Daily Bulletin

University of Waterloo -- Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

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Friday, January 3, 1997

Second day back to work

The campus is still very quiet this morning, but the pause that refreshes is about to turn into the choice of a new generation. The winter term begins Monday -- classes start at 8:30, the bookstore will be open for a few thousand students to spend a few hundred dollars, and registration begins in the Physical Activities Complex.

Students who make it to Waterloo today can, in fact, register without lineups: drop off your cheque at the registrar's office (if you're an undergraduate) or the graduate studies office (if you're a grad). That might be wise. "Line-ups will occur," the registration newsletter promises, as it explains Monday's procedures at the PAC. Officially arts, science, environmental studies and independent studies students should register on Monday, then engineering, mathematics and applied health sciences students on Tuesday. Wednesday's the day for those who couldn't make it earlier in the week. Graduate registration next week is at the cashiers' office in Needles Hall.

Need a WatCard? You can get it Monday or Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Student Life Centre. Bring your fee receipt and "a valid piece of government photo identification".

A campaign shopping list

Staff and faculty members got a letter just before Christmas reminding them that the "annual fund" can always use their spare cash. The fund is the successor to the "Community Campaign", a continuing effort to attract contributions to UW from faculty, staff and retirees. The main appeal goes out each summer, around the time of the "community picnic"; the December letter was just a reminder, says Bev Marshman of the applied math department, who's co-chair of the annual fund along with Doug Morton of the Davis Centre library (as well as two retirees).

It was accompanied by a "shopping list" of projects that donors might want to support, which starts with the senate scholarship fund and goes on to include dozens of others, including these:

The building fund for the school of accountancy's new home.
A chair in rhetoric and professional writing in the department of English.
Phase II of the Dorney Garden outside Environmental Studies.
An "excellence fund" in each department of the faculty of engineering.
The mathematics tutorial centre.
Renovation of the optometry clinic.
The Mike Moser Award in the athletics department.
Funding for the David Zaharchuk Memorial Bursary, remembering the chemical engineering graduate student who was murdered on campus four years ago this week.

And of course there's always the long-deferred environmental science and engineering building. . . .

Newsletters for the new year

A few publications hit the desktop yesterday, the first working day of 1997, including the January newsletter from the mature student services office. It promotes the services offered to students of higher-than-average age at UW, many of whom are women coming back to formal education after years or decades away. Of particular importance is the office's Networking File, which "allows you to swap information about courses the way regular students do but, instead of exchanging information over supper in residence or in the campus coffee shop, you can do it by phone." The newsletter also notes that the mature student "hospitality room" in Modern Languages will be open Monday and Tuesday: "Pour yourself a coffee while you sort out your course changes, and then browse through the stacks of used texts for unbelievable bargains."

Also arriving yesterday was On Track, the "assistance for teaching assistants" newsletter from the teaching resource office. The front-page article talks about things TAs can't control (the curriculum, usually, and the instructor's abilities) but goes on thus:

However, you can show your enthusiasm for the material, teaching, and your students. You can involve your students through a variety of teaching techniques (lectures, question and answer periods, discussion periods, group problem-solving exercises, brainstorming, etc.). And never underestimate the power of an example since theories and concepts often only come alive for students via an application or example.

Snow shovellers are wanted

Today it's rain, but one day soon it may be heavy snow, and the plant operations department will be looking for "casual" staff to wield a shovel starting at 7:30 a.m. Anyone interested in such work should sign up in advance, by calling the grounds section of plant ops at 888-4567 ext. 2537.

And it's worth noting . . .

that today is J. R. R. Tolkien's birthday.

CAR

TODAY IN UW HISTORY
January 3, 1979: The Gazette publishes the draft "Third Decade" planning report for discussion across campus.
January 4, 1976: Saying it can't hold the line any longer, food services increases the price of coffee to 20 cents a cup.

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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Copyright 1997 University of Waterloo