Hi,

I really like this sites layout with the all the forums listed in the center column on the entry page and the islands carrying throughout all page views.

Is this a custom hack or can this be done through the control panel interface?

If you're running version 7 then this is done through the control panel interface under the Portal settings. If you're running an earlier version then this requires a custom hack/addon called IIP that you can find on UBBDev.com.

Can I make the forum's list page [.../ubbthreads.php/ubb/cfrm]
the default view instead of the standard portal which shows news in the center panel or more succinctly, can I have the forum list show instead of news for the portal entry page?

Yes, you'd just remove the checkbox from "Enable the Main Portal Index page?" in the portal settings.