March 27, 2002

Wednesday, March 27, 2002

Another 'double cohort' night
Store's commitment on ordering texts
Other notes, events, snowflakes
Speaker eyes Enron tomorrow

Editor:
Chris Redmond
credmond@uwaterloo.ca

WPIRG's new community events web portal

Awards for students who teach
There are three winners this year of the Distinguished Teaching by a Registered Student Award. They were announced at Monday night's senate meeting by Jim Frank, associate dean of graduate studies:

Steve Engels, computer science
Vincent Hui, architecture
Martha Roberts, psychology

Union votes on contract
Members of Canadian Union of Public Employees local 793 will vote this afternoon on a new contract with the university. Their current contract, which began in 1999, is due to expire April 30. Details of the tentative agreement between CUPE and administration negotiators haven't been made public.
Corrections

Brent Hall, one of this year's winners of the Distinguished Teacher Award, is primarily appointed to the school of planning. Yesterday's Bulletin identified him only with the geography department, where he is cross-appointed.

I wrote yesterday about CUTC as the "Canadian University Technology Conference" -- that should be Canadian Undergraduate Technology Conference.

And a couple of days ago I managed to say that the former Seagram Museum building is in "downtown Kitchener". Of course it's in downtown Waterloo, at the corner of Erb and Caroline Streets.

Another 'double cohort' night

To answer questions about student admissions as a result of the huge high school graduating class in 2003, UW will hold a special "Double Cohort Info Night" tonight -- a repeat of the session held in November.

Students and parents are invited to the information session and panel, which will explore the issues around next year's "double cohort", when 19-year-olds will be graduating from the old five-year high school curriculum in Ontario at the same time that 18-year-olds graduate from the new four-year curriculum.

'The provincial governments' continued push toward cost-recovery-based funding of higher education has reinforced growing inaccessibility in the system," says a new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. "Differing provincial priorities reinforce imbalance in access to quality, publicly accountable higher education," says the CCPA, ranking Québec first in Canada this year -- ahead of the traditional #1, British Columbia -- and Ontario tenth among the provinces.

Parents are concerned about the number of students applying to universities all at once, the services UW and other institutions can offer -- including the availability of housing -- and how the new curriculum compares to the old one. "As the double cohort is fast approaching, there has been an increase in questions about this topic and there is a need for an information night," says Julie Primeau, coordinator of undergraduate recruitment.

Tonight's event begins at 7 p.m. and runs to 9 p.m. in the Humanities Theatre. Participants have been asked to register on-line to make sure there's room for them.

Among UW officials at the event will be David Johnston, the president, who will give the keynote speech. A panel, moderated by registrar Ken Lavigne, will include Amit Chakma, UW's provost; Peter Burroughs, director of admissions; Scott Davis of co-operative education and career services; Heather Fitzgerald, first-year student life coordinator; and Bud Walker, director of business services, who's responsible for the residences. Also participating will be Kristin Dietrich, head of guidance at St. David Catholic Secondary School in Waterloo.

Store's commitment on ordering texts

UW's bookstore has published "standard ordering practices" for textbooks, in the first issue of a newsletter aimed at faculty members.

"You want to hear from us more," the newsletter tells profs, as one conclusion from a roundtable discussion held with a few faculty members in December by store manager Chris Read (left) and textbook coordinator Barb Russwurm.

"Our goal," the newsletter also says, "is to support students in their academic pursuits by ensuring they have access to course materials in a timely manner. We aim to do so as cost effectively as possible."

With that goal in mind, says the "standard practices" listing, here's what the store will do:

Order the quantities recommended by faculty member for any newly adopted title. In cases where enrollment levels are significantly lower than this quantity, we will contact the faculty member to ensure the original order is still desired.
Use the best available supplier to secure course materials. In cases where there are multiple suppliers, we will weigh such factors as cost, expected delivery dates and return privileges to determine which company offers us, and therefore the student, with the best service.
Be proactive regarding the reordering of textbooks for courses with unexpected enrollment increases by monitoring enrollment levels from the Registrar's Office.
Research the availability of alternate versions of requested material should we encounter difficulties in acquiring the requested materials and provide faculty with any information regarding possible substitutions immediately.
Post information regarding expected delivery dates on the textbook shelves. In so doing we will hold our supplier accountable for the time lines they are supplying to us.
Report any unforeseen difficulties in obtaining course material immediately to the faculty. By doing so we hope to keep disruptions of class instruction to a minimum.

The newsletter also notes that "factors used to determine order quantities" include class limit, ongoing enrollment figures, quantity requested by faculty, geographical location of supplier, return privileges of the supplier, historical sell-through of the title (if title used within previous 3 terms), and used book quantities available on campus.

A separate note in the newsletter tells professors how they can help get the right books into the store: "Get your textbook adoptions in as soon as possible! . . . Inform us of any problems you encounter regarding textbooks or publishers."

Grad students meet today
The annual general meeting of the Graduate Student Association will be held at 6 p.m. in Needles Hall room 3001. "Those of you who wish to actively participate or have a say in student affairs should attend," suggests Benjamin Youn, corporate secretary of the GSA.

Other notes, events, snowflakes

Hungry? "I am a member of the Link unit of the Waterloo area Girl Guides," writes geography student Sarah Hubber. "Today our unit will be selling Girl Guide cookies in the Student Life Centre all day. We would just like to get the word out to all on campus. A box is $3.50 this year."

