Daily Bulletin

UW still ahead in applications

The number of high schoolers hoping to enter university in September is just 1 per cent ahead of last year's rate, but UW has 8.8 per cent more first-choice applications than it did in 1997, the OUAC says. Only a few institutions are doing better than that: Ryerson, Queen's, Ottawa, and tiny Hearst.

And the number of applicants in the "non-OSS" stream -- those now in community colleges, in the workforce, or in other provinces or countries -- is down across the province, by 12.3 per cent. But UW is showing a 1.7 per cent increase in first-choice applicants. Only Algoma University College in Sault Ste. Marie is showing a bigger increase in that category.

Add the two categories together and Ontario is seeing a 2.7 per cent drop in the number of people who want to enter university this fall: 73,755 of them, compared to 75,823 last year. But Waterloo can report a 7.3 per cent increase in first-choice applications, from 6,305 last year to 6,768 this year. (Another 11,150 people have listed UW second, third, fourth or even further down on their wish lists.)

Figures published in February showed that UW was ahead of the provincial average in many categories. According to the latest count, UW has more first-choice applicants for this fall than any other university in the province except Toronto. Ryerson is third by a hair, with York and Western following.

Writer gives 'Friends' lecture

"Join us on Wednesday, May 6, at noon in the Theatre of the Arts," says Mary Stanley of the UW library office, "to hear Eric McCormack fill us in on his life as a writer before and after breakfast." He's appearing as the star of this year's Friends of the Library lecture, the sixth annual special May event.

Eric McCormack came from Scotland to Canada in 1966 and has been teaching English literature at St. Jerome's since 1970. His books have been published in many languages. His short story collection Inspecting the Vaults (1987) was short listed for the Commonwealth Writers Prize. His first novel, The Paradise Motel (1989) won the Scottish Council Book Prize. His third novel, First Blast of the Trumpet Against Monstrous Regiment of Women, (1997) was short-listed for the Governor General's Literary Award. His short stories have been included in many anthologies such as The Oxford Book of Canadian Detective Fiction and The Oxford Book of Scottish Short Stories. He has read at numerous international writers' festivals including Harbourfront, Vancouver, and Ottawa. He reviews frequently for the Globe and Mail.

The annual Friends event "celebrates the creative process" and includes a display of the work of 33 UW authors, five artists and even a musician, says Stanley. These works will be on display in the gallery of the Theatre of the Arts before and after the talk on May 6; then they will be moved to the UW bookstore's display windows.

Wednesday's talk is free, and everyone is welcome.

Spring food and library hours

Food services: The Village I "variety and chip wagon" is open seven days a week, from 8 in the morning to 11:30 at night. (The main V1 cafeteria is closed during renovations.)

Otherwise, food outlets are open just Monday through Friday, at these hours: Brubakers in the Student Life Centre, 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Tim Horton's in the Davis Centre, 7:30 to 4 p.m.; the Modern Languages coffee shop, Double U's in South Campus Hall, and Pastry Plus in Needles Hall, all from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.; Pastry Plus in Matthews Hall, 8:30 to 1:30; the Bon Appetit food fair in the Davis Centre, 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Closed entirely during the spring term are the Ron Eydt Village cafeteria (except when it's servicing conferences), the Festival Room in South Campus Hall, and Tim Horton's in Optometry.

Library: The Dana Porter Library is open Monday to Thursday 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Friday 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Saturday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; and Sunday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. The Davis Centre Library opens at the same hour as Porter each morning and stays open one hour later than Porter in the evening.

User services (circulation desk, reserves and micro) are open Monday to Thursday 8:30 a.m. to 9:45 p.m.; Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday 1:15 p.m. to 5 p.m. (Porter), 1:15 p.m. to 6 p.m. (Davis).

Information services are offered Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The University Map and Design Library is open Monday to Friday 8:30 to 4:30, Saturday and Sunday 1 to 5 p.m.

Among other wrinkles to the library hours: both Porter and Davis will close at 7 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday for the next two weekends; all libraries will be closed on Victoria Day and Canada Day.

Village office moves, and more

Ontario's treasurer, Ernie Eves, will present the 1998 provincial budget in the Legislature this afternoon. Media speculation about the budget is concentrating on health care and possible tax cuts, but people in higher education will be listening hard for some word of special funding in this sector too. Possible targets of such money: building construction (could UW get a grant to revive the proposed Centre for Environmental Science and Engineering?), expansion of enrolment in computer science and computer engineering, and "faculty renewal" (hiring of professors from a new generation).

A lunchtime session on "Reducing Back Pain in the Seated Worker", which was to be held today, has been cancelled for lack of response, says Karen Gallant in the continuing education office. It was being offered as part of the UW-based Certified Employee Benefit Specialist program.

Registration continues today in Needles Hall: undergraduates pick up schedules and fee receipts at the first-floor paging desk, and pay fees as the registrar's office on the second floor. Graduate students pay their fees at the first-floor cashiers' office.

Two videoconferences of some interest are scheduled in the next few days:

• "IBM's Approach to Distributed Learning Strategies", with Chuck Hamilton of IBM's British Columbia outpost, Wednesday starting at 11:45. It can be viewed in the ACCESS classroom, Environmental Studies room 132. Advance registration isn't required.
• "Apple Update, Featuring Steve Jobs", May 11 (that's next Monday) starting at 11:30. The UW computer store is taking registrations -- space is filling fast, I'm told -- and more information is available on the web.

The University of Toronto announced yesterday that it will give an honorary degree to UW president James Downey on June 11. Downey "will be recognized for his leading advocacy of higher education in Canada", a news release says. "Downey is also a frequent government advisor on social and economic policy."

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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