http://ubyssey.ca/news/toope-talks-to-his-town-at-the-chan/

news 9/23/10
Governance and fraternities on the agenda as Toope talks to his town at the Chan
Discusses fraternities, animals, land-use plans and governance

By Arshy Mann

On Monday, faculty, staff and even a smattering of students sat down in the Chan Centre to participate in President Ste­phen Toope’s annual town hall meeting.

Along with providing an up­date to UBC’s strategic plan, Place and Promise, Toope took questions from the audience on a number of issues includ­ing land use, governance, ani­mal experimentation, transfer credits and fraternities.

Toope was adamant that UBC was well-positioned to become one of the most important uni­versities in Canada.

“I believe that UBC is better positioned than any other uni­versity in Canada, and at the height of where we could be in North America to strengthen our programs and expand our influence,” he said.

“I do not exalt in the misfor­tunes of others. There are some really tough situations that some of our sister institutions are fac­ing, across Canada and in the US particularly and soon in the United Kingdom, but we are not in that position and it’s our mo­ment to take advantage of that relative strength.”

STOP UBC Animal Research, a group that over the past month has protested animal experi­mentation at the university, held up signs during the question pe­riod accusing UBC of, among other things, testing on cats.

“The short answer to that is that UBC does not do that,” re­plied Toope. “There’s reference to past work that was done by one of our researchers. That work is no longer being done.”

He argued that only a small number of tests are performed on animals, and that UBC will “only involve animals in research when…no alternatives exist.”

It was, however, the issue of land use planning that dominated the question and answer period.

For South Campus, Toope said that his biggest priority was focusing on more density, with less emphasis on family housing.

“We did a survey of our facul­ty and staff last year and we dis­covered that a very high percent­age of our faculty and staff live either alone or with one other person and they’re looking for smaller units that are hence more affordable,” he said.

UBC Insiders Editor Neal Yon­son questioned Toope on why the university wasn’t incorpo­rating student feedback into de­cisions about the Gage South neighbourhood.

“I’m just wondering how we can have an honest, good faith discussion about Gage South neighbourhood, because it doesn’t seem to be on the ra­dar of Campus and Community planning and they don’t seem to be willing to engage in discus­sion over whether [it] is appro­priately located,” said Yonson.

Toope argued that students will be thoroughly consulted, but all stakeholders need to compromise.

“There are lots of places where making choices will not be per­fect from everyone’s perspec­tive, but I think we do have to find ways of living together as a community, and that’s what we’re going to have to figure out for Gage,” he said.

The final question came from a student who argued that the police incident at the fraterni­ty village two weeks ago proved that Greeks don’t contribute pos­itively to the university.

Toope defended the fraterni­ties’ role on campus, but argued that they need to ensure that their events are controlled.

“I was never a member of a fraternity, so I didn’t experience the life in a fraternity, but I do talk to many people from UBC and elsewhere that did experi­ence that life.

“For many people it is the place that they find their ground­ing and really their home in a very large institution. So I don’t think I would join you in saying that fraternities and sororities don’t play an important role,” said Toope. “I think for many people on a huge campus, it is the place where the big is made small.

“[But] the one thing I am sure about is we cannot let what hap­pened at some sister universi­ties happen here, where an out­of-control element developed over a number of years, so the university comes to be known as the drinking school… where in some cases whole activities had to be completely shut down. I don’t want to get there.”

Stop UBC Animal Research is a community grassroots campaign that employs peaceful, legal, and compassionate approaches to educate the public about the grim realities of research on animals at the University of British Columbia and to ultimately bring about an end to research on animals at UBC. Please visit our website at: