All Posts Tagged With: "Olympics"
UBC student died of cocaine-induced heart attack
Coroner concerned by head injuries during police custody
Photo courtesy of andronicusmax on Flickr
A University of British Columbia student died from a cocaine-induced heart attack three days after being released from police custody in Whistler on Feb. 23, 2010.
Silas Rogers, 20, was arrested for public intoxication during the Vancouver Winter Olympics after taking heroin, alcohol and snorting a crushed-up anti-anxiety medication. He was then taken to the local RCMP detachment, where he stayed for 11 hours. Following his release, he went to a friend’s house in Vancouver and continued to take drugs, including cocaine. He was found unconscious by friends a few hours after retiring to bed, during which time he experienced the deadly cocaine-induced heart attack, reports Metro News.
During his time in jail, recordings showed that Rogers struck his head eight times against the floor and the walls. The jail guards didn’t notice because the video monitor at their workstation was broken. Owen Court, the regional coroner, said in his report that although the falls were not the cause of death, he found it troubling that “an obviously intoxicated individual fell and struck his head numerous times while in police custody, yet received so little attention.”
Now that the Olympics are over…
Out of work? It’s never too late to go back to school.
“Frathouses evict students” story misses the mark
UBC students knew of Olympics displacement when they signed their contracts
A story by the National Post on UBC fraternities renting out their buildings for the Olympics has raised eyebrows:
More than 200 students at the University of British Columbia are being forced out of their rooms by their own fraternities — which have decided to cash in by renting out to 2010 Games visitors.
The story insinuates that fraternity members are being unfairly kicked out of their places for a whole month with little compensation. One problem with the story: While it seems that one fraternity (Psi Upsilon) didn’t fully consult with its members before hand, most fraternity members were consulted every step of the way.
Adam Mattinson, house manager of Delta Kappa Epsilon (DKE), said that discussions on renting out their fraternity for the Games had begun in early 2009 with the DKE council, and that all members who chose to live in the house for the 2009–2010 school year knew when signing their contract that they would be forced to find temporary accommodation in February.
“We knew well in advance that this was going to happen, so we’ve been doing everything we can to make sure there are no issues,” he said. While DKE has not yet fully decided where the additional funds will be going, all residents will see their rent lowered for January, March and April, in addition to not paying for February.
Another fraternity, Alpha Delta Phi (ADP), will be giving each of their displaced residents an additional $500 in exchange for leaving for the month of February. They also started consulting with their members as far back as early 2009, and also had a clause in their residence contracts explaining the situation.
“Ultimately, renting out our fraternity house during the games will benefit members,” said Campbell Bryson, ADP philanthropy chair. He mentioned, as the Post story did, that the point of renting out the fraternities—which are located across the street from UBC’s Thunderbird Arena, host hockey and sledge-hockey during the Olympics—is to increase funds for various initiatives: some are putting the money to scholarships, while others are using it for building maintenance.
So, put this one fairly low on the “Olympic Scandal” meter—it seems that the inconvenience of members leaving for a month is offset by the long term goal of helping a (fraternity) brother out.
Olympic hockey jerseys unveiled at UBC
Design incorporates Canadian icons, including a moose, beaver, killer whale and the fleur-de-lis
On Monday, Hockey Canada unveiled Team Canada’s 2010 hockey jersey that will be worn by the men’s, women’s and sledge hockey teams representing Canada at the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games. While music played over loudspeakers, two huge jersey replicas were hoisted at the UBC Thunderbird Arena, one of the two venues for Olympic hockey.
Elisa Testa, 7 and Cole MacEwen, 11 modelling the sweaters
The jerseys were designed by Nike in collaboration with Musqueam artist Debra Sparrow in order to tell the story of Canada’s rich history. Inside the red maple leaf crest, the central element of the jersey, are design features that incorporate imagery from across Canada including smaller maple leafs representing the Olympic gold medal counts for Canada’s men’s (7), women’s (3), and sledge hockey team (1).
Stuart Iwasaki, Nike designer and Debra Sparrow, Musqueam artist
The graphic design features Salish symbols and patterns which are representative of the First Nations across Canada and incorporates Canadian icons: the maple leaf, hockey player, moose, beaver, killer whale, and the fleur-de-lis. The thunderbird and eagle are two powerful First Nations symbols that support and protect the central maple leaf. According to Stuart Iwasaki, a Nike designer, the cultural imagery reflects a desire to inspire the athletes by providing elements of First Nations artwork and sketches in the design.
