2 THE VOICE, WEDNESDAY MARCH 30, 2016 EDITOR TESSA VIKANDER tlarge By JAKE WRAY recent SFU study could help the process of identifying human remains found in the southern trait of Georgia, according to the Coroners Service of British Colum- bia. Researchers, led by SFU criminolo- gy professor Gail Anderson, studied underwater decomposition by placing pig carcasses on the ocean floor and observing as the carcasses were de- voured by marine animals. The study found that remains can decompose down to the skeleton more quickly than they originally thought - some- times as fast as three days. Laurel Clegg, manager of the BC ay Coroners Service’s Identification and Disaster Response Unit, said that this research is important because it changes the scope of their DNA com- parison when trying to identify re mains found in the Strait of Georgia. “Let’s not assume that these skeletal remains could only belong to someone who’s been missing at least six months .. maybe they’ve [the remains we’ve found belong to someone who has] been missing only three weeks, or maybe only been missing three days,” Clegg said. Anderson’s research, which was published March 1, involved placing four pig carcasses on the ocean floor and studying their decomposition us- called VENUS. » y *e. GAIL ANDERSON submitted photo Pig carcasses are used to imitate human bodies in an SFU study on the rate of body decomposition in the Strait of Georgia. New study will change how coroners identify skeletal remains “It’s so phenomenal, it’s amazing. You go in there, it’s like NASA, it’s just amazing to have access to this kind of thing,” Anderson said. “There’s no fa- cility like it anywhere in the world.” Verena Tunnicliffe, a biology profes- sor at the University of Victoria and the founder of VENUS, said this study was designed to measure the impact of small decomposers. “They look like little squashed shrimp, actually, and they’re called am- phipods,” Tunnicliffe said. “This is a group of organisms in the ocean that mostly has developed as scavengers, and so they’re really good at finding stuff to eat that is dying or dead.” 66 Let’s not assume... Skeletal remains could only belong to someone... missing at least six months ing a state-of-the-art research facility LAUREL CLEGG Campaign backs old house 1922 Shaughnessy charac- ter home was early display for state-of-the-art electrical fixtures. By LINDA NGUYEN with a cutting edge electrical sys- tem was recently added to a city- wide petition to save character homes from possible demolition. In the online petition, the Vancou- ver Character House Network is ask- ing supporters to send letters to Van- couver mayor and council, asking them to reject the demolition and re- development proposal. “Should this development permit be accepted, yet another piece of Vancou- ver’s built heritage will be ground up, joining the 974 single family homes and duplexes that were demolished last year,” reads the change.org tem- plate letter. A general petition, of which the March 28 letter-writing campaign is a component, was started in 2014 to pro- test the redevelopment of character homes in Vancouver and has reached PAvitscat character home built over 5,000 signatures. The house, built in 1922, is on the market for almost $7.4 million. The City of Vancouver has not yet decided You o pen if it will issue a demolition permit for the Tudor-style home at 1550 West the closet 29th Ave in Shaughnessy. and a Patrick Gunn from the Heritage . Vancouver Society said there are two lig ht reasons for the specific home’s signifi- would cance, the architects who designed . the home and what the house was automati- known for. cally go “Tt’s a house that’s designed by a top architect duo called Townley and on. Matheson. And they were one of the CAROLINE top architect duos in the city from ADDERSON about 1919 to the 1960s,” Gunn said. “Not only it’s a design by an architect, it was built as a show home to show electric use in the domestic environ- ment.” Mh | | | TEER (44S elee LINDA NGUYEN photo An application to demolish this character home has been made but city says it has yet to decide. 66 Caroline Adderson, author of the book Vancouver Vanishes, which cov- ers the topic of heritage homes, said the home holds significance because it was the first model electric home in Western Canada. “Can you imagine this is in 1922 so at the time this house was built, the average house had 20 outlets, this one had 170,” she said. “You open the closet and a light would automatical- ly go on.” Jason Watson, communications manager for the City of Vancouver said via email that no development or demolition permits have been issued for the property and it is under fur- ther review by city staff. The home is not a heritage house and it is not listed in the Vancouver Heritage Register. Homeless people die at higher rate New study by Vancouver street paper says deaths caused by homelessness have risen 70 per cent By ALISON PUDSEY ore homeless people are dying Mi: British Columbia now than in the recent past, according to Sean Condon, executive director of Megaphone Magazine. The Vancouver street paper released astudy called S¢ill Dying on the Streets: Homeless Deaths in B.C. on Monday, underscoring the growing concern over homelessness across the prov- ince, Condon noted. There’s been roughly 70 percent increase in the number of homeless deaths, according to the report, with 46 reported deaths total this year. “We know that’s an undercount be- cause of the way that homeless deaths are recorded the true number is much higher, likely twice as high,” he said. According to the report, the median age of death for a homeless person is 40-49 years of age and the average age of death for the general population is 76. Condon said the primary cause of these deaths is overdose and acciden- tal death accounts for half of all home- less deaths. “If people have housing, a place where they can feel safe and secure, lif] they have access to health services, many of these deaths could have been prevented,” Condon said. He also stressed that homelessness needs to be seen as a health issue and government must respond immediate- ly. “We need to start seeing immediate action by all levels of government. Mu- nicipalities, the province and the fed- eral government [need to] start bring- ing more affordable housing so people can get off the streets, out of shelters and into housing,” he said. DJ Larkin, staff lawyer and housing campaigner with Pivot Legal Society, an organization that provides legal ser- vices to homeless people, said the re- port conveys the reality of homeless- ness which she said infringes on peoples’ human rights. “What is really clear from Mega- phone’s report is that homelessness it- self is a human right violation. It’s not something we recognize in Canadian law, but we need to,” Larkin said. “It’s a state imposed situation that puts peo- ple at great risk and people are dying in the streets. That should be seen as a failure of our legal system to protect people.” AHMAD KAVOUSIAN submitted photo A person sleeps in a hammock mounted on a public art piece in Vancouver, B.C.