Daily Bulletin

Tuesday, October 14, 1997

University of Waterloo -- Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

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Business event this afternoon

Business leaders will converge on the Davis Centre this afternoon for the last big event on the 40th anniversary calendar: "Business After 40", which will celebrate UW's partnerships with the community and the businesses of Canada's Technology Triangle.

The event is set for 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and is being held in co-operation with the chambers of commerce of Kitchener and Waterloo, Cambridge, Elmira and Woolwich, and Guelph. UW's partners from business and industry and spin-off companies will be showcased in a combination open house and trade fair. There will be 60 displays mounted by various area businesses and university departments.

Speakers include Randall Howard, chairman of the local software firm Mortice Kern Systems; Jim Harper, president of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce; and James Downey, UW's president.

And speaking of business . . .

Waterloo certainly had a presence when the Ontario Entrepreneur of the Year awards were handed out on Thursday in Toronto. Most conspicuously, former UW president Doug Wright was honoured as the 1997 "supporter of entrepreneurship" for his lifetime of work in promoting connections between universities and economic development.

Another of the 11 winners was Jack Pearse, former professor in the recreation and leisure studies department, now in the camping business; he was named "socially responsible entrepreneur" of the year.

Randall Howard of MKS, who will be speaking at Business After 40 this afternoon, was the entrepreneur of the year in the high-tech category. Altogether six of the 11 awards went to people from Waterloo Region. "Master entrepreneur of the year", the top honour, was awarded to John Kelly of Toronto-based Jet Form Corp.

Board talks budget, pension fund

The executive committee of UW's board of governors will meet this afternoon -- 2:30, Needles Hall room 3004 -- to screen agenda items for the board's regular fall meeting on October 28. Among other things it will hear a budget update from the provost, Jim Kalbfleisch, whose news is that departments have to take a temporary cut of 1 per cent in their 1997-98 spending, as reported in Friday's Bulletin.

Also on the agenda, for discussion in confidential session, is a report from the pension and benefits committee. No, the provost told me last week, there won't be any proposals for changes to the pension plan; pension "improvements" are under discussion in the P&B committee, but "there won't be any recommendation on that going forward this month." Earlier, the plan had been to bring a recommendation to the October board meeting and make it retroactive to May 1.

Said Kalbfleisch: "We're not at the point yet where we have a consensus, so we're going to keep talking." He said the committee intends to make any proposals known on campus and hear what people think of them before final decisions are made.

So why the confidential report? Kalbfleisch says it's an unrelated matter, to do with how some of the fund's investments are managed.

Orientation week under study

Catharine Scott, associate provost (human resources and student services), announced last week that she will chair "a short term committee to look at a variety of issues dealing with orientation", the annual program to introduce new students to Waterloo.

The committee, she said, is looking at the goals, principles and values of orientation; "a description of the major players and a definition of the reporting and accountability structure between the Federation of Students, faculties and administration"; issues surrounding the consumption of alcohol, "including under-age students, all-you-can-drink-events and leader drinking"; the schedule for the week's activities and "competition between groups for frosh participation"; off-campus activities including "barn" and toga parties; the qualifications, training and criteria for orientation leaders; hazing, initiations, and drinking games.

Said Scott: "The Committee would appreciate comments and suggestions from all groups involved in orientation. Please submit written submissions to Dianne Scheifele, secretariat."

Looking ahead to another turkey

Now that Thanksgiving is over, the next holiday on the calendar is Christmas -- yes, I know, Hallowe'en comes October 31, but nobody gets a day off work or class for that. People have been wanting to refresh their memories about what days are university holidays this December and January, and I'm glad to oblige. From the relevant web page:

Christmas and Boxing Day fall on a Thursday and Friday, December 25 and 26. "Additional days" will be observed Wednesday, December 24; Monday, December 29; Tuesday, December 30; and Wednesday, December 31. A holiday on Tuesday, December 23, was added as part of this year's staff salary settlement. New Year's Day falls on Thursday, January 1.

From which, you will note that the last working day of 1997 is Monday, December 22, and the first working day of 1998 is Friday, January 2.

As for classes and exams: fall term lectures end December 2, and exams run December 5 through 19. For the winter term, registration and classes both begin Monday, January 5.

Just a few other notes

The university secretariat sends a reminder that nominations close tomorrow at 3 p.m. for two at-large faculty seats on the Presidential Nominating Committee.

The dean of arts will host a reception this afternoon (3 p.m., Humanities room 378) to honour new faculty members in arts. A list of them isn't at hand, but the faculty association's newsletter this month reports that "nearly fifty new regular faculty members" have come to UW since the end of 1996, and it appends a list of 44 names, in fields from English to civil engineering.

Sports results: The football Warriors made it an easy 43-7 victory over the McMaster Marauders on Saturday. The field hockey Athenas split a pair of games on the weekend, beating Guelph 1-0 but losing to York 1-0. Those are the only scores I have so far.

CAR

TODAY IN UW HISTORY October 13, 1994: Ontario premier Bob Rae visits campus and announces funding for construction of a Centre for Environmental Science and Engineering.

October 14, 1965: The annual report of the UW pension plan reveals that its book value now exceeds $1 million for the first time.

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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