Daily Bulletin

Friday, November 28, 1997

University of Waterloo -- Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

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

Buy nothing, buy something

Well, there's a bit of a conflict today. In the Student Life Centre it's Buy Nothing Day, sponsored by WPIRG and other organizations. But in the Davis Centre, the staff association craft sale continues, and in East Campus Hall, the fine arts department has artworks for sale as a fund-raiser. Here's some background to both sides of the cognitive dissonance.

"If you want to shop, go to the mall. If you want to celebrate Buy Nothing Day, visit the 10 a.m. opening of the People's Plaza," says Paul Baines of the Waterloo Public Interest Research Group, which is sponsoring the Day locally. (Elsewhere, it's promoted by such groups as Adbusters Quarterly.)

The day, says Baines, "is a one day moratorium on consumer spending in order to reflect and take action on the impacts of our consumer society. It's a celebration of simplicity; it's about our shop-'til-you-drop lifestyle on a dying planet; it's about getting our runaway consumer culture back onto a sustainable path."

The People's Plaza, on the lower level of the Student Life Centre today, will offer "over 10 stores endorsing trading, sharing and learning without and about over-consuming. Stores include a coffee shop, food court, theater, bank, medical centre, school supply depot, bike shop, and shoe, video, grocery and clothing stores. Some stores give away free food, coffee, and school supplies, others advocate local alternatives for community currency and affordable food, while others will inform people about fair trade, sweatshops, bike repair, nutrition, and how to deconstruct media for progressive social change. During Buy Nothing Day plaza hours, there will be drama performances highlighting the insanity of our consumer culture and speakers discussing the perils of advertising, economics, labour, and ecology."

But meanwhile, accepting cash

The staff association's annual craft sale winds up today in the Davis Centre lounge, with items for sale by some 30 staff members and retirees: knitting, pottery, "garden critters", stained glass, angels, cookies, quilts, wreaths, picture frames, china, vests, wooden snowmen (shouldn't that be snowpeople?) . . .

And the excitement is building in the fine arts department, where the "art festival, miniature sale and silent auction" runs from 3:30 to 7:30 today and noon to 6 p.m. tomorrow. (The department is in East Campus Hall, off Phillip Street.) The president of the university and the dean of arts are expected to be on hand for the opening this afternoon, and there will be a cash bar and refreshments both days.

I spoke yesterday to somebody who'd been over in ECH looking at the hanging of literally hundreds of student artworks, all for sale. She was ecstatic about the quality -- "I wanted to take them all!" -- and the choice and the prices and the student enthusiasm. The sale is in three parts: miniature art, less than 4 inches by 5; general art by students, in all media; and a silent auction of juried works. (My spellchecker thinks that should say "buried" works, but it's wrong.)

There are too many works for the gallery, says fine arts professor Don MacKay, so some will spill over into the hallways. "All works are for sale and appropriate for that hard-to-buy-for person," I'm assured. Money raised from the weekend's events will go for the hiring of sessional instructors in fine arts, and towards an audio-visual system for student use in the department.

Last Friday of the month

Hey, that makes it payday, for faculty and most staff members. And here's cheerful pecuniary news: it's only three weeks until the next one. The payroll office has announced some changes in pay dates because of the coming Christmas and New Year's holiday.

Monthly payroll: December 19 (instead of December 26); January 23 (instead of January 30); February 27 (no change).
Biweekly payroll: December 19 and January 2 (no change).
Casual payroll: December 12 (no change); December 19 (instead of December 26); January 9 (no change).

You can't park at Seagram

Parking lot E on Seagram Drive will be closed as of Monday for "regrading and resigning", the parking office says. "The City of Waterloo will be placing signs that mirror the Rink in the Park section indicating a time limit for parking. Parking lot C would be the closest parking lot, at $1.50 on exit, for anyone who needs alternative parking."

Givings now past $115,000

The 1997 United Way campaign on campus closed two weeks ago, but the melody lingers on. Helen Kilbride, the volunteer chair of the campaign, sends this note: "We have had positive responses, and some colleagues declined our invitation to give, but still there is a large number who have not yet responded either way. For the most part these are the faithful donors of previous years and we would like to give them a chance to help us come closer to our target of $145,000.

"As of today, we have recorded 503 donors out of a possible 2,862 and a total of $115,499. If you are a regular donor, a lapsed or new donor, there's still time. We shall report our final tally to K-W United Way on December 1. Pledges received after that will be channelled to that office, and we will not know our real total until January or February."

And much else is happening

The information systems and technology department holds an open house this morning on "the next generation campus network":

The technologies to enable the next-generation campus network centre around transmission-layer and network-layer integration comprising Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet switching with IP routing, IP multicast, and IP bandwidth reservation and Ethernet quality-of-service delivery mechanisms. The technologies will extend to include IP address-assignment control, network-port user authentication, and IP-based applications software for electronic commerce, for voice-over-IP computer-telephony integration, and for video-over-IP desktop videoconferencing and distance education.

The event starts at 10 a.m. in Davis Centre room 1302.

Students who are interested in working in the United States can hear a speaker at 10:00 in Student Life Centre room 2134. He's Todd Pokrywa, a UW graduate in urban and regional planning who now works as a planning consultant in Orlando. "Todd has assisted several planning grads in finding work opportunities south of the border," says Tony Munro of the co-op and career services department. "He will be able to answer your questions on issues such as immigration procedures, job search techniques, job opportunities, living standards and other related issues."

Touring Players bring a show to the Humanities Theatre at 10:00, 11:45 and 1:30 today, so watch for buses on the ring road.

The annual meeting of the Canadian Scientific and Christian Affiliation will be held at UW this evening -- 7:30 p.m., Physics room 145. Says Robert Mann of the physics department: "We have invited Dr. Michael Behe, author of the recent book Darwin's Black Box, as our guest speaker. The meeting is open to everyone, and admission is free."

The UW stage band performs tonight at Conrad Grebel College, starting at 8:00. "All are welcome," bandsman Craig Marlatt tells me, "and encouraged to come out for a great night of samba, swing, a little Christmas, and a lot more!" Tickets are $8 at the door, students $5.

A kids' performance of Sailor Moon hits the Humanities Theatre tomorrow at 1:00 and 3:30 p.m. Tickets: 888-4908.

Sports this weekend: The hockey Warriors host Western at 7:30 tonight at the Icefield. The basketball Warriors host Sheridan College at 8:00 in the Physical Activities Complex main gym. And on Sunday afternoon, both volleyball teams will host McMaster -- the Athenas at 2:00, the Warriors at 4:00 -- also in the PAC main gym.

CAR

TODAY IN UW HISTORY November 28, 1980: Fund-raising officials announce that faculty and staff members have pledged $69,000 to the brand-new Watfund campaign for UW.

November 29, 1995: Ontario treasurer Ernie Eves cuts university grants by 15 per cent; "I'm pleased that it's not worse," says provost Jim Kalbfleisch.

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