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Friday, May 26, 1995
Convocation week continues
At the arts convocation yesterday a couple of people passed out,
and one brand-new BA paused on stage to display a sign: "UW graduate
for hire." Just your average convocation day. . . .
Friday afternoon
The convocation session at 2:00 today is for the faculty of
science, and there are two honorary degrees to be given out. One is
to Felix Franks of Cambridge University, an important figure in
low-temperature chemistry and biology, and in technology transfer. The
other is to earth scientist Digby McLaren, who will give the convocation
address.
Erwin Dumbroff, retired from the biology department, will be made
"distinguished professor emeritus", and Desmond Hemming of physics will
receive one of this year's Distinguished Teacher Awards. The valedictorian,
on behalf of the 544 students receiving their degrees, is Omar Rashid.
There will be two gold medals: from the UW alumni association, for
the highest undergraduate standing, to Stephen Bartlett, and from the
Governor-General of Canada, for the highest standing in a graduate
program at UW this year, to John Corrigan.
Saturday morning
The only morning session of convocation, at 10 a.m. tomorrow, will
include some 599 degrees in mathematics -- one of them going to Michele
Mosca, who will be valedictorian for her graduating class. There is just
one honorary degree, to Hans Buhlmann, described as "the best-known
actuary in the world", a pioneer in theoretical research in actuarial
science.
Arthur Beaumont, retired from the applied math department after a long
UW career in teaching and administration, will become an "honorary
member of the university". Receiving the Governor-General's silver medal,
for the highest standing in an undergraduate program at UW this year,
is Ian Goldberg. The Samuel Eckler Medal for the highest standing in
actuarial science will go to Alana Farrell.
To be presented for the first time is the J. W. Graham Medal, honouring
contributions to computing in Canada by a Waterloo graduate.
Saturday afternoon
The 2 p.m. convocation session tomorrow will see 656 engineering degrees
awarded, plus two honorary degrees. One goes to Norio Okada, disaster
prevention and social systems engineer at Japan's Kyoto University, who
has had much to do with UW's successful
exchange program with Tottori
University in Japan. The other honorary degree is for Chang-Lin Tien,
chancellor of the
University of California at
Berkeley, who will give the address.
The alumni gold medal winner is Todd Veldhuizen, graduating in systems
design engineering. Mike Yovanovich of
mechanical engineering will receive a Distinguished Teacher Award.
Other things are happening
It's payday, for faculty and most staff members. And staff who are getting
paid today will have noticed something nice in their pay slips earlier
this week: there are no longer any little deductions because of the
Social Contract. As of May 1, we're into a new fiscal year, and in
1995-96 there are to be no unpaid days for staff members. (Faculty are
still taking five unpaid days this year.)
Wilfrid Laurier University holds its spring convocation today at the
Waterloo Recreation Complex. It's giving out some 650 degrees and
diplomas, with honorary degrees to Walter Kroll (head of the German
Space Agency) and Landon Pearson (a Canadian senator "recognized for
her life-long service to the advancement of children").
The Japanese Spring Festival continues, with today's seminar on
"Creating and Maintaining Canada-Japan Business Connections". The
ambassador of
Japan to Canada, Noboru Nakahira, is the noon-hour keynote
speaker. Tomorrow starting at 10 a.m., there are demonstrations (at
Renison College) of such Japanese arts as flower arranging, calligraphy,
origami, martial arts and the tea ceremony. And tomorrow at 8 p.m.,
a concert of Japanese folk and traditional dancing and drums takes
place in the Theatre of the Arts.
Staff asked about compensation
Mark Walker, president-elect of the
staff association, sends a final reminder that
staff members are urged to fill out the recent survey about compensation
issues. "We have had a good return
rate to date," he says, "and we would like to ensure that all staff
members have
an opportunity to voice their opinions. You do not have to be a
Staff Association member in order to fill out a survey form. If
people have misplaced the form please contact the Staff Association
Office at ext. 3566 and forms will be sent to you. The survey is also
available on the uw.staffassoc newsgroup if that is more convenient."
Utility shutdowns are planned
Tomorrow from 8 a.m. to noon, electrical power (and heating, cooling and
ventilation) will be turned off in the PAS (Psychology) building. "Computer
equipment should be shut down in an orderly fashion," the plant
operations department suggests.
All next week -- from 7:30 a.m. Monday to 4 p.m. Friday -- the water
will be turned off in the north and west quads of Village 2, while
valves are replaced and tanks inspected. There's nobody living in those
quads at this time of year.
Chris Redmond
Information and Public Affairs, University of Waterloo
(519) 888-4567 ext. 3004
credmond@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca
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