Daily Bulletin

Tuesday, November 11, 1997

Today Canada mourns its war dead

Two ceremonies on campus will mark Remembrance Day. A service begins at 10:45 a.m. at the Chapel of St. Bede at Renison College, with music, prayers and a speaker (this year Helga Mills of St. Paul's United College). A ceremony in the foyer of Carl Pollock Hall begins at 11 a.m., organized by the Engineering Society.

I think it's no coincidence that the drama department's production of "Oh, What a Lovely War!" opens tonight. The show "uses images, documented facts and songs from the period to reveal the nobility and desperate futility of the Great War", that is, World War I. It runs tonight through Saturday in the Theatre of the Arts; tickets 888-4908.

Believers resist Mac attack

Jay Black, associate provost (information and technology), said he was wearing "no abnormal clothing" for protection, but faced slings and arrows from a standing-room-only crowd of about 90 people in Needles Hall.

The announced purpose of the meeting was to review "the time lines for phasing out support and transitional requirements to assist individuals in converting from a Macintosh to a PC platform". Time lines were not of much interest to the Mac users, upset not only with the decision by UCIST (University Committee on Information Systems and Technology) to phase out Mac support -- "to reduce the complexity for support that diversity creates" -- but also with the process that led to the decision.

Kim Martin, math faculty computing, described the threat to the Mac as "a highly charged and religious issue", and comments from faculty, staff and students made it clear that he was right.

According to Peter Ochotta, a computer support person in environmental studies, "There is no clear advantage to using PC systems over Mac systems. This is a pre-emptive strike for no apparent reason." He charged that the consultation process amounted to asking Mac users: "How long until you want to be shot in the head?"

Others termed the decision "a morale killer", "an unjustified action", a symptom of "managerial mindset". "The university is not a corporation," said David Novak, philosophy. "The university is a place where diversity, intellectually, is supposed to be supported." Computer science student Curtis Eisenberg noted that "The ease of use of Macs is unparalleled." He called the move to phase out Mac support "anti-productive", and predicted that support costs would skyrocket.

Paul Guild, who holds the CIBC/Nortel/NSERC-SSHRC chair in Management of Technological Change and is director of the Institute for Innovation Research, described himself as a Mac user and predicted a detrimental impact on his teaching and research if IST support for the system was eliminated, especially since the faculty of engineering has already withdrawn support for Macs. He, too, pointed to the consultation process as a problem.

Black, who admitted he could not estimate the impact of the decision or "the percolating effects" in quantitative terms, and acknowledged that the time lines for phase-out were "aggressive", said comments from the meeting would be taken back to UCIST for consideration and that a further open meeting would be held. "We will continue to evaluate if this decision is the right one," he added.

May Yan, director of retail services, told the meeting that regardless of the official UCIST decision about what UW will support, the UW computer store will continue to sell Macs. She said the store is working with Apple on providing service and support for Macs even if university authorities no longer offer it.

New photocopiers are coming

"During the next few weeks we will be arranging sessions with faculties and administrative areas to present an overview of the equipment available, assess your area's needs, and review current inventory. . . .

"The IKON program will provide all new departmental copiers, which will greatly reduce the number of service and quality concerns that have arisen in the past. . . . The cost of the program will increase slightly (by three-tenths of one cent per copy, toner included)."

She said Colette Nevin, the graphics marketing manager, will be out talking to departments about when and how to take out the old equipment and put in the new.

November 11 is also Martinmas

The Hildegard Marsden Co-operative Day Nursery is running a toy fair today, tomorrow and Thursday in the Davis Centre lounge. "Get a jump on Christmas," a flyer suggests, "with no crowds, no long line, and lots of interesting choices. Suppliers have a superb variety of items for all ages, including toys, books, crafts and much more." The Marsden day care gets 10 per cent of sales, and says last year's event raised more than $800.

Birthday greetings to Terry McMahon of the department of chemistry, who is, according to a reliable source, "celebrating the big one" today.

The Faculty of Science Foundation sponsors the eleventh annual Science Awards Banquet tonight in South Campus Hall. To be honoured: "students on the Dean's Honours List, winners of work report awards and debating prizes, and students, faculty and staff who are holders of distinctions during 1997". The after-dinner speaker is Chris Redmond, UW's director of internal communications -- hey, that's me. Good thing I have my talk on "Sherlock Holmes, Science and Romance" all ready.

WPIRG turns its activist attention to another issue today: "Hear Kevin Thomas, a defendant in the case, speak about the Lubicon Cree's fight to protect their ancestral lands from clear-cutting and the Friends of the Lubicon paper boycott. It was so effective that Daishowa has asked the court to shut it down. What effect will this have on consumer-organized boycotts in the future?" Thomas speaks at 7:30 this evening in Student Life Centre room 2139.

And in Toronto, a conference on women in technology, sponsored by IBM, has attracted a capacity crowd of educators, government and industry people, and students from high school, college and university. Among the speakers is Jo Atlee of UW's department of computer science; the conference runs from 4:30 to 9 this evening at one of the airport hotels.

CAR

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