Daily Bulletin

University of Waterloo • Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

Tuesday, February 10, 1998

Round toboggan takes first place
Students go to the polls
Talking pensions and spouses
Conflict volunteers are wanted

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I'm as restless as a willow in a windstorm
I'm as jumpy as a puppet on a string
I'd say that I had spring fever
But I know it isn't spring.
-- Oscar Hammerstein II

The winter has been so unwintry that the plant operations department actually got out its sidewalk-sweeping machine the other day, to clear away the salt, sand and rubbish. . . . The travel agency in South Campus Hall is advertising last-minute escapes for reading week (next week!) to places like Cancun and Puerto Vallarta. . . . Flyers around campus, signed by the Muslim Students' Association, are urging people to e-mail Bill Clinton and other world leaders, opposing a war against Iraq. . . . And here's the rest of the news.

Round toboggan takes first place

With an innovative round toboggan, UW civil engineering were successful in defending UW's title in the 24th annual Great Northern Toboggan Race held Saturday in Calgary.

Competing against teams from across Canada and the United States, the 28 UW students won first place overall for their round toboggan -- the only one in the race -- which was constructed with a concrete and fibreglass mix. As well, they took top honours for concrete mix design and technical exhibition. The UW team also recorded the most spectacular run and was third in team spirit.

In 1997, a team of UW civil engineering students won the top prize with one of their entries in the race held in Ottawa. UW teams placed first in 1995 and third in 1996.

"The round toboggan performed incredibly, far better than we had anticipated," said Andrew Berube, a fourth-year civil engineering student and a member of UW's Arctic Fire team. The team also entered a conventional rectangular toboggan in the event.

The competition called for toboggans with a concrete running surface, a total mass of less than 136 kilograms (300 pounds) and space for five riders. The toboggans were equipped with a braking system and other safety features.

The race, held at the Wintergreen Ski Resort, near Calgary, was a timed run and once past the finish line, teams deployed a braking system. On Friday in Calgary, teams participated in a technical exhibition to display their sleds to the public.

Students go to the polls

Voting booths are open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today and tomorrow, as undergraduate students elect the 1998-99 leaders of the Federation of Students. There are four candidates for president -- Jeff Gardner, Christian Provenzano, Andre Cousineau, Matt Popovich -- and a total of 14 for the four Fed vice-presidencies.

"You must vote in the faculty in which you are registered," says Avvey Peters of the Fed staff, acting as chief returning officer for the election. Namely:

Engineering students -- Carl Pollock Hall foyer
Arts students -- Arts Lecture foyer
Environmental studies and independent studies students -- Environmental Studies I foyer
Mathematics students -- Math and Computer third floor
Science students, except optometry -- Biology I foyer
Optometry students -- Optometry foyer
Applied health sciences students -- Matthews Hall foyer
Renison College students -- outside the cafeteria
St. Jerome's College students -- outside the cafeteria

Talking pensions and spouses

The pension and benefits committee is meeting this morning -- to talk over, among other things, what it heard at last week's two open meetings about proposed changes to the pension plan. The noon-hour meeting drew a capacity crowd, maybe 100 people, to the Needles Hall boardroom; the afternoon meeting, maybe half that. Neither was exactly a barn-burner, although there were some keen questions, and several people said they'd still like to see the pension plan include a positive incentive for early retirements.

The changes that are being proposed, which would increase the pensions of all new retirees by several percentage points, don't do anything more for early retirees than they do for staff and faculty who wait to the regulation age 65. Early retirement bonuses aren't exactly fair, says the document from the P&B committee outlining its proposals; they would "significantly improve pensions for members who retire early, but would produce no benefit to those who, by choice or necessity, work to normal retirement age."

When the committee finishes working over its proposed changes, they have to go to the UW board of governors for approval, likely at the next scheduled meeting on the first Tuesday of April.

Other things are also on the agenda for the P&B committee today, including "objectives and policy statement" for the investment of pension fund money, and the definition of "spouse" as it applies in the health insurance plan. Here's the current definition of "spouse" when there's no marriage certificate:

the person who has been cohabiting continuously with the employee as spouse for a period of not less than two years or the person with whom the employee is cohabiting and together with the employee is the natural or legally adoptive parent of a child.

The definition doesn't say anything about spouses being of opposite sexes. The committee will be considering reducing the two-year period in the definition to one year, which is the standard used by many other large employers. Either way, the definition doesn't apply to pensions; those are governed by federal law, which speaks of a three-year cohabitation period -- and says spouses are of opposite sexes.

Conflict volunteers are wanted

Faculty members are wanted -- as well as staff, who were invited earlier -- to take part in something called the University Conflict Resolution Support Program. Here's information about it, as provided by the office of ethical behaviour and human rights:

The University Conflict Resolution Support Program, developed by the Office of Ethical Behaviour and Human Rights, (OEBHR) has two components: the Conflict Intervention Program (CIP) and the Resolution Support Program (RSP), which provides trained volunteers from the UW community to work with parties requiring assistance in dealing with disputes.
The Conflict Intervention Program can assist when parties in dispute are unable either to communicate or to work out a compromise solution. By providing a constructive forum for resolving options, mediators can work with disputing parties to discuss the source of the conflict and the needs of the parties which must be met to effect a mutually agreed-upon solution.
The Resolution Support Program is available to anyone in the UW community who is attempting to resolve concerns either informally or formally. Providing one-on-one support, volunteers work with individuals to make them aware of their options and rights, to assist them in clarifying their choice of option, and to accompany them throughout the steps to resolution.

Training starts next week. The faculty association is helping to find faculty who would be interested in taking part; inquiries can go to the president of the association, Fred McCourt, at ext. 3024, or to Catherine Fry of the ethical behaviour office, at ext. 5671.

And more and more and more

The "Films for Awareness" series, run by the peace and conflict studies program, offers a double bill today: "Jerusalem: An Occupation Set in Stone?" at 12 noon and "Martin Gilbert's Jerusalem" at 1:00, with discussion to follow at 2:00. Location: Conrad Grebel College room 267.

The political science department presents John McGarry of the University of Western Ontario (12:30, Humanities room 373) speaking on "The Northern Ireland Peace Process and the South African Analogy".

WPIRG presents "Decajawea (Splitting the Sky), spokesperson for the Free the Wolverine Campaign", at 7:00 tonight in Student Life Centre room 2139. "He will be speaking about his experiences during the Gustafsen Lake siege, the subsequent trial, and the legal arguments used by the defenders."

A career development seminar on "Workplace Safety" is scheduled for tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. in Davis Centre room 1351.

The staff association says it's looking for applications for a staff representative on the staff relations committee, which governs relations between the university and the non-union staff. "We want to encourage all staff members to consider this opportunity," says Mark Walker of the biology department, who chairs the staff association nominating committee. Applications are due by February 20.

CAR