Daily Bulletin

Canada's eyes turn to Québec

An article in last week's McGill Reporter says all parties -- the incumbent Parti Québécois, the challenging Liberals, and the Action Démocratique -- "are promising to end the cuts to post-secondary education", though not necessarily to do everything the universities wish they would do.

PQ education minister Pauline Marois says the cuts "have been ended" and her government will "begin to reinvest, adding sums to the overall university budget that will total $40 million by the end of the mandate". The Liberals are promising to "reinject $125 million". A recent report by three university presidents said universities "will need an additional government investment of $400 million over the next three years", slightly more than what has been cut under the current Québec government.

More from the McGill article:

Jacques Hébert, the Action Démocratique candidate in Deux Montagnes and the party's spokesperson on education, also promises an end to the cuts. The ADQ proposes the most radical change to the way university financing would be apportioned. The party argues that the Québec university system is training too many people in disciplines with low employment prospects. It suggests dividing academic programs into two camps, one for those with relatively higher employment prospects and one for those with relatively lower prospects. It would fund universities 130% of financing for each student enrolled in the first camp and 70% for each student in the second. . . .

The Parti Québécois is promising to continue its program to develop a government policy with respect to universities. Earlier this year, the ministry released a consultation document to begin discussion of the outline of this policy.

The first document proved unpopular across the university system -- a number of university administrators and professors argued that it failed to understand the basic mission of higher education. A second preliminary document has since been released to address some of the concerns raised. . . .

The Parti Québécois is committed to maintaining the freeze on tuition fees throughout the next mandate. It will, however, continue to charge out-of-province students fees based on the Canadian average. Both the Liberal Party and the Action Démocratique want tuition to be indexed to cost of living increases. The Liberal Party promises to abolish the Canadian differential. "One is a Quebecer when one is Canadian and one comes to Québec," said [Liberal spokesman Henri-François] Gautrin. He added he would like to make it easier for students from outside Canada to study in Québec as well. . . .

Among the smaller parties, the Parti de la Démocratie Socialiste promises full public funding for universities and says it would institute free tuition and a minimum wage salary for full-time students. The Equality Party makes no mention of post-secondary education on its web site and did not return the Reporter's phone calls.

Friday brought questions about payroll

Financial system shutdown Here's a reminder that the Oracle financial system used across campus will be shut down December 4 through 14. The reason: an upgrade to the Oracle software. "The version of Oracle that we're running," associate provost Jay Black said Friday, "is not far from being unsupported. It also is not Year 2000 compliant." The upgrade is necessary just to keep things current, Black said, noting that "we must keep evolving" so there is never again the kind of upheaval that came when UW replaced a 30-year-old system with Oracle two years ago.

"We got some congratulations from the optometry clinic on all the new business that we're going to send in their direction," Jay Black, associate provost (information systems and technology), joked on Friday morning as he told an open house on IST activities that the conversion to the new PeopleSoft payroll system had been a success.

However, there were more than a few phone calls to the human resources department, where payroll operations are housed. And by Friday afternoon Linda Bluhm of HR had these answers to frequently-asked questions to pass along:

• "Differences in Income tax (CIT on the pay advice) withheld may have resulted due to the way the new software does calculations vs. the previous payroll system. However, the new calculations have been approved by Revenue Canada. Also, for those who have requested additional withholding tax, the amount has been combined with regular tax, and not split out as before."
• "Parking fees appear as $23. This does not represent an increase in fees, but rather the PST and GST have been combined with the parking fee. Similarly, University Club dues show tax included."
• "Some problems have been noted with initials in employees' names. These will be hopefully sorted out for future pay advices."
• "Account type appears as 'Savings' for all -- this is a default and does not change the account to which pays have been deposited."
• "Problems with Year-to-date Totals have also been noted and will be rectified as soon as possible."

