Monday, December 13, 1993

MEETING TODAY:  Department heads, chairs, deans and administrators have
been invited to "a brief meeting" this afternoon by UW's president and
provost.  They'll gather at 3:30 in Needles Hall 3001.  The news can't
be all that dreadful, since the invitation came out decorated with a 
wreath of holly leaves, and "a reception" follows the meeting.  Likely
agenda: a report from the top officials on what UW knows so far about
budget possibilities for next year, which isn't all that much, given the
lack of news from Queen's Park about tuition fee levels for next year,
and other assorted uncertainties.

The engineering faculty council has had to postpone its meeting, scheduled
for this afternoon, because of the Needles Hall gathering; it'll take
place next Monday instead.

GRADS' BOARD:  The board of directors of the Graduate Student Association
gets its teeth into the dental plan issue at a meeting tonight (6 p.m.,
Hagey Hall of the Humanities room 373).  Graduate students voted in 
favour of a dental plan in a recent referendum, but by a rather limp 
majority, and a petition against implementing the plan has been circulating
along with a list of reasons why a $57-a-term plan is a bad idea.  In a
presidential report posted electronically last week, GSA president Duncan
Phillips said he has come to the conclusion that the plan approved in the
referendum "is not in the best interest of grads" and he'd prefer to see
a new vote, some time in the new year, on a less expensive form of dental
insurance.  

IN TODAY'S MAIL:  Briefly, among the paperwork in the in-basket today, as
we begin the penultimate week before the Christmas holiday:

  -- Publicity from Twentieth Century Fox about its film "PCU", or
  "Politically Correct University", a comedy scheduled to open early
  in 1994.

  -- Details of the announcement made by Manulife Financial last week
  about its support for the "community and world service" co-op program
  in the arts faculty.  The firm is giving $100,000 over five years.
  We'll have a detailed story about the CWS program in the Gazette early
  in the new year.

  -- The winter issue of the Alumni Magazine, which includes an announcement
  of an alumni safari to Kenya next summer (details, ext. 6848).  Also,
  Senator Trevor Eyton, former chair of UW's board of governors, will
  speak at an alumni luncheon in Toronto January 20.

Chris Redmond
Information and Public Affairs
credmond@watserv1    ext. 3004