The Jack Davis legacy Sunday, August 16, 1992 - North Shore News - § Paving the way for another Rhodes scholar THE LATE Donald Gor- don, a legendary president of Canadian National Railway, once described a Rhodes scholar as a young man whose future is behind him. The comment was a broadside directed at John Turner, but it might have exploded in his face had he targeted another Rhodes laureate of 1960s Ottawa, Dr. Jack Davis, ’ Afier athletic and academic triumphs in Canada and at Ox- ford, and a string of degrees in engineering, science ard other ‘disciplines, Davis climbed to public prominence with the British Columbia Electric Co. He played a critical role in what * . wltimately became the Columbia ’ River Treaty. The hydro experience fueled an appetite for public process, and __.that ultimately led him to Ottawa ": as a Member of Parliament in 1961. ‘The colorful Eugene Whelan, _ who would become a famous agriculture minister, recalls that Davis —~ the noted egghead — . “made everyone nervous. .._Plerre Trudeau surprised i in- :siders in 1968 by appointing Whelan —~ the self-styled country bumpkin — to parliamentary sec- "retary to Fisheries Minister Davis. Whelan was fond of telling the ‘public that Trudeau knew they _ would be a great team, because _. Davis had enough education for * both of them O6 “Jack Davis died in March 1991. There will be many legacies from his extraordinary carecr. His basketball pursuits are remembered in the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame. Political contribu- «tions are recorded in many books. The new headquarters of British ‘Columbia's Ministry of Energy Mines and Petroleum Resources is =o be named in his honor. But this month, a more modest “initiative was announced. It may - “symbolically prove to be Davis’ “essential message. His long-time friend Walter .'Szafranskl and his 36-year-old ”< "son Steve Davis conceived a -scholarship to recognize the top student each year from the North . Shore high schools, a $3,500 award with very few conditions _ attached, ., After Jack’s death, Szafranski eae to Steve Davis with the news ‘that a fund of $35,000 remained - from various political and com- “munity initiatives. He suggested to Steve that a . scholarship might be an ap- Gary Bannerman oe OPEN LINES propriate way to use the funds and to keep some of Jack Davis’ ideals alive. He was.reminded of the Rhodes Scholarship requirements. Years before, as he had pursued degrees in engineering and a masters in business, Steve Davis had narrow- ly missed qualifying for the Rhodes honors. But he never forgot the principles. “*I had some interesting deja vu when we set up this scholarship for my father,"' he said. The committee debated making financial need one of the criteria. But if the mission was the pursuit of excellence, they decided, ‘‘fi- nancial need considerations would distort this somewhat.” Although worried that the en- dowment was too small to create lasting significance, the committee became quite excited. The group wiil be secking to enlarge the fund ‘during the second year, “T want to make it permanent,"” Steve told me recently, “But we needed to use $3,500 in the first year if we were going to attract the very best applicants from the North Shore. So the Jack Davis Scholarship came to pass. The funds were en- trusted to the Vancouver Founda- tien, Ali North shore high schools were briefed and the principals helped distribute applications. The document advised that the winner must display academic su- periority; a dedication to com- munity work; artistic, musical or literary abilities; athletic ability; leadership, and ‘‘qualities of truth, courage, devotion to duty, sympathy for and protection of the weak, kindliness, unselfishness and fellowship.” The recipient must attend the University of British Columbia. Upon instructions from the com- mittee, the Vancouver Foundation will dispatch the funds to UBC, to be applied to the winner's aca- demic program. Office Technology Program Part-time Studies Your opportunity to acquire office training in Accounting and Word Processing during the day. Accounting © A ‘beginner’ 's course in practical accounting : procedures. An excellent preparatory course for -.; computerized accounting. Word Processing Learn the fundamentals of WordPerfect 5.1. - CAPILANO COLLEGE Space is limited. Call 984-4959 for an interview. 2055 Purcell Way * North Vancouver ¢ B.C. After studying 16 excellent ap- plications, the first Jack Davis Scholarship was awarded recently to Mike Mustard of West Van- couver. {tis easy in modern times to forget that there are inspired young people like Michael Mustard. His father Donald — a Scot — is an engineer. His mother lolanda is Italian, Mike is the youngest of four children. His stunning successes have in- jected a degree of chaos into an otherwise quiet Catholic house- ~ hold. Last year, BCTV cameras invaded to do a mini-documen- tary on this super-student. His teachers and West Van- couver school superintendent Doug Piayer run out of superlatives when they describe his personality and his dedication. Said West Vancouver Secondary School principal Arnie Smith, ‘‘! can without reservation say that Mike is the most outstanding all- around student | have seen in 29 years of teaching and administra- tion in nine different schools in both British Columbia and in In- ternational School in the Middle East.”' Mayor Mark Sager advised the scholarship committce: ‘*His lead- ership ability has. been recognized by his peers, both students, adults and by council. Michael’s person- ality combines the very best of in- telligence, humility and sincerity.” in dollar terms, the Jack Davis prize pales in comparison with ihe $26,000 UBC scholarship Mike Mustard has also acquired. (He turned down the $20,000 Gordon Shrum scholarship from Simon Fraser University.) 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