Daily Bulletin

University of Waterloo -- Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

Yesterday's Bulletin | Previous days | UWevents | UWinfo home page

Tuesday, February 25, 1997

Less water, less fuel

"UW is paying less today than we did five years ago for garbage disposal," says Patti Cook, UW's waste management coordinator. "UW uses 42% less energy (fuel and electricity combined) per square metre than we did in 1973. Our water consumption per square metre is down 35% from ten years ago." Oh, and the hazardous materials handling facility in the chemistry department has reduced UW's hazardous waste disposal costs by 50 per cent.

She probably gets some of the credit, as UW's conservation cheerleader and consulting expert, but she's happy to spread the congratulations around: "we", she says, are reducing, reusing and recycling, "because it saves UW money!" And it saves some of the environment too -- UW, she writes, has recycled enough paper from 1991 through 1995 to save more than 40,000 trees. "As consumers, we are trying to make a difference."

The latest burst of good news comes out from her office along with a few did-you-knows and new fragments of information:

Books for recycling can now be boxed and sent to central stores (previously, graphic services did that job).
Ribbon cartridges for recycling should go to information systems and technology, to the attention of Steve Breen (previously they went to central stores).
Styrofoam packaging can be recycled: call chemistry stores at ext. 2512.

Talking about research integrity

Catherine Armour, representing the three national research granting councils, is on campus this week along with a "monitoring panel" that's doing a routine assessment of how UW administers grant funds. Armour, who is secretary to the three councils' Ad Hoc Committee on Integrity Policies, is holding three public meetings at UW. The first one, yesterday afternoon, attracted about 20 faculty members, says Susan Sykes of the research office, and seemed to be a success.

Armour will meet with interested graduate students this morning, from 9 to 11 in Davis Centre room 1302. Another session for faculty members is scheduled for 1 to 3 p.m. today in Needles Hall room 3001.

Teaching activities are highlighted

"Each term," writes Amy Aldous from the teaching resources and continuing education office, "TRACE highlights an Instructional Development Grant and a Learning Technologies Information Grant recipient and his/her project on our web site, in the interest of raising awareness of teaching initiatives on campus."

So let's take a brief look at this term's lucky winners:

Rick Potvin of the school of optometry, who operates a spinoff company, Lifelearn Eyecare:

The company mandate is the development and production of computer-based education products for eye care professionals. With support from the TeleLearning Network of Centres of Excellence and the Canadian Optometric Education Trust Fund (COETF), we produced an initial CD-ROM version of the School's "Procedures in Clinical Optometry" manual. The benefits of a CD-ROM edition over the current spiral-bound black and white text include:

a large number of colour photos (over 100 in this first version)
indexing of test procedures alphabetically and by function
text search capability
"flowcharting" of exam procedures to assist in the understanding of how all tests fit together
video clips to demonstrate techniques

The first two items were implemented in this initial CD-ROM version, and plans to upgrade the CD (both in content and functionality) in 1997 are in place to implement the additional features.
Final production of the first version of the Procedures Manual on CD-ROM was completed in October 1996, and the CD is now available. CD's have been sold to students at the School, and to practitioners abroad (who are often faced with a shortage of clinical instruction material). The School of Optometry receives a royalty based on net sales of the CD.

Larry Smith of the economics department, creator of WorkWorld: A Self-instruction Manual for Co-operative Education Students:

WorkWorld asks co-op students to study the topic of work and career as intently as they would study any subject. It is no longer possible, as it was in the past, to slip into satisfying and successful careers without care and thought. It is not even possible to investigate careers once when we are young, never to consider the topic again. In our rapidly changing society, the world of work is a subject from which you can never escape. WorkWorld offers a sampling of ideas, commentaries, facts, statistics, references and student viewpoints.
With the support of TRACE, the Dean of Arts and the Department of Economics, 5000 copies of WorkWorld: A Self-instruction Manual for Co-operative Education Students were printed and distributed to co-op students from the University of Waterloo during the Winter and Spring terms of 1996. The manual aims to improve the student's ability to benefit from the co-op work term with respect to career outcome. As students learn more from their co-op experiences, they will be able to make a more effective contribution to their employers.

Also new: games exhibits

"We've added a new feature to the Museum & Archive of Games web site," writes Elliott Avedon, retired from the department of recreation and leisure studies but still busy as volunteer curator of the Matthews Hall museum.

[Photo of count-and-capture game] So what's new? "We call it 'virtual exhibits'. It's our attempt to create on the Web the kind of exhibits a visitor to the public gallery might see." Three exhibits are available so far: "Count & Capture games", fourteen wooden boards from Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean; bagatelle, eight table-top pinball-style games; and a collection of 14 hand-held electronic games, one dating back to the 1930s, and 13 computer chip games from the past decade.

"Our long range plan," says Avedon, "is to add more virtual exhibits and eventually offer the public on-line access to most of the objects in the museum's collection." He notes that many of the photos being used were taken by UW's founding president, Gerry Hagey, whose retirement hobby was photography.

The talk of the campus

Two UW teams ended their seasons with silver medals on the weekend: the Athena figure skaters, competing in the Ontario championships at the Columbia Icefield, and the curling Warriors, in the league championships in London. . . .

Ken Hull of Renison College will speak on church music under the title "To Sing is to Pray Twice", at 7:30 tonight in St. Bede's Chapel, as part of the college's Bede Lecture Series. . . .

A financial planning seminar is to be held March 19 -- just in time for income tax season -- and there are still a few spaces available, says Tricia Loveday in the human resources department, who administers the staff training and development program. Anyone interested in the day-long session (9 a.m. to 4 p.m.) can call her at ext. 2078 for details. . . .

And the world news of the day is a trifle odd: Elizabeth Taylor (who made "Raintree County" the year UW came into existence) turns 65 on Thursday. British scientists can now clone sheep. "We miss Comrade Deng Xiaoping," a weeping president of China told a crowd in the Great Hall of the People yesterday. The Blue Jays start their spring training season this weekend. . . .

CAR

TODAY IN UW HISTORY
February 25, 1984: The basketball Warriors lose to Western 93-88 in triple overtime, but still advance to the preliminary round of the national championships.

Editor of the Daily Bulletin: Chris Redmond
Information and Public Affairs, University of Waterloo
credmond@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca -- (519) 888-4567 ext. 3004
Comments to the editor | About the Bulletin | Yesterday's Bulletin
Copyright © 1997 University of Waterloo