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The GSA council has invited all graduate students to a meeting tonight at 6 p.m. in Humanities room 119 to solicit ideas and suggestions, as well as to answer questions about the financial situation at the Grad House.
GSA president Steve Astels says faculty and students have shown "surprise and dismay" at reports that the house is in trouble, with one student claiming the house "is the one redeeming feature of grad studies at Waterloo". But the crowds at the Grad House bar aren't what they used to be, and fewer of the customers who do show up have been buying alcohol, even though beer costs are reputed to be the cheapest on campus, at $3.65 for a 20-ounce draft and $9.50 for a pitcher.
"Operating costs have remained relatively stable, but sales have been dropping like a stone," said Astels. "September sales were down about one per cent (from the same period last year) when we were hoping to increase sales." He noted that grad students have less discretionary income for entertainment than they used to, and are being lured to other bars, both on and off campus.
In response, the GSA has adopted a number of belt-tightening measures and has attempted to raise the profile of the Grad House by offering more activities. A change in the job description for the bar manager resulted in the departure earlier this month of Bill Halverson, the Grad House manager for the past 13 years. He was replaced by Dianne Piaskoski, a former math grad student. The House now opens later in the morning and closes earlier on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights. But it hasn't been enough.
Astels is open to any suggestions at this point, especially those aimed at increasing alcohol sales. "There's only so much alcohol myself and other board members can buy," he quipped. "We try!"
Applications for the "infrastructure" funds were submitted in June. Dennis Huber, UW's associate provost (general services and finance), said then that the university had asked for $675,000 to upgrade the campus computer network, $625,000 for laboratory renewal, and $1,415,947 for maintenance and repairs -- a total of slightly more than $2.7 million. I wouldn't be a bit surprised to learn that some work that's already being done on campus, such as the repaving of parts of the ring road, was being paid for from infrastructure funds which UW had unofficially been told were on their way.
The principle behind the infrastructure program is that Ottawa provides one-third of the money and the Ontario government one-third, with the remaining third coming from the sponsoring institution's own resources, such as the operating budget or private givings.
is our first big visitation day for all Faculties. Each Wednesday and Friday from October 15 to November 28 we will be hosting 200 to 400 prospective students. All students will come to the Visitors Centre and be welcomed at 10:00 a.m. and then visit the faculty areas they are interested in. We also have walking tours each weekday at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. leaving from the Visitors Centre.Coming in March as always: Campus Day, a major open house for high schoolers and their parents.
The President's Circle Awards for Volunteerism were announced just last month. The award "will recognize the significant contributions of students in volunteer work both within the University and the community at large", says Catharine Scott, associate provost (human resources and student services). The honour is accompanied by a $250 cheque.
"The awards will honour the extracurricular contributions of students in a variety of service areas, some of which may not be highly visible but nonetheless important to the community. . . . Any member of the university or the community at large may nominate a student. As well, because volunteer work, often has a low profile, a student may directly apply for the award." The minimum requirement is three terms of volunteer involvement. "Activities will be considered volunteerism when they are thus defined by the organization under which they are administered regardless of nominal compensation. Nominations or applications may be made during or at any time after the third semester of volunteer involvement provided the candidate is registered in at least two of the three terms including and immediately preceding the term of their nomination."
Nomination forms are available from the Federation of Students, the university secretariat and the student awards office, and should be returned to the secretariat.
Now, if you're just getting into the volunteer mindset, here are some current opportunities listed by the K-W Volunteer Action Centre:
Also today:
CAR
Editor of the Daily Bulletin: Chris Redmond
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