UCalgary Alumni Magazine - Spring 2012

Volunteer vets

tdroden — Thu, 10 May 2012 22:38:39 +0000

Dr. Gordon Atkins has spent more than 30 years providing veterinary services for chuckwagon cowboys, but the reward he cherishes most is getting to know the families involved and seeing how much they care for their animals. He receives photos, notes of appreciation and Christmas cards thanking him for tending to their beloved animals throughout the year. There’s no doubt in his mind that animal welfare is central to the rodeo lifestyle.

Alumni on parade

tdroden — Thu, 10 May 2012 22:37:30 +0000

When Vern Kimball, BA’81, MBA’90, started his political science degree at the University of Calgary in the late 1970s, he was aiming for law school or the diplomatic service. Fortunately for the city of Calgary, the chief executive officer of the Calgary Stampede never made it to either.

Studying the Stampede

tdroden — Thu, 10 May 2012 22:34:06 +0000

When it comes to unique University of Calgary classes, Canadian Studies 451 is right up there. Though a senior-level course, it might as well be called Stampede 101. A popular choice often filled with an eclectic mix of students from a wide span of departments and faculties, it “examines the Calgary Stampede as a unique phenomenon, a celebration that impacts and reflects the region and has evolved into a powerful expression of a culture popularly identified with Western Canada.”

Partners in community

tdroden — Thu, 10 May 2012 20:24:05 +0000

This summer, the Calgary Stampede turns 100 years old in a celebration sure to envelop the entire city in a sea of Stetsons, stacks of pancake breakfasts and a chorus of “Yahoos.”

For those in the know, however, Stampede is far more than a 10-day party. It is a celebration of Calgary’s frontier history, a symbol of western hospitality at its finest and a critical link between our modern urban world and the agricultural community that still supports us.

My first professional exhibition

tdroden — Thu, 10 May 2012 19:56:18 +0000

Two annual springtime art exhibitions took on new meaning this year and may help launch the career of an emerging artist from the University of Calgary. Senior students exhibited their work at PUSH, a juried exhibition at a private gallery. This was followed by the Bachelor of Fine Arts Show of graduating students’ artwork in preparation for a new competition. My First Professional Exhibition offers a solo exhibition at a local art gallery to one graduating student from the visual studies major (studio concentration).

First class heads off to work

tdroden — Thu, 10 May 2012 19:28:27 +0000

They’ve tended to thousands of cows, horses, dogs and cats, hundreds of caged birds, dozens of reptiles and now the first 30 graduates from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine are heading out to work—around the corner and all over the world.

The first students to graduate with a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) from the University of Calgary this spring are taking jobs in all areas of veterinary medicine—in established practices, in research and at internships in veterinary hospitals.

A cosmic calling

tdroden — Wed, 09 May 2012 18:10:09 +0000

David Kendall was nine when Sputnik, the world’s first satellite, was launched. He was 13 when the first human went into space. These events had a lasting impression on him and would, eventually, shape his career path.

“The whole race to the moon during the ’60s was quite an amazing time,” says Kendall, MSc’72, PhD’79. “It was very formative in my thinking.”

From bad taste to great art

tdroden — Wed, 09 May 2012 18:08:21 +0000

Throughout her long career as an artist and teacher, Gisele Amantea, BFA’76, has worked in ceramics, photography, fibre and video—among other media—and produced everything from large-scale installations to a graphic novel. Her creative heart, though, belongs to flock.

At the centre of world events

tdroden — Wed, 09 May 2012 18:06:33 +0000

Few think of the United Nations (UN) without associating it with a sense of goodwill. For Linda Taylor, BA’76, LLB’79, it also evokes emotions about Canada shining on the international stage. “I think every young Canadian of my generation went through a phase of wanting to work for the UN,” she says. “We grew up on stories of Lester B. Pearson and Canadians proudly wearing the blue helmets while serving as peacekeepers.” So it was no surprise that when an opportunity to join the UN presented itself, she started living the dream.

Towards safer building sites

tdroden — Wed, 09 May 2012 18:05:00 +0000

Construction sites are often chaotic, filled with workers, equipment and building materials. They can also be dangerous, not just for workers, but sometimes for the public, too.

In 2009, a three-year-old girl was killed when a sheet of corrugated steel fell from a Calgary office tower under construction.