Daily Bulletin

December payday will come early

Monthly and "casual" pay dates for 1999 are now listed on the payroll web page, Sandie Hurlburt of the HR department said. (UW also has a biweekly payroll for a few hundred hourly-paid staff in the plant operations and food services departments.)

Hurlburt added: "I'd like to remind people that the cutoff for submission of paperwork for casual employees is 1 p.m. on the dates outlined in the Web page. If casual employees are working during the pay period December 20, 1998, to January 2, 1999, their paperwork for scheduled hours should be in Human Resources by 1 p.m. of December 21. The employee will then be paid on January 8, 1999. Cheques can be picked up in Human Resources, GSC, after 1 p.m. that day."

Students honoured for volunteering

"The awards honour the extra-curricular contributions of students in a variety of service areas, some of which may not be highly visible but nonetheless important to the community," says Catharine Scott, associate provost (human resources and student services).

Scott read the praises of the ten winners at last week's dinner, and the Gazette has the full text of what she said, which makes pretty impressive reading. Very briefly, these are the winners and some of the things they've been involved in:

• Janet Cox -- Woolwich Clean Waterways, park committee for Maryhill, plant selection for Bridgeport Public School.
• Curtis Cartmill -- Shinerama for Cystic Fibrosis.
• Ryan Kennedy -- Project Canoe, international student office, WPIRG, United Church camping.
• Julie Kim -- Hospital for Sick Children, Ontario Science Olympiad.
• Angela Loucks -- Off-Campus Dons, St. Mary's Hospital, disability services office.
• Liam Moreland -- Scouts Canada in Ottawa and Waterloo and at the national level.
• Kevin Shi -- Kitchener Public Library, Sunbeam Development Centre.
• Ian Stokes-Rees -- Scouts, Habitat for Humanity, Erb Street Mennonite Church.
• Ben Thomson -- Cheerleading, St. John's Ambulance.
• Alyson Woloshyn -- Rose Button campaign, ROOF, Notre Dame of St. Agatha, Canada Day, Village orientation.

Now, your chance to volunteer

Child care really needed: Saint Monica House needs reliable volunteers to provide child care for infants and toddlers while their moms are in programs. Volunteers provide a variety of stimulating play and individual time to promote children's development and well being. Volunteers who enjoy infants and toddlers and have an interest in young single mothers will enjoy this opportunity. If you can give 4-5 hours a week and are creative, energetic, responsible, call now.

Help build community: Be part of building a welcoming, inclusive community for children and adults with developmental challenges. The K-W Association for Community Living is looking for people who have a genuine interest in becoming involved in advocacy, education and community development with individuals, families and the community at large. Opportunities include joining their Board of Directors or a committee.

Child Find Ontario, K-W Chapter would really appreciate your help. Volunteers are needed to assist with Kid Check, a child identification program that provides children's fingerprints for their parents. Most Kid Checks are done on Saturdays. Volunteers could also become involved in public speaking, chapter meetings, poster distribution and much more! Friendly volunteers who enjoy working with children and the public will be needed for four hours a month. Call for more information.

O little university of Bethlehem -- reported by Barbara Elve

Founded at the behest of Pope Paul VI, who visited the community (then part of Jordan) in 1964, the university began with just 112 students crowded into three rooms of a local high school. Just five days after the university opened its doors on October 1, 1973, the October War between Israel, Egypt and Syria began. In the intervening years, it has become part of the West Bank area incorporated into Israel, and has weathered several major conflicts, including the three-year Palestinian uprising known as the intifada, during which a military order closed the school and classes were held off-campus.

Today the Catholic institution serves some 2,050 Palestinian students, both Christians and Muslims, who "because of closures and travel restrictions within and outside of the West Bank would not otherwise have access to higher education," says the school's 25th anniversary press release. For the people of the area, the university is more than just an institution of higher learning, "it is a vibrant international community promoting inter-religious and cultural understanding, justice and peace."

The university is unique in other ways as well. An "activities hour" has been set aside once a week during which no classes or labs are held to allow "for extra curricular activities, an important aspect of linking the University with issues important to the local community. For many years, the University operated under the pressures of a direct military occupation, so students chose to confront Israeli military actions and to focus their activities on human rights, in particular, defending the right to education." And in an unusual move, the Alumni Association is constructing 288 housing units for alumni who would otherwise be unable to build their own homes. "Alumni will make their payments on long-term installments."

Staffed mainly by "well qualified Palestinians with advanced degrees", the University of Bethlehem offers undergraduate degrees in arts, education, business administration, science, and nursing, with diplomas awarded in hotel management, tourism for peace, travel agency, tour guiding, midwifery, neonatal nursing, education, and catechetics.

Hanna Nasser, mayor of Bethlehem and the new chairman of the university's board of trustees, is confident of a bright future for the school. When asked about the hardships faced by the young people of Palestine, he responded: "I say, my advice is that they should not surrender to all these difficulties. A day will come, and I don't think this day is very far, where we could overcome all those obstacles. . . . The only single choice is the peace treaty between us and Israel. And this peace is not a regional demand, it is a global demand. Everybody is fighting for this. With all these ups and downs in the peace process, eventually and finally we'll have better days."

Student debt, and other matters

This announcement is at hand from the university secretariat: "The by-election of a Mathematics undergraduate student representative to Senate closed on Thursday, November 26, 1998, resulting in Chris Buchanan being declared elected, term to April 30, 1999. The candidates' results are as follows: Chris Buchanan, 130; Andrew Drummond, 34; and Daniel Mader, 111."

Three academic seminars are being given this afternoon:

• Physics: Mike Hudson, University of Victoria, "Beyond the Great Attractor: Probing Dark Matter with Cosmic Flows", 2:30, Physics room 145.
• Statistics and actuarial science: Alain Vandal, University of Auckland, "Interval Orders and Interval Censored Data", 3:30, Math and Computer room 5158.
• Chemical engineering: J.W. Tester, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, "Hydrolysis and Oxidation Chemistry in Sub- and Supercritical Water", 3:30, Doug Wright Building room 2517.

Need I even add that exams begin today?

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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