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GEMS Spring 2017 Offerings
April 17-June 14
*No Class May 29
Storytime Dance: Spring has Sprung!
Tuesdays 3:20-4:20
Ages 4-6
Story time Dance brings your favorite narratives and characters to life! This class emphasizes creativity, choreography and character building as we forge the link between physicality and narrative. Students will engage with the season of Spring through stories that teach us about changing seasons, the life-cycle of plants and animals, and seasonal traditions such as Spring cleaning! We'll integrate our exploration of Spring with fundamental dance styles including jazz, ballet, hip hop, tap and creative movement. Students will develop vital skills in reading comprehension, memorization and performance.This class concludes with a parent observation on the final week of class.
Music and Movement with Ms. Mack
Fridays 3:15-4:00
Little musicians sing, play, and dance their way through familiar folk and pop songs in this joyful music and dance combo class! We'll explore rhythm and tempo with percussion instruments, dance with scarves and parachutes, go on a melodic adventure through an obstacle course, and hear some sweet musical stories. Students will have opportunities for self-expression, creativity, and teamwork. This class concludes with a parent observation on the final week of class.
Hip Hop
Mondays 3:30-4:30
Grades 3-5
Learn hip hop technique in a fun and encouraging environment! Dancers will practice choreography to upbeat music while improving upon rhythm, flexibility, coordination, and improvisation. Students will have opportunities for self-expression and collaborative work. All hip hop students should wear clean gym shoes and comfortable clothes that they can move in. This class concludes with a parent observation on the final week of class.


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The Department of Geography Graduate Student Travel and Research Fund (GSTRF) provides support for legitimate conference travel and research expenses to an in-program total of $400.00 for MA/MSc students and $700.00 for PhD students.
All claims against this fund must be backed with appropriate original receipts (to conform to UBC Financial Services regulations) and must be accompanied by a properly completed Graduate Student Travel and Research Fund Form.
Eligible expenses include:
- Travel (economy airfare or other public transport, vehicle rental, or mileage at approved rates)
- Accommodation
- Registration (if attending a conference)
- Research expenses: that is, necessary incurred costs such questionnaire production, photograph or document acquisition, photocopying, etc.
In all cases, it is the claimant's responsibility to keep track of expenses, to produce receipts, and to submit properly documented claims. Failure to do so will result in rejection of the claim.
It is not necessary for a student to present a conference paper in order to claim against the GSTRF.
No claims for amounts of less than $75.00 will be processed. If you have smaller expenditures, save the receipts and details for a later consolidated claim.
Claims on the GSTRF can be made to supplement awards from the G+PS Graduate Student Travel Fund, provided that both claims are properly documented.
Completed GSTRF claims should be submitted to the Finance Assistant for processing within 12 months of incurring the expenses.
All claims must be submitted within two years of initial registration for MA/MSc students and within four years of initial program registration for PhD students. No claims will be accepted from students no longer registered in a program or on leave of absence.
Complete applications and receipts should be submitted to the Graduate Program Assistant. Signatures of both student and supervisor are required. It normally takes three to four weeks to process complete applications. Cheques will be sent to the Department or deposited to your bank account if you are on payroll.
The Faculty of Arts also offers funding through their Arts Graduate Student Research Awards that is designed to help graduate students with their research associated with their degree program. Awards are $1,000 and are for covering the costs of travel and other research-related expenses (but not conference or workshop attendance and travel). For more information and how to apply, please click here.

subset: commoncrawl


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Lawmakers, patient advocates and the millions of Americans living with a psychiatric diagnosis agree that the nation's mental health care system is broken, and on Thursday, Congress will hear testimony on the most ambitious overhaul plan in decades, a bill that has already stirred longstanding divisions in mental health circles.
The prospects for the bill, proposed by Representative Tim Murphy, Republican of Pennsylvania, are uncertain, experts say, given partisanship in both the House and the Senate and the sheer complexity of the mental health system. And its backing of the expanded use of involuntary outpatient treatment has drawn opposition from some advocacy groups.
But the bill, the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act, does have more than a dozen Democratic co-sponsors in the House, and several mental health organizations are supporting it. Last week, both houses of Congress adopted one of its central provisions, expanding funding for outpatient treatment programs through other legislation. On Thursday, the House Energy and Commerce health subcommittee is scheduled to hear testimony on the entire bill, which includes more than two dozen measures.
"It's the most comprehensive mental health bill we've seen in a long, long time, and that in itself is an accomplishment," said Keris Myrick, chief executive of the Project Return Peer Support Network and president of the board of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, which supports some parts of the bill. "I think almost everyone sees things in the bill that are long overdue, but also things they're very concerned about."
Among those opposing the bill because of its involuntary treatment provisions is the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, whose president, Robert Bernstein, said, "Many serious organizations seem to have an 'any port in the storm' mentality, supporting this bill even though it includes dangerous provisions."
Mr. Murphy, a clinical psychologist from Pittsburgh, put together the legislation at the behest of House Republican leaders after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in 2012. He spent a year hearing testimony about the current system, a patchwork of community clinics and state hospitals chronically short of funding that leaves millions of people with mental illness without treatment, often homeless or in prison.
"It's a broken system, and we're not going to fix it by throwing a little money here or there," Mr. Murphy said in an interview. "We know that when people get care, they get better, but there are simply not many options: Clinics are reducing services, there are not enough psychiatrists or psychologists to go around — we found all sorts of barriers to care."
Widely backed provisions of the bill include streamlining payment for services under the Medicaid program, and providing funds for clinics that meet standards for rigorous, scientifically supported care.
The bill also provides money for suicide prevention programs and for so-called telepsychiatry, or remote video therapy, which is seen as especially crucial in rural areas.
Provisions calling for increased training for police officers and emergency medical workers in how to identify and treat people with mental disorders are also widely approved. The police and paramedics often act as ad hoc social workers, dealing with people with mental problems when they are hurt or break the law.
About 350,000 Americans with a diagnosis of a severe mental illness like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder are in state jails and prisons, while the number of psychiatric beds available has shrunk to 35,000, according to a coming analysis by the Treatment Advocacy Center, a nonprofit group that favors expanded access to treatment.
"The situation has been getting progressively worse for 50 years, to the point where we now have 10 times more people with severe mental illness in prisons and jails than in mental hospitals," said Dr. E. Fuller Torrey, of the Stanley Medical Research Institute, a nonprofit organization supporting research in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and a strong supporter of the bill.
But the bill's backing for involuntary treatment is highly contentious. It would provide state grants for so-called assisted outpatient treatment programs under which certain mentally ill people with a history of legal or other problems get court-ordered therapy, which in most cases means trying to ensure they take their medication.
The result: more people treated earlier, and more treated against their will.
"This becomes a civil rights issue quickly, and it can drive people away from seeking services when they fear treatment will be forced on them or they'll be locked up," said Gina Nikkel, president and chief executive of the Foundation for Excellence in Mental Health Care, which advocates a more holistic, less medication-oriented approach to recovery.
In the last two decades, 45 states have adopted laws allowing compelled treatment in some cases, with varying requirements and levels of enforcement. Kendra's Law, passed in New York in 1999, is one that researchers have monitored closely. One recent analysis, led by investigators at Duke University, found that since the law was passed, patients were much less likely to land back in the hospital or be arrested. Mental health and Medicaid costs for them dropped by about half.
But involuntary treatment programs have led thousands of former psychiatric patients to become fierce critics of the mental health system.
Dr. Bernstein of the Bazelon Center and Dr. Nikkel said that extending such programs would "eviscerate civil right protections" and further erode trust between patient and provider.
The Murphy bill also proposes amending federal medical privacy protections — the now-familiar Hipaa laws — to allow parents or other caregivers access to a patient's medical information. Under current law, those records are private once a person becomes an adult, and as a result, caregivers are often effectively cut out of treatment decisions. The bill seeks to bring them back in, with a provision that will also generate strong political resistance, experts said.
Finally, the bill proposes to sharply scale back many of the programs funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. This agency, with a $3.6 billion budget, has long financed programs that critics say are not backed by good evidence.
"When something has been funded for a long time, it's tough to let it go," Mr. Murphy said. "What we're saying is that if a program works, then show us the evidence that it does, and we'll keep it. If the evidence is not there, then the taxpayers shouldn't pay for it."


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Collagen soup
Facelift in a bowl
- Serves: 2
- Cooking Time: 25 mins
- Course: Starter
- Cuisine: Japanese
- 1 grouper head, plus 100-120g grouper fillet (if you can't get grouper, use salmon)
- Half a 496g packet of firm tofu (optional)
- Half a leek
- 20g Chinese leaf, cut into 2cm strips
- 20g beansprouts
- 2 fresh shiitake mushrooms cut into 1cm slices
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 1cm root ginger, grated
- 5cm mooli, grated
1 grouper head, plus 100-120g grouper fillet (if you can't get grouper, use salmon)
Half a 496g packet of firm tofu (optional)
Half a leek
20g Chinese leaf, cut into 2cm strips
20g beansprouts
2 fresh shiitake mushrooms cut into 1cm slices
3 tbsp soy sauce
1cm root ginger, grated
5cm mooli, grated
Grouper is full of collagen and, for that reason, it is expensive in Japan and the food of the rich and famous. It is economical in the west, though. You can of course omit the fish head, but you will lose a lot of collagen if you do. I promise you, it's worth it.
Put the fish head and 500ml of water in a large pan. Bring slowly to the boil, then reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove and discard the fish head. At this point, you may chill, or freeze, the soup base in cubes. It will be extremely low in calories in this ungarnished state.
Cut the tofu (if using) into two centimetre cubes. Cut the leek into three centimetre chunks, then cut these into lengthways strips.
Return the fish stock to the boil, then add the grouper fillet, tofu, leek, Chinese leaf, beansprouts and shiitake mushrooms. Cover and cook over a medium heat for 10 minutes.
Uncover and add the soy sauce, ginger and mooli. Serve immediately in warmed bowls. Serves two: 420kcal in total, 210kcal per bowl.


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Venue: The Matara Centre I recently documented a wedding at The Matara Centre in the beautiful Cotswold village of Kingscote on an absolutely freezing cold day!
Each year I do three or four weddings at The Matara, it's a truly unique place to get married with many interesting angles and perspectives to work from. Andy and Anna had their church ceremony just five minutes down the road in the same Gloucestershire village which kept things nice and simple.
Dear Allister,
A big thank you for the pictures, they are exactly what we were after and really capture the informal feel of the day. Everyone in wedding party (particularly the families) enjoyed your company and unobtrusive style.
The photos have a timeless feel and provide a lovely record to remember this freezing cold January day for many years to come. We wish you every success in the future.
Andy and Anna
The whole day had a very relaxed, family-orientated feel which was incredibly nice to work in. I also had Chris Burnell photographing alongside me - I've been giving Chris tuition and guidance recently so it was really pleasing to see just how many images made it into the final cut. Well done Chris!
Below are just a few of my very favourites from the coverage provided.


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Brian Leatart
The same parsley butter (which can be prepared three days ahead) seasons the pasta and the broccoli rabe served alongside.
- Yield
- Makes 6 servings
- Parsley butter
- 1 cup (packed) coarsely chopped fresh Italian parsley
- 2 teaspoons (packed) grated lemon peel
- 1 garlic clove, peeled
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- Pasta
- 1 pound campanelle (trumpet-shaped pasta), fiori, or fusilli pasta
- For parsley butter:
- Finely chop parsley, lemon peel, and garlic in processor. Add butter and process until well blended. Season parsley butter to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 3 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before using.)
- For pasta:
- Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite. Drain. Transfer pasta to large serving bowl. Add half of parsley butter (about 1/3 cup) to pasta (reserve remainder for Broccoli Rabe with Parsley Butter ); toss to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
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Nutritional Info
- Calories421
- Carbohydrates57 g(19%)
- Fat17 g(25%)
- Protein10 g(21%)
- Saturated Fat10 g(50%)
- Sodium12 mg(1%)
- Polyunsaturated Fat1 g
- Fiber3 g(11%)
- Monounsaturated Fat4 g
- Cholesterol41 mg(14%)