Daily Bulletin

Enrolment drops 1,000 a year

The count includes everybody: on campus and off, full-time and part-time, undergraduate and graduate -- from the 3,810 full-time undergrads in arts to the 5 part-timers in independent studies.

Most of the drop can be attributed to part-time students: the number of part-timers, which peaked at 9,310 six years ago, is down to 4,868 this year. (More than half of UW's part-time enrolment is through the distance education program.) At the same time there's been a drop in full-time students from 17,987 in 1991-92 to 16,309 in 1997-98.

The statistical report has scores of pages full of numbers, analyzing the enrolment in various ways -- by faculty, year, program, college, co-op status, and so on. Some 9.2 per cent of full-time students, and 4.5 per cent of part-timers, are graduate students. Home addresses of undergraduate students: Waterloo Region, 3,324; Metro Toronto, 2,347; Renfrew County, 78; Rainy River, 6.

There are even (you knew this joke was coming, didn't you?) statistics on the number of students broken down by sex. Among full-time undergraduates, there are 8,364 men and 6,855 women -- a 55-45 ratio. Among full time graduate students, there are 935 men and 585 women, a ratio of 62-38. I'm not at all sure that these numbers produce the same totals as the other charts, since there seem to be about a million ways of counting and subdividing UW's students.

Over the years, UW has awarded 102,896 degrees, the report notes, which means that number 100,000 sneaked in some time during the 40th anniversary year.

The calendar's on the web

The calendar hits the web in time for the last couple of days of preregistration -- this is the week for students to be selecting undergraduate courses for the fall 1998 and winter 1999 terms.

While the calendar is ready, not coming to the web is the preliminary exam schedule for this winter term. It's available around campus in paper copy, though. The final schedule for winter exams will be ready, in both formats, sometime the week after next, the registrar's office says.

Research fellowship for physicist

"I hope that your selection from among this remarkable group of nominees will give you particular satisfaction and convey a clear indication of the high esteem in which your past work and future potential are held by your fellow scientists," said foundation president Ralph Gomory in announcing the award.

Strickland's research interests include ultra-high intensity lasers and optical characterization of thin film materials. She is credited with developing the chirped pulse amplification technique, now the world standard in generating ultra-intense laser pulses.

Local volunteers are wanted

• Friday night social club -- spend 3-4 hours on Friday nights participating in recreational activities with a group of adults with developmental challenges. Attend a hockey game, organize line dancing or help organize other outings. Listing 088-2120.
• Sense of humour and compassion needed -- one afternoon a week of your time will mean so much to adults who attend the Salvation Army drop-in centre. Volunteers who are able to work well with people with different needs are needed to run a movie, play cards or bingo, set out snacks and chat with clients. Listing 189-2141.
• Youth tutoring youth -- many youth who need help with reading, writing and math feel most comfortable being tutored by someone close to their own age. Volunteers ages 18-35 are needed to provide one-to-one tutoring to youth 16-24. Training is provided and a weekly commitment of 2-4 hours is requested. Listing 048-2223.

Happening today and tomorrow

International Women's Week continues. Today will see a "women's alternative health fair", from 10 to 4 in the multipurpose room of the Student Life Centre. From noon to 1:00 there's a breast health workshop (instruction on how to do self-examinations) in SLC room 2134. At 4:30, in SLC room 2102, comes this event:

PMS/Menstruation Potluck Dinner. Linda will discuss alternative health methods for dealing with PMS and other menstrual issues. The food theme is red!

"Moat", an exhibition of artwork by Regan Morris, opens today in the UW art gallery in Modern Languages. Morris will give an artist lecture at 1:30 today in East Campus Hall room 1219, and will be the guest of honour for an opening reception at the gallery starting at 4:00. The exhibit runs through April 19.

The physics department offers a colloquium at 3:30 on "Some Common Student Misconceptions in Introductory Physics". The speaker: Ernie McFarland of the University of Guelph. The location: Physics room 145.

The film society today screens the first of two Chinese films that are scheduled for this term. Tonight's movie is "The Opium War", a 1997 production from China and Hong Kong, telling the epic story of events from the late Qing dynasty to the 1842 Treaty of Nanking which ceded Hong Kong to Britain. "At a reported US $15 million," says Jan Uhde of the fine arts department, it is "the most expensive film ever produced in China. . . . Xie Jin's film premiered in Beijing and Hong Kong shortly before the handover. Critics expected a bashing of 'evil' westerners, but were surprised by an apparent even-handedness." The showing starts at 7:00 in East Campus Hall room 1219. A week from tonight: "The Bewitching Braid", a 1995 film from Macao.

Down the street at Wilfrid Laurier University, the next of this term's Laurier Lectures will be given tonight by Melanie Wiber of the University of New Brunswick. She'll speak (7:30 in the Maureen Forrester Recital Hall) on "Erect Men, Undulating Women: The Visual Imagery of Gender, 'Race' and Progress in Illustrations of Human Evolution".

Tomorrow morning, the weekly professional development seminar in the information systems and technology department will deal with the draft Computing Directions Statement circulated a few days ago. An open house on the document is scheduled for March 13 for the campus at large; the idea is that some of the computing professionals, in IST and elsewhere, can deal with the more technical issues in tomorrow's separate discussion. It starts at 8:45 in Davis Centre room 1302 -- a larger room than usually used for the IST seminars, because an unusual level of interest is expected.

An open house will be held tomorrow to explain and preview Trellis, the library computing system that will soon be introduced jointly by UW, Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Guelph. It starts at 10 a.m. in Davis Centre room 1302.

Finally, at the University of Western Ontario, faculty members are winding up a union certification vote today. The UWO Faculty Association is seeking to represent about 950 full-time faculty, 500 part-timers, and 300 full-time clinical teachers. Staff members are UWO unionized recently and are in the process of bargaining for their first contract.

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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