She says it's "important that employees check their pay advices for substantive changes in gross pay and deductions so that corrections can be made if necessary. In that regard, feedback is appreciated, as is employees' patience with the transition which involved conversion of a phenomenal amount of data from the previous VM system. The UW detail team have toiled long hours to get us this far, and Human Resources staff are also putting forth an extra effort to pay people correctly and on time. The UW community is thanked for their understanding in this major undertaking, which should get us in good shape for year 2000 compliance."

Laser injury unlikely, but possible

The pointers, originally tools for use in teaching and business presentations, are suddenly for sale everywhere for a few dollars, and "increasing numbers of incidents of irresponsible use are being reported," the information sheet says.

"What makes the laser potentially dangerous to the eye and vision is the fact that its power is concentrated in the very narrow beam. When directed into the eye, the beam forms an image at the retina that may be as bright as the sun. Like all lasers, laser pointers are given a hazard classification that is defined by the ANSI Z136.1 Standard for Safe Use of Lasers. A laser pointer is a class IIIa device. This is a device with the potential for eye damage from direct exposure to the beam.

"Reports in the news media about people being flashed in the eyes by a laser pointer have mentioned temporary blindness as a result of the exposure. As with photo-flashes, a brief exposure to laser light results in bright afterimages that may interfere with vision, particularly in dim lighting or at night. In addition, attempts to move out of the way of the laser beam may place the exposed person in a dangerous position. For example a driver may lose control of his vehicle while trying to avoid being hit by the laser beam.

"It is possible that retinal burns could occur with sustained exposure to the laser beam. Calculations show that the theoretical exposure for a clinically detectable retinal injury is reached after a continuous exposure in excess of 100 seconds. However, this requires a fully dilated pupil and deliberately staring into the beam for the entire time. Most of the incidents reported in the media involve brief flash exposures to the laser. Under these circumstances, there may be visual discomfort and afterimages that interfere with vision; however, there should be no permanent retinal injury. . . .

"What should I do if I am flashed in the eyes with a laser pointer? As soon as you are aware of the laser, look away from the laser beam or close your eyes, and move out of its way. If possible, ask the person shining the laser at you to stop immediately. However, the person with the laser may be quite far away from you and it may not be possible to identify him or her, or communicate directly. If afterimages and visual discomfort persist for more than a few minutes, see your eyecare professional as soon as possible for assessment."

News on a balmy St. Andrew's Day

• Wendy Mitchinson of the department of history is the noon-hour speaker at the main branch of the Kitchener Public Library. Her topic: "Women in Medicine".
• The physics department presents a talk by David Salopek of the University of British Columbia on "Precision Tests of the Very Early Universe" (Physics room 145, 2:30 p.m.).
• A panel discussion is scheduled for 4:00 in the Student Life Centre on "the rights of a fetus vs. the rights of the mother". "With the the recent death of Dr. Slepian and the renewed threats to the lives of other doctors who give abortions, we thought the issue was due for another airing," writes engineering student Connie Cheng, who's active in the women's centre. Panelists are to include Harriet Lyons of the anthropology department, Pat Wainwright of health studies and gerontology, and Brian Orend of philosophy.

In the celebrations leading up to the Vanier Cup championship football game on Saturday (Saskatchewan won), various national awards were given out, and the All-Canadian teams for this year were announced. Making the first team was Warrior corner back Jason Tibbits. On the All-Canadian second team were no fewer than five Warriors -- running back Mike Bradley, inside receiver Chris Amey, centre Paul Sguigna, guard Daniel Sandecki, and linebacker Daryl Tharby.

Finally, a word of two of update to the report that was in Thursday's Bulletin, about plans to improve connectivity to campus computers from people's homes. The present dial-up service offered by information systems and technology is relatively low-speed, and it's hard to predict how many people would use a more expensive high-speed service, says Roger Watt of IST: "The number of UW people who will find it attractive will be inversely proportional to what the provider wants to charge for it." IST is working away, but the target date that was quoted, April 30, doesn't seem too likely, says Watt. "From preliminary conversation with several major potential providers, I have had to adjust that hope to 'not before the second half of 1999'."

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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