2010 Team Canada logo (courtesy of Hockey Canada)
After using the traditional logo of a hockey player skating through a black and red maple leaf for international competitions over the past 14 years, Hockey Canada had to come up with a new design to comply with International Olympic Committee rules that forbid national sports federations displaying their logo at the games.
A replica 2010 jersey is available commercially at a suggested retail price of $134.95 with proceeds from the sales going to support Salish youth sports.
Bob Nicholson, President/CEO Hockey Canada speaks at press conference
UBC Thunderbird Arena
UBC’s Olympic-sized problem?
At this point, attacking the university seems counter productive
It’s finally happened. Seven months from the start of the 2010 Olympics, and the first full-blown free speech controversy at the University of British Columbia is finally upon us. The main point of contention rests on restrictions the Vancouver Organizing Committee and UBC plan to impose on commercial signage in student residences.
None of this comes as a surprise, frankly. The balance between effective security, enforcement of International Olympic Committee regulations, and suppression of rights was always going to be a huge issue at the university for a number of reasons:
- The UBC Winter Sports Centre is hosting the men’s and women’s hockey games, not to mention the entire Paralympics hockey tournament a month later. It’s going to cause major disruptions on campus: Month-long road closures, limited access to fields for students, a two-week reading break leading to an compressed April exam schedule, among other things. It’s going to be anything but business as usual for UBC students.
- You might have heard of that whole “academic freedom” thing that’s all the rage at universities. But kidding aside, the symbolic nature of thousands of security personnel potentially infringing on the rights of students to show their disapproval with the Olympics is enough to make a P.R.-savvy protester salivate.
- There’s also the APEC factor. Almost all Vancouverites remember the infamous 1997 international summit held at UBC, during which hundreds of protesters were pepper-sprayed by police and scores of students were arrested (both during and leading up to the summit), which spurred an extensive public hearing into the overreach of the RCMP that didn’t culminate until 2002.
That being said, this current mini-controversy is being blown out way out of proportion. The clause in UBC’s residence contract bans signage that is either a competitor of an Olympic sponsor, or creates a “false or unauthorized commercial association with the Olympics.” Sounds draconian, right?
Well hold on. The rule only applies if your sign is “in a place that is visible from the Thunderbird Winter Sports Centre or the overlay facilities constructed by VANOC adjacent to the Thunderbird Winter Sports Centre.”
For the record, the Thunderbird Winter Sports Centre is surrounded by fields, a parking lot, a tennis court, market housing, and a fraternity village. If you’re being extremely generous, there may be close to 50 students — tops — who might be affected. That isn’t to say this shouldn’t be an issue. Students should wonder whether or not the university will be heavy-handed in enforcing restrictions on campus. But if you assume the administration wants to work with students in the coming months to ensure a peaceful and open campus during the games, attacking the university at this point seems counter productive.
UBC cracking down on free speech, says liberties group
University says rule is intended to prevent “predatory commercial marketing practices”
The British Columbia Civil Liberties Association says free speech is being threatened at the University of British Columbia, where the group says students have been forbidden from posting signs and posters on dorm buildings or in dorm windows “visible from the Thunderbird Winter Sports Centre.”
According to a press release issued by the group, the school has asked students who live on campus to sign a tenancy agreement that obliges them not to post “signage or displays that create a false or unauthorized commercial association with the Olympics.” In response, the BCCLA says it will be working with students in September to “overturn this prohibition on speech,” similar to agitation that took place during 1997′s APEC protests at the school.
“Canada, B.C. and Vancouver said in our bid documents that we would honour our constitutional commitment to free speech, but they forgot to mention this right was reserved for Olympic sponsors alone,” said Robert Holmes, BCCLA president in the release. “It’s time for a sober second look at these anti-free speech activities.”
UBC spokesperson Stephen Owen told the CBC that the university is not trying to suppress anyone’s right to political protest.
He says the clause in question is intended to protect the commercial interests of games organizers.
“There’s absolutely no impact on free expression of personal or political views. It’s very strictly limited to predatory commercial marketing practices,” says Owen.
