University of Waterloo

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Thursday, June 22, 1995

Solar cars cross Illinois today

The UW-built Midnight Sun III is halfway down the pack after two days of the nine-day Sunrayce 95. As the cars rolled into Lewis and Clark Community College in Godfrey, Illinois, last night, the Waterloo entry was running 21st among 38 solar-powered cars. Midnight Sun III had travelled from Indianapolis at an average speed of 23.52 miles per hour, well behind CaPSET, the car from California Polytechnic University at Pomona, which has been running at 37.80 mph.

Today the cars head west across Illinois and will end up in Fulton, Missouri. Sunrayce '95 ends in Golden, Colorado, next Friday.

UW's solar car, boasting an aerodynamically efficient body design with detachable parts made out of Kevlar, relies on 910 terrestrial grade solar cells. It weighs 680 pounds, including 300 pounds of batteries, with much of the weight equally distributed over its three wheels.

Report on intellectual property

UW's provost, Jim Kalbfleisch, told the university senate on Monday that he has received a report from the advisory committee he set up more than a year ago to study "intellectual property" issues at UW.

Kalbfleisch was to meet yesterday with the members of the committee to talk about their report, and said he would be making it public on campus before long. The report is expected to discuss how UW's policies and procedures handle such matters as copyright, the ownership of inventions (patents), and authorship credits on research papers.

Talking about the health plan

The last in a series of information sessions about proposed changes to the extended health plan for faculty and staff members is being held today -- it started at 8:30. The pension and benefits committee will explain what's proposed, answer questions and hear comments. Then it goes off to make its recommendations final and submit them to the board of governors for the October meeting.

Among the changes is a switch from a "deductible" system to a "co-insurance" system for prescription drugs and paramedical services. Instead of paying the first $43 (single) or $86 (family) of costs in a year, the staff or faculty member will pay 20 per cent of such costs, up to a "cap" of $100 (single) or $200 (family). One point about that cap was made clear in last week's information meetings, but hasn't seen print yet. David Dietrich of the human resources department explained that even when someone has "family" coverage, a $100 limit will apply on the employee's payments for drugs and medical services for any one person. That's a protection in a family where one spouse has much higher medical bills than the other, for example.

Taking the afternoon off

And they've got a pleasant day for it, too: the dozens of staff members and faculty members, as well as retirees and other UW-related folks, who will be playing around (sorry, playing a round) at the Elmira Golf Course today. It's the sixth annual Matthews Golf Classic, organized in honour of former UW president Burt Matthews and in honour of enjoying a pleasant summer afternoon followed by dinner. The tournament runs in a "scramble" format, with teams of four playing under rules such that just about anybody's shot has a chance of counting. I'll hope somebody lets me know the tournament results in time for tomorrow's or Monday's Bulletin.

Workplace safety is discussed

The UW safety office reminds us thusly:
Government of Ontario legislation requires that all employees of the University be made aware of current Health & Safety legislation and the WHMIS Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System program. To facilitate this, the Safety Office has prepared a video decribing the WHMIS program and requirements of the Occupational Health & Safety Act."

The presentation, including a brief quiz, runs for approximately 1 hour.

Showings will be tomorrow, June 23, at 9:30 a.m., and Tuesday, July 4, at 2 p.m., both in Davis Centre room 1304. Information: ext. 6359.

Final notes on a summer day

Chris Redmond
Information and Public Affairs, University of Waterloo
(519) 888-4567 ext. 3004
credmond@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca

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