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Daily Bulletin

University of Waterloo -- Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
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Tuesday, March 12, 1996

Welcome to Waterloo!

A special hello to any of today's thousands of Campus Day visitors who may happen to be reading this Bulletin on a computer screen or a notice-board. Hope you're enjoying the tours and demonstrations, and finding out everything you want to about UW's academic programs and support services -- as well as the admission standards and the ways of financing a higher education in the 1990s.

Some 4,000 high school students and parents are expected to be on campus today -- Steve Little, who heads the secondary school liaison office, says there were 3,900 last year. It's almost a standing joke that every year on the Tuesday of March break week there's sleet and chill winds, so today could be the balmiest and busiest Campus Day on record.

Visitors who are Internet-wired back home might want to continue checking out this Daily Bulletin, and UW's huge range of other on-line information, through UWinfo, the "campus-wide information system". The URL is https://uwaterloo.ca.

Government talks technology

The federal government yesterday released Science and Technology for the New Century, its long-awaited "response" to the review of science and technology policy. The key word in the document is a familiar one: "partnerships". Says the Introduction:
It presents a federal strategy that will allow Canada to take advantage of the worldwide economic shift to knowledge-based industries. It shows how Canada will put in place S&T policies, programs, institutions and relationships so that we can maximize economic opportunities and strengthen our social fabric.

For its part, the federal government is fundamentally re-evaluating where and how to invest its S&T resources to best put them to work. This approach has three essential themes. First, effective new institutions, relationships and networks -- a stronger national innovation system -- must be established to enhance Canadians' abilities to gain and share knowledge and information. Second, the links between job creation, economic growth, quality of life and advancement of knowledge must be well understood and strengthened. Finally, the federal government must improve its approach to partnerships with business, academic institutions, other governments and voluntary organizations.

The document notes "the connections between the goals of job creation with economic growth, quality of life and advancement of knowledge, and the need to pursue all three in an integrated and mutually reinforcing way". In releasing it, industry minister John Manley provided more details of Technology Partnerships Canada, the $250 million investment fund announced in the recent federal budget. Also announced: a Science and Technology Advisory Council to advise the prime minister and cabinet.

And the document puts great emphasis on what it calls "commitments to action" by all federal departments that have anything to do with science. For example:

Each science-based department and agency will set clear S&T targets and objectives, establish performance measurement indicators based on outputs, develop evaluation frameworks, and maintain mechanisms for external advice and review.

The government will create a new S&T information system for Canada designed to measure the country's progress in becoming more innovative and more competitive internationally.

The full document and several related papers are available on the World Wide Web at http://canada.gc.ca/depts/science/main_e.html.

Staff vote for board member

Tomorrow's the deadline for staff members to return their ballots in the election of a staff representative on UW's board of governors. Details of the election, and candidates' statements, were in the Gazette two weeks ago, and can be found on UWinfo on the university secretariat's Web pages. The six candidates -- in reverse alphabetical order, for once -- are John Sellens, Pat Mihm, Michele Grondin, Lorraine Beattie, Judy Awbury and Sharon Adams.

Jolly old PALS

As mentioned yesterday, it's PALS Awareness Week, drawing attention to the Peer Assistance Link Service offered by the Federation of Students. What does PALS have to offer? A phone line (884-4860) for "listening" and "support" from fellow students; "a counselling service that specializes in academic issues such as procrastination, study skills and administrative skills"; a resource for students who want information about nutrition, sleep disorders, eating problems and the like; a peer mediation service; and PODS, the Pals Off-Campus Dons, upper-year students "who help first-year students living off campus adjust to university life". Look for the PALS display in the Student Life Centre today.

Concerns about retirement benefits

John Towler of Renison College, who has written a couple of letters to the Gazette about the health benefits that are available to UW retirees who take their money out of the university's pension plan, has called a meeting:
Anyone concerned about health benefits, the early retirement package and the problems the University has created for us, is invited to an information sharing meeting to be held March 14th in Math & Computer room 4058 from 4:00 p.m. until 5:30. This is an informal meeting. Our goals are to . . .
Towler can be reached at 884-6411, e-mail jotowler@watserv1.

Talking of religion

The "St. Bede Lectures" at Renison College continue through Lent under the title "Insights of Faith". Speaker tonight at 7:30 is Merilyn Thompson of Cambridge Memorial Hospital.

The Sikh Students Association has a dinner tonight -- information 746-0761.

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

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