Tuesday, January 11, 1994

IN SOME COUNTRIES this would be a national holiday: it's the birthday
(the 179th) of John A. Macdonald, Canada's first prime minister.  Unless,
of course, revisionist historians are right and he was actually born
January 10 rather than January 11!  In any case, such adulation for the
folks in Ottawa is hardly part of Canadian culture.  (But the new Members
of Parliament for Waterloo and Kitchener, Andrew Telegdi and UW's own
John English, stopped by campus yesterday to see the dean of research
and the vice-president, university relations.  The new House of Commons
begins its first sitting next week.)

GRAD DENTAL PLAN: The Graduate Student Association's board of directors 
decided last night to call another referendum on a dental plan for graduate
students. Since the original referendum, held in November, more than 300 
students had signed a petition asking that another referendum be held.

According to GSA appeal procedures, for an appeal to be successful the
number of students signing the petition must be more than the number who 
voted on the winning side. In this case, 262 grads had voted in favour of
creating a dental plan, so 263 signatures were required to set the result
aside and call a second vote.

If the board can formulate the referendum questions by its next meeting on 
February 14, says Duncan Phillips, the GSA president, the new referendum 
will be held in early April.  If the questions aren't formulated by then,
the referendum will be held in June.

INTERNATIONAL HANDBOOK: If you are an exchange student or attending Canada 
on a "student authorization" visa, Glenn Lea wants to hear from you.  He's 
working for the office of student affairs to prepare UW's first-ever handbook 
for international students, and needs advice to make the project actually 
reflect student needs.  "To do this," he says, "we have prepared a survey.  
This survey is available at the turnkey desk, Grad House, language lab, 
international student office, engineering exchange office, MathSoc, EngSoc, 
and Fed office."

The handbook, to be ready by next fall, is expected to provide new 
international students with the information they need to make the transition 
to life at UW, and in Canada, trouble-free.  "Our best resource to determine 
what information we should include is you," says Lea. "If you could take a
minute and fill out the survey, your experience will help future international 
students better prepare for and enjoy their experiences here."

Questions or comments can be directed to him through the international 
student office (phone ext. 2814 and ask for Darlene) or by e-mail to 
glea@artspas.

EVENTS TODAY:  Here are two last-minute announcements of things happening
on campus today:

-- English professor Anya Taylor (City University of New York) talks on
"Coleridge's Approaches to the Soul", 3:30 p.m., Hagey Hall 334.

-- "Disk-Based Technologies for Television Systems", a satellite teleconference
organized by the Toronto section of the society of Motion Picture and 
Television Engineers, can be seen in Engineering 1 room 2534 starting at
7:30.  Participants will be able to join in the discussion by telephone.

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