A session "to help you move your web site to the new standards, led by Carol Vogt of information systems and technology and Jesse Rodgers of information and public affairs, is being held this morning in Davis Centre room 1302 (it started at 9 a.m.).

The first of three sessions in a spring colloquium series sponsored by the LT3 technology centre: "Educational Objects, Human and Agent Interaction on the Semantic Web", by Terry Anderson of Athabasca University,is scheduled for 10:00 in Dana Porter Library room 329. "This presentation will look at forms of interaction supported during formal education courses delivered via the Net. In particular the use of learning objects will be investigated and demonstrations provided that illustrate the promise and difficulty of using reusable digital objects to build and support courses." For information and reservations, call Peter Goldsworthy at ext. 7008.

The Residential Energy Efficiency Project reaches a milestone today: "a total of 10,000 tonnes of potential carbon dioxide reductions will have been identified through REEP's EnerGuide for Houses evaluations." Celebrations start at 11:30 at a house in Kitchener that was the subject of a REEP evaluation in the summer of 2000. "Today REEP is providing a free follow-up visit to measure the improvements that the homeowners have made, acting on REEP's recommendations," a news release explains.

Another "free lunch and great technology" session sponsored by the UW computer store, this one featuring "build-to-order notebooks" from TTX. Food and talk start at noon in Davis Centre room 1302; reservations, e-mail n2fernan@uwaterloo.ca.

A free concert by classical guitarist Lynn Harting-Ware starts at 12:30 in the Conrad Grebel University College chapel.

The cafeterias in Village I (Mudie's) and Ron Eydt Village are offering Easter Dinner from 4:30 to 7:00 today.

Bob McDonald, host of CBC radio's "Quirks and Quarks", will speak about the dream of flying ("Ornithopters to Orbit"), at 6 p.m. in Davis Centre room 1304. "The ancient dream of soaring with the birds," says McDonald, "has led to bizarre inventions, failed experiments and glorious successes, beginning with Da Vinci and culminating with footsteps on the moon and a Canadian astronaut walking in space. Where do we go from here?" He promises "some suggestions for future tourists". McDonald's visit is sponsored by the Canadian Undergraduate Technology Conference group.

And there's a talk tonight sponsored by the Waterloo Public Interest Research Group that's worth describing at some length. From a WPIRG news release:

The anti-globalization movement has brought public protest in Canada and around the world back to the forefront. Yet political movements and activism have been consistently around throughout history in Canada. Ann Hansen is one such political activist of the late 70s and early 80s whom most have not heard of.
Hansen was a member of Direct Action, a group of underground "urban guerrillas", who took part in political actions such as firebombing, explosions and armed robberies. In the early 1980s, they bombed the Cheekeye-Dunsmuir hydro substation in BC and the Litton Systems plant in Ontario (where a dozen people were seriously hurt) because it manufactured parts for cruise missiles. She was also a member of the Wimmin's Fire Brigade that firebombed Vancouver porn store Red Hot Video, a controversial action that created a rift among feminists. In 1983, she was convicted of several charges and sentenced to life in prison, and served seven years.
A former University of Waterloo student in Integrated Studies (now Independent Studies), Hansen's talk on campus is more poignant than ever. "In the wake of September 11th and the crackdown on public dissent, anti-globalization activists are at a crucial point in time. Many are concerned that their activities can be deemed as 'terrorist' particularly under Bill C-36 which is now law. I think hearing Ann Hansen's experiences firsthand will be very insightful for all", says Narina Nagra, WPIRG coordinator.
Hansen will be reading from her book Direct Action: Memoirs of an Urban Guerrilla. There will also be a Q & A to follow the lecture.

The talk starts at 7 p.m. in Davis Centre room 1351.

Speaker eyes Enron tomorrow

The Enron controversy will be addressed tomorrow night by a guest speaker invited by the Accounting Students' Education Contribution at UW. Jim Hunter, chief executive officer and director of Mackenzie Financial Corp., will discuss the stock market and the impact of Enron, the bankrupt energy trading company, on the economy and the finance industry. He also promises to share the secrets to his success.

The free public event, from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., will take place at the Humanities Theatre.

After graduating from the MBA program at the University of Western Ontario, Hunter joined the public accounting firm Deloitte Haskins & Sells and qualified as a chartered accountant in 1979. He spent 17 years with Deloitte's in Toronto and London, where he was a senior partner in the firm's British financial services practice. Hunter was elected a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario in March 2000.

His first involvement with Mackenzie began in 1991 as an advisor to Midland Walwyn Inc., a major Mackenzie investment. In 1992, he joined Mackenzie as chief financial officer and chairman of the executive committee. In 1994, Hunter was appointed chief operating officer and in 1997 chief executive officer. Besides his responsibilities at Mackenzie, he serves as chairman of the MRS Group of Companies and a director of Mackenzie Investment Management Inc. in the United States.

As well, Hunter has been an advisor or director of a number of public companies and charities. He currently sits on the advisory board of Western's Richard Ivey School of Business, as well as being a director of the Trillium Foundation and a director and executive committee member of the Investment Funds Institute of Canada.

In April 2001, Mackenzie Financial was acquired by Investors Group. Under its new ownership, Mackenzie became a member company under Power Financial, operating alongside, but independent of, Investors Group.

CAR

TODAY IN UW HISTORY
March 27, 1995: A week of celebrations begins as the Campus Centre (not yet renamed the Student Life Centre) opens its expanded space, including Brubakers cafeteria.