
Sciences to complement the cur-
rent research strengths of the uni-
versity in the Sciences, Social
Sciences and Humanities. The
building will be officially opened
next August.

We are also expanding the new
Teaching Laboratory Building at
the north end of the campus an
additional 20,000 square feet. The
addition will include an architec-
turally dramatic entrance to the
university from the north parking
lots, two new lecture amphithe-
aters, and a number of labs to
support computer science pro-
gramming. With these additions,
it will be possible to renovate a

ent’s Report

portion of the first floor of the
Geoffrey Weller Library to
expand library services within
that building. These renovations
will leave intact the classrooms
around the periphery of that floor
and will not affect the operation
or the appeal of the Bear Café.

The university is also planning
the first phase of a Research &
Development Park at the north
end of the campus. These plans
include a 40,000 square foot
building integrated into the
Teaching Laboratory Building
that will house, among other enti-
ties, the faculty members who
currently have offices in the top
floor of the Library. The comple-
tion of this building, hopefully in
2004, will also enable the library
to move into the fourth floor of
the Geoffrey Weller Library build-
ing. Plans for the renovation of
the Library Building are now
nearing completion.

Also waiting to come forward
to the drawing board are plans for
a new Student. Union Building off
the Winter Garden. The universi-
ty is also working hard to secure
Olympic Legacy Funding to pro-
ceed with a sports centre - the
Northern Sport Centre - at the
entranceway to the university.
The City of Prince George has
approved the Northern Sport
Centre as its approved project for
Olympic Legacy Funding.

All of this activity underlines
the fact that senior university offi-
cials are making every effort pos-
sible to address current space
issues and to expand the size of
the campus. And not only in
Prince George. We are also work-
ing with the College of New
Caledonia on a new post-sec-
ondary campus - the North
Cariboo Campus - in Quesnel,
with Northwest Community
College on a new campus in
Prince Rupert, and eventually
with Northern Lights College for
campus expansion in Fort St.
John. All of this activity relates to
our commitment to continue to
build UNBC as a great university,
in the north and for the north,

with a commitment to regional
service and to addressing First
Nations’ educational needs. ~~

But as we all know, building a
great university has more to do
with the quality of our students,
faculty and staff than with bricks
and mortar. Space is a necessary
component of a university but by
no means the most essential. It is
within the context of our desire to
protect and augment the
strengths of UNBC and of our
commitment to our students that
we are currently addressing
impending financial challenges.
The provincial grant for 2004-05 is
forecast to be less than for 2003-04
at a time when the university is
taking on increased commit-
ments. A Budget Planning
Taskforce, with student member-
ship, is helping us to address
these issues in a cooperative and
creative way. The outcome of
these deliberations will be pub-
lished in November, but suffice it
to say that the university will not
jump to further tuition fee
increases as the only, or indeed
the preferred, option to bring in
new revenues. The rumour that
the university has already agreed
to a 28% tuition fee increase for
next year is simply false. I cannot
tule out tuition fee increases at
this time as it is one of the options
under consideration, but no rec-
ommendations have yet been
made and the detailed budgeting
process will not begin in earnest
until November. This university
succeeds because we have com-
mitted students, academically
gifted faculty, and highly compe-
tent staff. It is our goal to do
everything we can to protect the
interests of all members of our
community while addressing the
challenges we face, including
those relating to financial and
space pressures.

As UNBC approaches the tenth
anniversary of its operations on
this campus, let’s celebrate what
has been achieved and work
cooperatively to make the second
decade even better than the first.

| News 4

The big blue
bio-diesel bus:

Understanding climate change made
easier with hands-on displays

By Carole Morris, Brunswickan

FREDERICTON (CUP) — Be
on the lookout for a big blue bus.
It could be coming to a town near
you.

Travelling throughout Atlantic
Canada, The Falls Brook Centre
Climate Change Bus is on a mis-
sion to inform people about ener-
gy conservation, global warming
and greenhouse gas emissions.

Wayne Groszko, who recently
drove the bus to Fredericton,
believes the project is an enter-

"taining way to educate the public
_ about environmental issues.
' .j. "The bus has a lot of hands-on
» déménigtrations, like you can

push dn different buttons and
different kinds of light bulbs will
light up and it will show how
much power they use,” said
Groszko.

“A large part of the display is
about different types of energy:
wind energy, solar power, water-
power, energy efficiency, and
conservation of energy,” he said.

Michael Gallant, a University
of New Brunswick student and
member of the UNB and Saint
Thomas University
Environmental Society, invited
the climate change bus to visit
the UNB campus this fall.

“It's very important to learn
about climate change,” said
Gallant.

“We're already in the midst of
climate change; it’s happening
right now all around us. Every
single person’s decisions affect
our climate. So, if we switch light
bulbs and use energy efficient
lighting instead, we're helping to
consume less energy and helping
the climate,” he explained.

Climate change is considered
to be any change in climate,
including increased or decreased

“Bio-diesel is
made out of refined
vegetable oil.”

precipitation, heat or cold weath-
er fronts, or other environmental
factors. The climate changes
gradually overtime. However,
the increase in human activities
alters the natural climate change,
speeding up the process.

Gallant pointed out that sum-
mer months are warmer than in
previous years and winters are
starting to get colder.

“Even over the summer there
were several naturally occurring
events, like the drought in the
Prairies and the extreme heat
wave in France,” Gallant said.

These events could be blamed
on a rapidly changing climate.

To reduce human contribu-
tions to climate change, Gallant
suggests there are many things a

person can do to conserve ener-
gy. Walking, biking or taking the
bus to school instead of driving a
car are good alternatives.

“Try turning off your comput-
er monitor when you are not
using it. It will cut the energy
consumption almost in half,”
said Gallant. “Even the littlest
things will help.”

“The goal is to tell people
about climate change, to have
more information about it and
inspire people to support it,
switch to renewable energy and
use energy more efficiently in

‘We're already in
the midst of climate
change; it’s happen-
ing right now all
around us. Every
single person's deci-
sions affect our cli-
mate.”

order to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions,” said Groszko. “All of
these affect climate change.”

The bus, launched on Earth
Day this year, is fuelled mainly
by bio-diesel. Bio-diesel is made
out of refined vegetable oil. _

Groszko said they’re gradually
making the transition from petro-
leum diesel to bio-diesel.

“Diesel corrodes rubber hoses
and linings so until everything is
metal, it’s not entirely safe to run
on bio-diesel,” —_ explained
Groszko.

However, he is quick to point
out many people have success-
fully switched to bio-diesel with-
out problems.

Some of the displays inside the
bus require electricity. That elec-
tricity comes from solar panels
and the windmill on the roof.

“We keep that energy in a bat-
tery in the back [of the bus], it
gets charged up with the solar
panels,” Groszko explained.
“The displays can keep running
for a couple of days without sun-
shine.”

Groszko said the bus has
received a very positive reaction
from the public.

“Adults who come in [the bus}
are really interested in how they
can get solar energy into their
house, and the children who
come on are very interested in
trying out all of the different dis-
plays and demonstrations ... peo-
ple really like it.”

The bus does not travel
throughout the wintertime but
will resume going to schools,
fairs and functions in April.