Daily Bulletin

Monday, June 2, 1997

Canada chooses a government

Results of the federal election won't be available until later in the evening than has been traditional. Polls are open from 9:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. in this time zone. Neil Murray in the human resources department notes that, by law, employees are entitled to three consecutive hours off work to get to the ballot box; at UW, working hours are such that just about everybody should have that time available without any special arrangement.

There are four candidates in Kitchener Centre, where John English isn't seeking another term and will return to UW's department of history. They come from the four hors-de-Québec major parties: Karen Redman for the Liberals, Lucy Harrison for the New Democrats, John Reimer for the Progressive Conservatives and Ronald Wilson for Reform.

In Kitchener-Waterloo, there are three other entries, for a total of seven: Monte Dennis (Canadian Action), Steve King (Independent), Andrew Telegdi (Liberal, incumbent), Helmut Braun (Marxist-Leninist), Ted Martin (New Democrat), Lynne Woolstencroft (Progressive Conservative), and Mike Connolly (Reform). One of the K-W candidates was waving at passing cars on Columbia Street, near the Village entrance, before 8 this morning, presumably hoping to catch a few voters' imaginations at the last minute.

On campus, there are polling places today in the Village I great hall and in the East Tower lobby of the Married Student Apartments.

Tomorrow's the big party

Well, maybe an explanation of the Varsity Briefcase Drill Team wouldn't be out of place. Linda Carson was in its founding "in 1987 or thereabouts", and does her best to blame Paul McKone:

"We were sitting in the Grad Club," Carson says, "Having a refreshing lemonade -- as I recall -- and bemoaning the dreadful conformity of the whole notion of cheerleaders. It just didn't seem to represent the true spirit of the University of Waterloo. Paul said something flip about how the true UW spirit would be represented by a bunch of people in suits throwing briefcases about.

"It sounded like a great stunt," Carson continues. "I'd done a lot of goofy choreography for FASS over the years. I got a few people together and we started working on weird stuff you could do with a briefcase. Paul was a member of the Warriors Band so he arranged to have them play for us. Steve Hayman came up with a musical arrangement and everybody got to work.

"The team rehearsed on the pavement outside the Math building. We had a rotten little tape deck and an atrocious recording of the Warriors Band. The team -- all six of them -- never heard the Band play live until they actually performed the number."

The UW Varsity Briefcase Drill Team made its debut, unannounced and unauthorized, at halftime at a basketball game, November 1987, in the PAC. Nobody knew they were coming but the Warriors Band. They marched onto the court in suits and sneakers, and performed their signature piece: Nine to Five. "The crowd had never seen anything like it, but from the moment those six people entered that huge gym in formation, everybody got it. I think that's still the greatest thing about it. UW knew right away what the team represented: ourselves," Carson remembers today. "I'm very proud of that moment, when the University of Waterloo proved it can laugh at itself."

"I encourage you," says a memo from president James Downey to department heads, "to provide the opportunity for all your staff to participate in this campus-wide 40th anniversary event. The University of Waterloo has much to celebrate and all members of the community are invited to take time out to relax and have some fun."

So rare as a day in June

The UW senate's executive committee will meet at 3:30 (Needles Hall room 3004) to set the agenda for this month's senate meeting. Items of business include a report on scholarship funds, and a proposed new undergraduate "career development practitioner option". Senate is also being asked to approve a merger of UW's Institute for Polymer Research with a comparable institute based at McMaster University, and to create a new Waterloo Biotelemetry Institute.

A barbecue at the Optometry building, starting at 5:30, will honour George Woo, lately retired from the school of optometry.

UW's board of governors will hold its June meeting tomorrow, starting at 2:30 p.m., in Needles Hall room 3001. Agenda items include the 1997-98 budget, Federation of Students fees, the president's annual report to the board, and a presentation from Bonnie Patterson of the Council of Ontario Universities on what the provincial government has done to, for and with the universities lately.

The bookstore and UW Shop are dropping their Saturday hours for the summer, and changing their weekday hours; the stores will now be open Monday to Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., effective from today through the end of August.

CAR

June 2, 1971: The Gazette publishes several pictures of participants in spring convocation wearing hot pants, this year's fashion for women. June 2, 1981: The board of governors approves introduction of a dental insurance plan for staff and faculty.

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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