Daily Bulletin

University of Waterloo -- Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

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Friday, February 7, 1997

Tonight's concert is cancelled

The highly popular band Moist was scheduled to play tonight at Federation Hall. But Manny Patterson, entertainment programmer for the Federation of Students, said late yesterday afternoon that the band had just cancelled its appearance. It will come to Waterloo instead March 15, and tickets that were sold for tonight's show will be valid then. (Or refunds are available where the tickets were bought, up to February 15.) The cancellation wasn't entirely unexpected: performances in London and Toronto earlier this week were cancelled, reportedly because the band's lead singer, David Usher, had a bad attack of asthma.

New chair of UW's board

Business executive Paul Mitchell is returning as chair of the UW board of governors, the university's senior body responsible for financial and other non-academic matters. Mitchell is president of McNeil Consumer Products Co. in Guelph.

He has served eight years on the board so far, from 1988 to 1994 and again since May 1995. He was chair for a year, 1993-94, and has been vice-chair since May 1995. His election to a new three-year term as board chair, beginning May 1, took place in a closed session of the board's winter meeting on Tuesday, and was announced yesterday.

Waterloo accountant Jim Harper, a partner in KPMG Peat Marwick Thorne, will be the new vice-chair.

Engineers slide down Ottawa hill

Two teams of civil engineering students are gearing up to compete in the Great Northern Concrete Toboggan Race to be held tomorrow at Carleton University in Ottawa. "Snow Warrior" and "Snow Fear" are the Waterloo entries in the international race, now in its 23rd year. UW teams placed first in 1995 and third in 1996.

"It's an opportunity for civil engineering students to showcase their design skills and ingenuity in an international competition," said Cory Zurell, a member of Snow Warrior. "Building a toboggan out of concrete poses a number of technical challenges."

Under the competition, the UW students on the two teams -- 35 on Snow Warrior and 15 on Snow Fear -- are responsible for managing a project from the design stage through to the fabrication of a technically innovative toboggan. The annual race is expected to draw about 35 university and technical college teams from Canada, the United States and Europe. All the entries will be displayed at a technical exhibition in Ottawa.

The competition calls for a toboggan with a concrete running surface, a total mass of less than 136 kg (300 pounds) and space for five riders. The straight course is approximately 400 feet long, down a pre-made ice and snow lane. Once past the finish line, each team must deploy a braking system.

The teams are awarded points based on technical merit, such as mix design and brake design, plus race performance, including top speed, braking performance, team spirit and most spectacular run.

For the lunar new year

Not just in east Asia -- China, Korea, Vietnam and elsewhere -- but in Waterloo and around the world, today marks the beginning of the "year of the ox". Among those partying will be members of the Chinese Students and Scholars Association, who have the Festival Room in South Campus Hall booked for this evening. Good wishes for the lunar new year: gong xi fa cai!

And other matters of interest

A fine collection of people share today as a birthday: Charles Dickens, St. Thomas More, Garth Brooks, Sinclair Lewis.

The month of Ramadan, observed by Muslims around the world as a time of spiritual purification, comes to an end today.

FASS, "1001 Arthurian Knights", opened last night in the Humanities Theatre, and if the cast all survived, they'll play again tonight at 7:00 and 10:00. Saturday night there's a banquet in honour of the 35th anniversary of the FASS Theatre Company, followed by the final performance of this year's show, at 8:00.

"Fit for Heart", a fund-raiser for the Heart and Stroke Foundation, runs tomorrow morning at the Columbia Recreation Complex on the north campus. Registration starts at 9:30 and the sweating begins at 10:30; participants will try out "the hottest fitness trends" for cardiovascular health. More information: Rebecca Boyd, ext. 5034.

Children's author Jean Little will visit the Kids' Club at the UW Shop in South Campus Hall tomorrow at 1:00, and will presumably read from her newest book, Gruntle Piggle Takes Off (no, I am not making this stuff up). Information: ext. 3914.

Optometry students will be at Conestoga Mall in north Waterloo on Sunday, staffing an information booth about Vision Awareness Week. They'll not only distribute information but demonstrate various procedures using optometric instruments. A similar information booth will be at the Student Life Centre next Wednesday through Friday.

Sports: The volleyball teams will host Western this evening in the PAC, with the Athenas playing at 6 p.. and the Warriors at 8:00. The Athena and Warrior badminton teams head for the provincial finals in Guelph tomorrow. The basketball teams host McMaster tomorrow in the PAC (Athenas at 12 noon, Warriors at 2 p.m.). Today and tomorrow, the curling teams are at Avonlea for a tournament. The hockey Warriors (who played at Ryerson last night, and sorry, I don't have the score to report) host Brock at the Columbia Icefield at 2 p.m. Sunday. The nordic skiing teams will compete in Ottawa all weekend. The Athena swimmers are in Guelph for the provincial finals.

And what's not happening is an upgrade to the voicemail system. "Probably next weekend," says Ginny Polai at telephone services, "but we will keep you informed."

CAR

TODAY IN UW HISTORY
February 7, 1974: Undergraduates elect Andrew Telegdi to be president of the Federation of Students. February 7, 1978: The board of governors approves rent increases of 12.8 to 13.2 per cent in the Married Student Apartments, despite pleas from picketers outside Needles Hall.

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