Ubco

Good marketing is good, says UBCO professor

KELOWNA – A UBC Okanagan marketing professor says Starbucks' successful and controversial red cup campaign was good marketing. Assistant Professor Eric Li said in a news release that attention to a product is actually good for sales. He also claims the anti-Starbucks Facebook video, uploaded by an American evangelist four days after the release of...

UBC Okanagan students arrange free tuition for two refugees from Syria

KELOWNA – The UBC Okanagan Student Union are finalizing a deal with the administration to provide free education for two young refugees who came to Kelowna from Syria. Student Union vice president of finance Ryan Kaila says the deal is still being finalized with administration, but he hopes to see it happen soon. "We met...

UBCO students hold moment of silence for victims of world tragedies

KELOWNA - Students at UBC Okanagan held a moment of silence Wednesday, as a way to bring attention to the number of tragedies that have happened around the world this month. The day started at noon and included talks by representatives from several cultural clubs on campus. It was organized by Ryan Kaila, who wanted to...

UBC Okanagan students okay with pricier transit pass

KELOWNA – Students at UBC Okanagan approved an increases rate for the universal transit U-Pass during a referendum this week. The cost of the U-Pass is included with tuition and will cost students $63 per semester. The last time the rate was raised was 2011. U-Pass is a special universal transit pass allowing for a...

Liquor store faces little opposition in UBCO neighbourhood

KELOWNA - Imagine, if you will, an application to open a liquor store in Kelowna that faced little opposition from local neighbours and in fact, will likely be warmly embraced when it finally does open. That’s because the neighbours in the building on Academy Way where the liquor store will be located are by and...

Local prejudice against Muslims tackled at UBCO

'IF WE DON'T SPEAK ABOUT THESE ISSUES... WE START DEVELOPING ALL THESE MISCONCEPTIONS.' KELOWNA - A UBC Okanagan graduate is organizing a forum on campus to address some of the misconceptions about his religion that are clearly still a problem in Kelowna. Adnan Akiel Ahmad Bhat holds a masters in electrical engineering from the Okanagan...

UBCO professor helps discover new species of giant tortoise

KELOWNA – A UBC Okanagan professor was part of an international research team that discovered a new species of giant tortoise on an island in the Galapagos Archipelago. The new species, now called the Eastern Santa Cruz tortoise, is so physically similar to its cousin that it took genetic testing to identify it as distinct...

Zombies to take over entire UBCO building

KELOWNA – An entire building at UBC Okanagan will be transformed into a zombie-filled nightmare at the Asian Student Association’s Haunted House next Friday. The second annual haunted house is organized by the president of the Association Peter Teng with help from the UBCO student union and the UBCO residency advisors. UBCO student union vice...

ELECTION 2015: We could do way more to help youth vote, says UBCO professor

CENTRAL OKANAGAN - A local professor who conducted his own youth voting campaign thinks we could do a lot more to get young people into a voting booth. “I had students on the last day asking about how they can vote back home. A lot of students don’t live here, their home address is somewhere...

Dying Nsyilxcn language given new life in classroom

OKANAGAN - Reviving an endangered language is a daunting task but Syilx Language House is going to try to do just that with Nsyilxcn, the Okanagan language. Thirteen beginning students have signed on with five co-teachers, who are also students. Lead teacher Michele Johnson says in a media release there are fewer than 100 fluent...

UBCO students launch first campus radio show in the Okanagan

KELOWNA - The Okanagan’s first college radio station doesn’t have a broadcast tower or FM licence, but they are attracting the attention of musicians and listeners across the valley. Heatwave Radio launched online only three weeks ago. Still in the beta stage, they're not worrying too much about their analytics and they don’t really know...

UBCO student brings campus cultural clubs together for first ever Harmony banquet

KELOWNA – It's unusual for Ryan Kaila to walk into a room at UBC Okanagan and not know anyone. "I consider myself a pretty well-known person around campus,” he says. “But I walked into this cultural club event and I didn't know a single person there. I noticed that all of these groups get the...