Scientists by day, musicians by night

by Mary Stanley.

Pharmacy graduate students Eric Lee, Leonard Angka, and Nawaz Ahmed are budding scientists by day, however by night they go as the musical trio #loveisonyourside.

These students combine their musical talents for enjoyment as well as a way to draw attention and support for projects that they care about. Earlier this term, the trio hosted a fundraising concert at Ceasaria to raise money for the Lisa McLean Professional Practice Award. Lisa was a beloved and vibrant staff member of the School of Pharmacy who passed away in late 2013. She impacted the lives of many. Lisa’s joyful spirit, capacity to nurture and her memory are being honoured with this special award.

“We thought that a concert would be a great way to remember and raise funds for the Lisa McLean award as she had been a part of our lives throughout our grad school studies," said Leonard Angka. "Her lab was right next to our office and she would frequently just drop in to say hello.”

The event was a great success, drawing over 150 people and raising $1100 for the award. These funds, in addition to the donations, received from colleagues and students have raised the total to over $15,000. The first Lisa McLean Professional Practice Award will be given out this spring.

This is the second fundraising concert hosted by the trio, their first was for local charity, R.O.O.F (Reaching Our Outdoor Friends).

Back to top

Report: Graphic tobacco warnings save lives

Large, graphic health warnings on tobacco packets in China would increase awareness about the harms of smoking, help to cut smoking rates, and in doing so save lives according to global studies. These are the key findings from a new report, Tobacco health warnings in China – Evidence of effectiveness and implications for action, from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Project (ITC Project), released Tuesday.

“Evidence from around the world shows that large, pictorial warnings significantly increase effectiveness of pack warning labels by increasing knowledge, awareness and perceptions of the risk of cigarettes. This leads to greater motivation among smokers to quit, and lowered motivation among non-smokers to start up,” said Professor Geoffrey Fong, ITC Project Principal Investigator and co-author of the new report.

“Our research in China shows that the current text-only Chinese health warnings are very ineffective. Revising the current health warnings in line with the WHO FCTC and its Guidelines would increase awareness about smoking-related harms in China, and encourage Chinese smokers to quit. With its more than 300 million smokers, there is an urgent need for China to introduce policies that the evidence shows work,” Fong added.

“This new report presents a very compelling case for the introduction of large, pictorial – or ‘graphic’ – health warnings on all tobacco packages in China,” Dr. Bernhard Schwartländer, the WHO's representative in China, said. 

“The average smoker in China smokes 15–17 cigarettes per day. This means the average smoker is exposed to a health warning more than 6200 times in one year, simply through the act of getting each cigarette from the pack. Making the pack warnings more effective is therefore an incredibly effective way of warning smokers about the health hazards of smoking and encouraging them to quit. And it is very cost-effective for governments too – requiring virtually no financial resources to implement or enforce,” explained Schwartländer.

The report highlights important international evidence from the ITC Project on the implementation of large, pictorial warnings in other countries and areas and explains how the introduction of large, pictorial warning labels on tobacco packets and full implementation of the WHO FCTC would help reduce the growing burden of non-communicable disease in China.

“Tobacco-related noncommunicable diseases pose a serious threat to the health and life of the Chinese people, also creating a heavy burden on socioeconomic development,” said Dr. Liang Xiaofeng, Deputy Director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Increasing awareness about the health harms of smoking is particularly important in China, where awareness is currently poor, and there is a tradition of people presenting cigarettes to one another and giving cigarettes as gifts. Educating people about the harm of tobacco through graphic warnings on cigarette packages would be one of the most direct and effective ways to reduce tobacco use,” Dr. Liang added.

The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) calls for warning labels covering 50% or more of the tobacco pack. The Guidelines for implementation of the relevant article of the WHO FCTC which have been adopted by Parties to the WHO FCTC recommend use of pictorial warning labels. China ratified the WHO FCTC in 2005, and the treaty came into legal force in China in 2006.

Currently, 28.1% of China’s over 1 billion adults are smokers. This includes 52.9% of men and 2.4% of women. It is estimated that tobacco use kills more than 1 million people every year in China, which will increase to 3 million each year by 2050 if current smoking rates are not reduced.

“The importance of strengthening tobacco pack warning labels in China also needs to be seen in the context of the Government’s plans to introduce a national law making public places smoke-free: by improving public awareness of tobacco harms, stronger tobacco pack warnings would help to reinforce this policy,” said the WHO’s Dr. Schwartländer.

“It is well and truly time for China to kick its tobacco habit. Indeed, the country’s future economic and social prosperity depends on it. The evidence and recommendations presented in this report, if implemented, will help China to do just that,” Dr. Schwartländer concluded.

 

Back to top

National accreditation for accounting programs

The School of Accounting and Finance (SAF) received official accreditation under the new Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) National Accreditation Standards in late March, expanding on the transitional exemption granted to the school's MAcc program in October 2012.

This expanded accreditation will provide a range of pathways for SAF students to tailor their education and pursue a CPA designation. Current undergraduate students in the Accounting and Financial Management (AFM), Mathematics/CPA, and Biotechnology/CPA programs to complete the legacy CA program while concurrently preparing for the CPA Common Final Examination (CFE). This pathway will allow MAcc graduates from 2015 to 2019, with appropriate work experience, to directly access the CFE and complete a CPA, CA designation.

The official CPA Accreditation now provides SAF undergraduate students who also complete one of the school's graduate programs with the flexibility to tailor a direct pathway to their CPA designation. Starting in 2015, all MAcc students will have the opportunity to select from four CPA electives to fulfill their CPA educational requirements and receive exemption from the entire CPA Professional Education Program, moving directly to the CPA Common Final Examination upon graduation.

Additionally, a new Graduate Diploma in Accounting (GDAcc) will provide SAF students with a third pathway, completing any two of the four CPA electives before proceeding directly to the CPA Capstone Modules offered by CPA Canada.

“The legacy transitional exemption was a show of confidence from CPA Ontario in how well the SAF has prepared graduates for professional accreditation in accounting,” states Tom Scott, SAF Director. ”The official CPA accreditation across all CPA program elements recognizes that the SAF’s integrated undergraduate and graduate programs will provide our students with comprehensive and reliable paths to the CPA professional accounting designation.”

This package of three CPA pathways is available only to students who complete the AFM, Math/CPA, or Biotech/CPA undergraduate programs followed by either of our MAcc or GDAcc graduate programs. Over the past 28 years, numerous SAF MAcc graduates have proceeded directly to write and pass the Uniform Final Examination (UFE) claiming places on the honour roll as well as provincial and national medals.

 

Back to top