Daily Bulletin, Thursday, December 8, 1994

NEXT YEAR'S BUDGET:  The provost offered a first draft of a 1995-96
budget for UW at yesterday afternoon's meeting of the senate finance
and long-range planning committees.  What does it show?  Income up by
1.8 per cent from the current year's level, to $185.6 million, and
spending up by 1.2 per cent, to $186.0 million.  The income figures are
a little better than guesses, but not much better, following the Ontario
government's announcement on Monday that there won't be any new cuts
to university grants in the coming year.  The expense figures are based
on what's known so far about rising costs.  They include the assumption
that faculty members will have five Social Contract unpaid days in
1995-96 (there are six in the current year), staff none (this year one).

Information about the current year's budget was perhaps more startling than
anything the provost was able to say about 1995-96.  Suddenly there's a
sizeable deficit, with revenue now expected to be about $1.6 million lower 
than was estimated as recently as October.  Reason: enrolment has dropped 
sharply.  Foreign "visa" students, who pay far higher fees than Canadians, 
have stayed away in particularly large numbers, but non-visa enrolment is 
down too.

"I think it is time to look at our enrolment strategy," said the provost,
Jim Kalbfleisch.  UW currently has more students than the government's
grant formula covers, but the number has been drifting downwards.  With
tuition fees rising sharply -- "becoming more significant" in the budget
overall -- that trend deserves to be reconsidered, he said.

PORCELLINO, the cast-bronze Boar sculpture, is coming home today at last.
It (he?) is being installed on the prepared site in front of the Modern
Languages building, where a welcoming ceremony was held last summer.  A
plaque will be unveiled some time in the new year, says Pat Aplevich of
the dean of arts office.  Porcellino formerly lived in the ML lobby, but
has been in storage for the past several years, awaiting an outdoor site.

BLUE CROSS BENEFITS:  There's an error in the new issue of the human
resources department newsletter, and it's led to a lot of phone calls,
says benefits assistant Tricia Loveday.  The mistake is in the paragraphs
that explain Blue Cross health coverage for staff and faculty members
when they're travelling outside Ontario.  

The newsletter says that it's wise to fill out a "Special Authorization and 
Direction Form" when a person with Blue Cross coverage is to be travelling 
outside Ontario "for more than one week" -- but it should say "for more 
than one month", so that people on short trips aren't affected.  The 
newsletter explains: "Completion of the firm will expedite settlement of 
your claim by permitting Blue Cross to negotiate directly with the Ministry 
of Health."  So, once again: fill out a form (available from Loveday at
ext. 3134) only if you'll be travelling beyond Ontario's borders for longer
than a month.

EASY LISTENING: UW police are advising people to reconsider their use of 
"Walkman" cassette stereos. "Listening to a favourite song could place your 
personal safety at risk," says Al MacKenzie, director of security. 
Recently, he says, UW police have investigated two incidents where 
people were using music-boxes. During the early morning hours of October 3, 
a man was walking across campus when he was struck from behind. He was 
later found unconscious. At the time of this incident, the victim was 
wearing a personal cassette headphone stereo and didn't hear his attacker. 
On November 18, a student was riding his bicycle on a pathway in the 
church college area. The rider adjusted his Walkman and ran into a female 
student walking along the path. Moral: keep your ears open.

CRAFTS AND TOYS are on sale today and tomorrow, from 8:30 to 4:45, in
the Davis Centre lounge.  It's a fund-raiser for the Hildegard Marsden
Co-operative Day Nursery on UW's north campus.

Chris Redmond
Information and Public Affairs, University of Waterloo
888-4567 ext. 3004      credmond@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca