News opnews@siwash.be.ca Green Links Symposium by Arthur Hanks “This will be the end of the single family home,” says Doug Paterson of UBC’s school of landscape architec- ture. This controversial prediction was among the keynote speaker’s closing remarks at the Green Links sympo- sium, held at the New Westminster campus on Saturday, October 19. The symposium was organized by Douglas’ Institute of Urban Ecology. The Institute was host to 18 commu- nity and 4 corporate groups, as well as a representative from the GVRD. Dr Val Schaefer, head of the Institute, acted as host and coordinator. About 90 people attended the all-day event. Paterson’s words set the tone of the symposium. Participants were meeting to discuss Green Links, a community-based plan that aims to transform the face of urban life in the GVRD. The goal of the plan is the reintroduction of the natural world into that of the human. “We live in a highly fragmented world,” emphasized Paterson, speaking in front of a slide projection of the Marlboro Man, “where society consumes the image more than the real thing.” Reintroducing nature into the city would help end one of the major juxtapositions of our times. In a future where the majority of the world’s population will live in cities, programs such as Green Links will lead to a greening of the world. This is very much a case of bringing the environment into the face of the city population. Green Links was the largest event planned by the Institute in recent history. Kathleen run at Vancouver’s Hastings Park, school ground naturalization programs and the linkage and revitalization of existing green areas in the Lower Mainland into a city-wide sustainable web of life. Dick Backhouse, of We live in Q@ Nanaimo’s Lanarc highly frag mented _ stunning CD-Rom Consultants, spun his critiques against a Grainger, organizer, had been display background. working on the symposium world ’ “Greenways make since the spring, full-time over where common sense, but the last two months. i implementing them is the “We debated as to whether society problem,” he said. He have it on a weekday or on a emphasized an ecosys- weekend. A weekday would Consumes tem first approach to have brought more students, but the IMAGE planning and develop- as most of the attendees and ment, listing the many speakers were volunteers, and more than benefits: they do this work on week the real * integration of the nights and weekdays. And so we chose Saturday.” The other speakers and the various breakout panels grappled with issues associated with urban ecology, and how to implement these principles. There was talk of preserving and reintroducing urban streams, plans to bring a salmon thing community into the the landscape, giving it a sense of place * maintenance of a healthy ecosystem (and healthier psychologies) * usage of the natural infrastructure to engineering solutions * the economic value Backhouse stressed this last point in particular. When asked by a member of the audience about how planners are going to convince people to make this change, Backhouse replies “By the Golden Rule. Whoever has the gold makes the rules. Your arguments have to make strong economic sense.” Backhouse emphasized that all planning has to involve true-cost accounting. Hence the end of the single -family home. A development full of these dwellings is very expensive, given the hidden costs of highways, power and sewage that have. to be built to serve them. An ecological approach, one that emphasizes community green space instead of the private lot, would bring lower costs to the entire community. In these value conscious times that’s a bonus. More quality for less money! Paterson agreed. ‘This is not just a pleasant exercise. This is about, very much, what we value in life.” As to the future, The Institute plans to hold related workshops over the winter and spring. The symposium proceedings will be made available around December and will cost $10. About the Institute of Urban Ecology Stuck in the basement of the New Westminster Campus, The Institute of Urban Ecology conducts research and has a history of being involved in commu- nity ecological projects with local groups. Green Links is the latest manifestation of their mandate. Those curious about Green Links or intrigued about Urban Ecology should contact the Institute at §27-5522. 2000 problem costing universities millions by Tony Rose not isolated to just computers REGINA (CUP) — Canadian universities are facing a ticking time programmed to handle the turn of the new century. Although universities have known about the problem for years, most institutions don’t yet have the money to replace large systems. At many campuses, library databases, student registration software and administra- tion systems will either malfunction or die on January 1, 2000. “The 2000 problem is going to cost of dollars in replacement and upgrad- ing costs,” said Jim Clark, a computer science professor at the University of Toronto. “It’s a major problem.” banks and insurance companies, many university systems and software packages were never designed to deal with the switch from the 20th to the bomb with older computer systems not 21st century. The problem lies in the way that computers and software packages keep millennia. track of dates. Many older computers and software packages are only capable of changing the last two numbers of the year. Come the year 2000 some computers will risk. switch their date to 1900 and some others will simply crash. At the University of Guelph the entire accounting and budgeting universities across the country millions system has to be replaced because the computers and system will not be able to make the switch to 2000. The computer department in Guelph is employing a test and assess Like the transaction systems used by approach to determine what systems and hardware will have to be replaced. At the University of Regina, the replaced. change. 2000 problem strikes a very important resource. MAX, the computer that runs the library’s on-line reference system will not survive the turn of the This problem is not isolated to just computers. Any piece of electronic equipment that keeps track of the date such as a fax machine, may also be at An additional problem exists with utilities like fax machines. Computer systems may be reparable with specially designed patches that will allow the computer to deal with the turn of the millennium, however fax machines will be far more difficult to modify and many may need to be However, there are some systems that were designed to survive the date ”*[Other systems] were designed to survive 2000 or will survive because software companies are addressing the problem by releasing software patches that will allow the systems to make the switch to 2000,” said Art Exner, Director of Computing Services at the Univer- sity of Regina. U of R Director of Library and Information Services, Bill Maes describes the year 2000 as a “brick wall” for MAX. Replacing the system will cost the university about $500 000. The university does not have the money to pay for the new system, however through a possible one time capital funding grant from the provincial government and a possible loan the university should be able to replace the system. SERVICES OF THE OPEN LEARNING AGENCY can throw your whole academic schedule off. So why wait until next term to pick up that course you need now? As a fully accredited There’s nothing more frustrating than missing out on a course you need because it’s full. It university and college, we offer a complete range of courses that are transferable to your institution. And with our on-line computer conferencing, University Courses Without University Waiting Lists. print and video based courses, and personal schedule call 431-3300 in the Lower Mainland or 1-800-663-9711 within B.C. E-mail: studentserv@ola.bc.ca Internet: www.ola.be.ca tutoring, you can study what and when you want. No time conflicts. No waiting lists. No problem. Register today. For a complete course 4 October 291996 The Other Press