Daily Bulletin

Friday, October 31, 1997

University of Waterloo -- Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

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What park? The Watpark

The long-awaited north campus research park should be a step closer to reality, with an announcement yesterday that UW will negotiate with a partnership that's calling itself the Watpark Consortium and would like to develop the project.

The Watpark Consortium consists principally of Euromart International Bancorp Inc. of Toronto, and Co-operators Development Corp., which is headquartered in Guelph. Other members of the consortium are IBM Canada (technology integrator), Infonology Corp. (technology planner), Adamson Associates (architect), The Evergreen Foundation (environmental consultant) and Marshall Macklin Monaghan (planner and engineering consultant).

Watpark proposes a phased development of several hundred acres of leased land on the North Campus. UW's campus master plan, adopted in 1992, suggests a parcel of land for "research and development" purposes in the southeast quadrant of the north campus, close to Columbia Street, the main campus and the Phillip Street strip of high-tech companies.

Yesterday's announcement came after the university's board of governors, in a closed session at its Tuesday meeting, approved a motion "to undertake negotiation toward a memorandum of understanding" with the consortium. The announcement spoke of "a world-class research/technology park" in the area north of Columbia Street.

Such a project has been a dream at Waterloo for more than a decade, and after various false starts, talks with commercial land developers started last fall. Under the 1992 master plan, most of the north campus was eventually to be developed for a mixture of business, laboratories, housing and other uses. A north-south corridor down the centre, along both sides of Laurel Creek upstream of Columbia Lake, was set aside as an environmental reserve. The only major buildings on the north campus now are Optometry, which dates from 1974, and the Columbia Icefield and attached recreation complex. Two day care centres, the Brubacher House museum, and the Bauer warehouse (home of CKMS radio and of the plant operations grounds section) complete the inventory of UW structures there.

Yesterday's announcement said that the Watpark Consortium is one of two development teams that the university originally shortlisted (from 12 submissions) and with whom UW agreed to enter exploratory discussions last spring.

A Guidance Statement on UW land development says that development is "to encourage activity with potential for transfer of knowledge between university research activities and the private sector, but also for formal linkages to established enterprises where there are clearly-defined benefits for UW."

The universities' financial backdrop

UW president James Downey gave the board of governors a few minutes of background Tuesday afternoon about the financial pressures faced by Ontario higher education these days. Minus the graphs he displayed, here are some talking points Downey drew to the board's attention:

Operating grants per full-time equivalent student have declined for twenty years. In 1997-98, in constant dollars, grants per FTE student are only 58% of what they were in 1977-78.
At the same time that university funding per student in Ontario has declined in constant dollar terms, funding for schools and hospitals has been increasing.
Revenue per student in public research doctoral universities (1994-95) was $15,829 in Ontario; $22,242 in 11 major American states. For Ontario to match the US funding levels, $1.7 billion is now required.
Most US state appropriations to universities have been increasing in the last few years -- averaging a 9% increase. In this same period, Ontario government grants have declined by 17.9%.
Tuition fees at US public institutions are about twice those of Ontario. At private US institutions, the tuition is about 6 times greater.
Over the last decade, private sector donations, expressed as a percent of operating grant support, has been relatively stable, with 1995-96 showing almost a 50% increase from 1987-88.

Notes on a rainy morning

It's the last day of co-op employer interviews for winter term jobs. Students heading out to work in January will get their ranking forms Tuesday, and should know November 10 whether they've been placed in a job yet.

As the Ontario teachers' strike continues, registrar Ken Lavigne says his staff are assuring students across the province that "the strike will not adversely affect any admissions case." Students who are fretting about university admission -- and who have some time on their hands right now, with the public schools closed -- are being invited to visit Waterloo and see the campus first-hand. Liaison staff have had to cancel many public school visits, he said, and are concentrating this week on private schools that are still open. In addition, "staff that would have been out travelling have been redeployed to do some research that we haven't done because we haven't had the staff."

Yesterday's Bulletin said that copies of UW's 1996-97 financial statement are "available" in the libraries. Well, if you want to look at the statement, you can see it there, but people who need copies of their own should get them instead from the finance office, phone ext. 3946.

Past deans of arts are going to be hanged -- make that hung -- in the lobby of Modern Languages on Sunday. Brian Hendley, the present dean, has arranged for a rogues' gallery of photographs of his predecessors, which will be unveiled at 2:30 Sunday afternoon; a reception follows.

Invitations have just gone out for "A Celebration of Achievement", as "Campaign Waterloo is wrapping up five very busy years." The party is scheduled for the Columbia Recreation Complex on Thursday evening, November 27.

Local volunteers are wanted

The Volunteer Action Centre has put out its weekly list of opportunities, to this effect:

Board and committee members "with a heart" for the K-W Association for Community Living -- people with experience in financial matters, public relations, fund-raising, personnel, or educational issues.
Reception and clerical help for "a small agency located in a Kitchener school", 3 to 4 hours a week during school time.
Volunteers with first aid and CPR training to help at public events. "Assistance is also needed at mall displays to increase public awareness."

More information: the VAC is at 742-8610.

The Warriors face the Yeomen

They may be playing football in the rain, but it should be a game worth watching anyway, as UW hosts York University in the Ontario University Athletics semifinals tomorrow. The game starts at 1 p.m. (check the time: not 2:00) at University Stadium. For those who can't face the rain, it's to be televised on the channel that recently changed its name to ONtv.

The Warriors are ranked no. 3 in Canada right now, at the end of a season in which they won 6 games, lost 2 and ended up second in their division. The Yeomen (who beat them 28-24 in September) are ranked no. 4 nationally.

Other home sports this weekend: the rugby Warriors host Carleton in a division final, Saturday at 1 p.m., Columbia Field. The hockey Warriors host Western tonight at 7:30 at the Icefield. And the Overkill Volleyball Classic runs all weekend in the Physical Activities Complex, with teams from Sherbrooke, Dalhousie, York and Manitoba joining the Warriors. UW has games at noon and 7 p.m. today, 2:30 and 7:00 tomorrow; the bronze medal and championship games are at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Sunday.

CAR

TODAY IN UW HISTORY October 31, 1979: The Gazette publishes a front-page Hallowe'en list of ghosts that do not exist on campus, including one who haunts the elevators in the Dana Porter Library.

November 1, 1960: Volume 1, number 1, of the Gazette is published. November 1, 1991: UW buys the B. F. Goodrich Building on Columbia Street.

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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