Daily Bulletin

University of Waterloo -- Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

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Friday, February 21, 1997

Infrastructure . . . more literally

Arthur Carty, former dean of research at UW and now president of the National Research Council of Canada, is back on campus today, to speak at a breakfast meeting (in South Campus Hall) sponsored by the Centre for Advancement of Trenchless Technologies. Carty's topic is "Urban Infrastructure Research at NRC: Helping Maintain Canada's Municipal Assets". So he'll be talking about structure that's as infra as you can get, such as the water and sewer pipes that are of special interest to the trenchless-technologies folks.

Meanwhile, there was more talk yesterday about infrastructure in a more general sense, in the wake of Tuesday night's federal budget. The minister of health and the science minister -- David Dingwall and Jon Gerrard, respectively -- held a news conference in Hamilton to provide more details about the "permanent annual allocation" promised to the federal Networks of Centres of Excellence. (Carolyn Hansson, UW's vice-president, research, was among the people there for the occasion.)

"The NCE program," said a statement from Gerrard, "is an important building block of the federal science and technology strategy as it contributes significantly to sustainable job creation and economic growth, to improved quality of life for Canadians, and to the advancement of knowledge." The budget presented by finance minister Paul Martin said $47.4 million a year was being allocated to the 14 NCEs, which specialize in such fields as telecommunications research, genetic diseases, concrete, and telelearning. They are to be "permanent", rather than supported through commitments that are open to reconsideration every few years, the government says.

Leads grad students again

Burton Empey of the philosophy department will be president of the Graduate Student Association again in 1997-98. Like Mario Bellabarba, president of the Federation of Students, Empey has been acclaimed to a second term in office. Also acclaimed to a GSA executive position for a second year is the association's vice-president (communications), Daniel Piche, who announced the acclamations this morning.

Don't try to call tonight

You won't get through to UW for most of tonight, as the "automated attendant" 888-4567 will be out of commission along with the voicemail system. The reason is an upgrade to the voicemail software, Bruce Uttley of information systems and technology explains:

New and additional disks are being installed to increase the amount of voice mail storage. Since this involves backing up and restoring the entire voice mail system, voice mail will be unavailable for 12 hours or more after 8:15 p.m. Friday evening. The telephone auto-attendant at 888-4567 will also be unavailable during this time. You may assume that your voice mailbox will survive intact across the transition.

In the early mornin' rain

Notes on today's activities:

The hungry faces of children in a World Vision TV special inspired math student Stuart Pollock to get involved in the Thirty Hour Famine, an annual event held to raise money for international aid work and to raise Canadian consciousness about issues of hunger. The "faminers" recruit sponsors for the fast, which runs from 1 p.m. today through 7 p.m. tomorrow. Since the schedules of most students are tight, said Pollock, there won't be a group fast. "It's more of a personal experience." Anyone wishing to participate, either as a "faminer" or a sponsor, can contact him at scepollo@undergrad.math.
Walter Sanchez will be back in court in Kitchener today to face more charges in connection with sexual assaults that took place on and near campus last fall. Earlier this month he pleaded guilty to one charge and was placed on probation.
Canadian Union of Public Employees local 793 will hold its monthly meeting tonight (6:15 p.m., Davis Centre room 1302), and names of the 1997 executive will be announced. Most positions have been acclaimed, but there will be voting for the treasurer's post -- union members can visit a polling station in the Davis Centre great hall today between 2 and 6 p.m. "Please vote outside your normal working hours," says the local's current president, Neil Stewart. Also on the agenda for tonight's meeting is election of the union negotiating committee for 1997.

Weekend: church and sports

St. Paul's United College will hold its Founders' Day Service of Celebration on Sunday afternoon at 3:00 at Westminster United Church, 543 Beechwood Drive (off Erb West). Speaker at the service will be Very Rev. Lois Wilson, former moderator of the United Church of Canada, whose more recent activities have involved everything from international human rights to nuclear waste disposal. At the service, a plaque will be unveiled to honour congregations that have contributed to St. Paul's over the past six years of fund-raising.

The big sports event of the weekend is the provincial figure-skating championship, involving the Athenas and women's team from the rest of the Ontario Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Association. Competition takes place in the Columbia Icefield Saturday from 11:30 a.m.to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Other sports: The varsity basketball teams play a doubleheader against Brock University tomorrow in the Physical Activities Complex -- the Athenas at 12 noon, the Warriors at 2 p.m. The curling teams are at Western for the Ontario championships on Saturday and Sunday, and the Nordic skiing teams are doing the same thing at Nipissing University in North Bay. The hockey Warriors play at Windsor on Saturday night. And the volleyball Athenas are at Queen's over the weekend for the league finals.

Also happening as the February reading break draws to a close:

The Kiwanis travelogue series continues tonight (8:00) in the Humanities Theatre with a slide show on the Philippines.
The Computer Science Club sponsors "an ACM-style programming contest" for individuals and teams tomorrow starting at 11:30 on the third floor of the Math and Computer building. "This contest involves solving eight questions in five hours," organizers say, asking participants to sign up by this evening in the CSC office, MC room 3036.

We delve into history

A loyal Raider -- those are the folks from Kitchener Collegiate Institute -- took some exception to the statement in yesterday's Bulletin that Suddaby School, marking the 140th anniversary of its founding as Berlin Central School, is the oldest institution of learning in Kitchener-Waterloo. KCI was founded in 1855, he points out, which would make it 142 this year. This wants looking into. And, my correspondent also asked, what about St. Jerome's College? That one at least I can answer: its founding date was 1864.

CAR

TODAY IN UW HISTORY
February 21, 1994: The university closes on Monday of reading week, giving faculty and staff an unpaid day off as part of the Social Contract.

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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