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Thursday, September 14, 1995

Bob Farvolden is mourned

Robert Farvolden, retired professor of earth sciences and a former dean of science, died yesterday after a battle with cancer. He was 67. Farvolden, a hydrogeologist, came to Waterloo in 1970 and later served as chair of the earth sciences department and then, from 1977 to 1982, as dean. He helped to develop the earth sciences department into one of the university's most prominent, and was a central figure in the founding and growth of the Waterloo Centre for Groundwater Research. Farvolden was active in the groundwater centre's work until very recently.

Funeral arrangements are expected to be known later today.

Privacy guidelines are available

UW's recently-approved "Privacy Protection and Freedom of Information Guidelines" are now available in electronic form. You can find them on UWinfo under "Secretariat" or under "Documents". The text will also be published in next week's Gazette.

From the "general principles" section of the Guidelines:

These guidelines provide University of Waterloo faculty, staff and students with access to files/records containing their own personal information, while at the same time, to the fullest extent possible, they protect against disclosure of such information to a third party, except with the written consent of the person concerned.

Similarly, these guidelines make provision to allow UW faculty, staff, students and members of the general public maximum access to UW records, which are under the control of University administrative officers, to the extent that it is possible without compromising the integrity of the institution or its members, or prejudicing its ability to operate at optimal level.

University administrative officers are responsible for decisions, on request, for access to or disclosure of information from records under their control according to the principles of these general guidelines and as provided in specific University policies or guidelines and as required by applicable federal or provincial laws. Decisions to deny a request will be made in writing.

Athletics holds open house

Today's the day: the department of athletics has an open house set, from 4 to 7 p.m., to tell the world about both varsity and campus recreation programs. Want to find out about the north campus golf course, the basketball schedule, or the availability of aerobics classes? Drop by the main gymnasium.

If all the PAC lockers weren't snapped up yesterday, you can rent one today in the Red South activity area of the building. And registration for campus recreation programs will be starting Monday.

What else is happening?

Minister's in hot water

News reports this morning say that John Snobelen, the Ontario minister of education, has been "ordered" by the premier to apologize for remarks he made to a meeting of senior education ministry staff in July. The comments, which were videotaped, became public yesterday. Snobelen is seen on the tape telling his staff that "creating a useful crisis" will be an important step in making changes to the education system. "We need to invent a crisis" to draw public support, the minister said. Yesterday, Snobelen admitted that what he had said was "dumb", and apparently told premier Mike Harris that he didn't mean his statements literally.

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

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