Former high jumper and SFU's first Rhodes Scholar Wilf Wedman (BA'73) has returned as director of recreational services and athletics as SFU starts competing in Canadian rather than American leagues. The university has applied to the Canada West Association of the Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union to compete in men's football, women's volleyball, and men's and women's wresting in 2002. Men's and women's basketball teams already play in Canada West. SFU had previously competed in National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The change was sparked by the move of many NAIA schools to the National Collegiate Athletics Association. SFU applied to the NCAA for admission, but the application was not addressed.

Spirit Wrestlers and Tokyo Girls

Vancouver filmmaker Jim Hamm (BA'78, PDP'78) is using SFU's Doukhobor collection for a documentary. Tentatively titled The Spirit Wrestlers, it is to be released at the Vancouver International Film Festival. Another film in the news is Tokyo Girls by Penelope Buitenhuis (BA'94). It chronicles the lives of Canadian bar hostesses in Tokyo. Recently police have charged a wealthy Japanese businessman with drugging and raping six hostesses; he is also the prime suspect in the murder of a seventh.

He's Hot!

David Usher (BA'92) is lead singer for the alternative band Moist, poised for a breakthrough in the United States. The band's big label debut, Silver, sold 400,000 copies in Canada, and Moist immediately became one of the hottest bands in the country. Silver was followed by Creature, and then by the successful Mercedes Five and Dime. Usher meanwhile recorded a hit solo effort called Little Songs.

Remembering Til

Charter student Til Nawatzki (BA'70) died in August, 2000 aged 58. His behind-the-scenes Peak column "Once Around the Bowl" was enormously popular and his Einstein-haired figure was a familiar one on campus. To many, Til was the single most creative, charismatic, brilliant person they knew, but he was unable to focus that vast talent. He was Law Society president at UBC in 1971-72 and practiced sporadically in Vancouver and the Cayman Islands before sickening of law. In 1978 Til moved to Hawaii, where he reported for the Maui Sun. In the eighties Til dabbled in real estate in California; he returned to Vancouver in 1989, where, until recent years, he ran a funky junk shop. Congenital neck problems caused chronic pain; an operation hadn't helped, and Til was not one to tolerate pain. by Jason H. Schoonover (BA'70)

Yes, We're History

The university's first history is in the works. History department chair Hugh Johnston is taking a look at SFU for a book to be published to coincide with the university's 40th anniversary in 2005. Johnston and his assistant, John- Henry Harter, want to hear from anyone with a story to tell. To arrange for an interview send an email to .

Physician for Peace

Mary-Wynne Ashford (PhD'97), co-president of International Physicians for Prevention of Nuclear War, was named Honorary Citizen 2000 by the City of Victoria. Ashford was honoured for her international volunteer work on behalf of world peace. She lectures and writes on global issues, was a peace delegate to Russia and India, and has led two delegations of doctors to North Korea.

Chill Rain

Writer L.R. (Bunny) Wright (MAL'95) died at the end of February. Wright, the first person to complete the graduate Liberal Studies Program, was best known for her detective novels set on the Sunshine Coast. She won the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Mystery Novel (The Suspect), twice won the Crime Writers of Canada's Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel (A Chill Rain in January and Mother Love), and won the Canadian Authors' Association Award for Fiction (Mother Love).

Spooky Action Research Wins

Eldon Emberly (PhD'00) is one of only four recipients of this year's Natural Sciences and Engineering Council (NSERC) doctoral prize. Emberly's PhD thesis looks into a phenomenon Albert Einstein called "spooky action" that may lead to the design of hand-held computers as powerful as today's supercomputers. "Spooky action" occurs when an electrical current flows through a single molecule. Emberly is currently an NSERC postdoctoral fellow at the NEC Research Institute in Princeton, New Jersey.