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Daily Bulletin


University of Waterloo | Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

Tuesday, September 22, 1998

  • Faculty vote begins October 8
  • Reminder: convocation's in June
  • Another reminder: fees are piling up
  • Three days of sewer talk
  • The last day of summer: free cake
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Faculty vote begins October 8

Ballots will go out October 8 -- and be due back October 15 -- as faculty members vote on the "Rand formula" for financing the faculty association. If the proposal is approved, all professors who are represented by the association (full-time and some part-time faculty) will have to pay dues, or the equivalent, to the association. If it fails, the present situation will continue in which individuals who choose to be members of the association pay dues, but others pay nothing.

The vote is being held as the result of a section in the Memorandum of Agreement between UW and the association, signed last spring. In the text, a "Member" means a faculty member at UW:

2.5.1 The University agrees that, effective January 1, 1999, it shall be a condition of employment of each Member that, subject to 2.5.2, he/she pay by the end of each month to the Association an amount equal to the Association's membership dues fixed in accordance with its Constitution. The University shall deduct that amount from the Member's salary and, subject to 2.5.2, shall remit that amount to the Association.

2.5.2 A Member may, by January 1, 1999, or within one month of appointment, file with the University and the Association a sworn affidavit explaining that he/she has a bona fide religious objection to paying to the Association an amount equal to its dues. In that case, the University shall remit the amount deducted to a registered Canadian charity mutually agreeable to the Association and the Member. . . .

2.5.7 The Parties agree that the arrangements set out in this section of this Article shall not take effect until they have been approved by a majority of those voting in a secret ballot vote conducted among all Members no later than October 15, 1998.

In the latest issue of the association's Forum newsletter, faculty association president Fred McCourt says a letter will be going to all faculty members shortly, expressing joint support for the plan by him and by Jim Kalbfleisch, UW's vice-president (academic) and provost.

He says two information meetings are being scheduled on the issue: Thursday, October 1, at 3:30 p.m. in Biology I room 271, and Wednesday, October 7, at 4 p.m. in Physics room 145.

The arrangement -- a uniquely Canadian contribution to the toolbox of compromise -- is called the Rand formula in honour of judge Ivan Rand, who developed it when he was mediator in a painful Ford Motor Co. strike in 1946.

Reminder: convocation's in June

"Some people are still not clear about the dates for next spring's convocation," laments registrar Ken Lavigne, asking me to spread the word again. Convocation has traditionally been late in May; it's shifting to mid-June as a side effect of the new admissions process in Ontario universities that will see some heavy paperwork being done in mid-May for processing would-be first-year students. (Lavigne said yesterday that the 1999 target day for UW to send out offers of admission, residence rooms and scholarships will be May 18.)

Here's the schedule for spring convocation 1999:

Before that happens, though, we still have fall convocation ahead -- two sessions on Saturday, October 24. At last night's senate meeting, the provost announced honorary degrees and other distinctions that will be presented that day, as approved earlier by senate:

Morning ceremony (arts and applied health sciences): honorary degree for Jacquelyn Thayer Scott, president of the University College of Cape Breton; honorary degree for New Zealand statistician Michael Corballis; "distinguished professor emeritus" status for Gordon Nelson, department of geography.

Afternoon ceremony (other faculties): honorary degree for Archie Hamielec, McMaster University polymer engineer; honorary degree for Robert Kerr, creator of Imax giant-screen movie technology; "honorary member of the university" status for Doreen Brisbin, retired chemistry professor and former advisor on academic human resources.

Another reminder: fees are piling up

This just in from the registrar's office:
Late fees for the fall term began September 8, 1998. If you did not pay, or arrange your fees prior to September 4, you may do so at the cashier's office, first floor, Needles Hall. The absolute last day to pay fees for the fall term is September 30, 1998.

Schedules and fee receipts are now available in the Registrar's Office. If you are a part-time student, your fee receipt and stickers will be mailed to you. If you are a Renison College or St. Jerome's University student you can pick up your schedule and fee receipt at Renison or St. Jerome's.

OSAP funds for undergraduate students will be released beginning September 14 in the Student Awards Office, second floor, Needles Hall. If you are a Renison College or St. Jerome's University student, go to the business office at Renison or St. Jerome's. If you are a graduate student, go to the Student Awards Office, second floor, Needles Hall.

You know what to do.

Three days of sewer talk

The Centre for Advancement of Trenchless Technologies is in the middle of its biennial "conference and field exposition", meaning that while the experts spend some time talking (at the Waterloo Inn), they also get out there and see how the new technology works, in -- if not under -- the parking lot. The September 21-23 event presents researchers from Alberta and, especially, Waterloo, representatives of companies, and some of the people who make use of the technology in question, such as Wayne Green, chief engineer for the new city of Toronto.

Okay, I'll back up, to explain that "trenchless technology" means ways of putting in, inspecting and maintaining pipes -- water and sewer, mostly -- without digging trenches that block roads and wreck people's lawns. UW's Centre for Advancement of Trenchless Technologies, headed by Robert McKim of the civil engineering department, is a major node for work in the area, with special emphasis on the sub-field of "horizontal directional drilling". The whole thing is rather like "keyhole surgery" done on human beings without huge incisions.

In Waterloo, CATT grew out of a partnership between the university and the City of Waterloo formed in response to problems with faulty sewer laterals. Looking at potential repair costs of some $30 million for a traditional trenching approach, the city expects to save up to $6 million by incorporating the trenchless alternative developed by UW and Trenchless Replacement Systems of Calgary, who with the city became founding partners in CATT. Since 1994, the centre has grown to include 53 industrial partners and some ten municipalities.

It's now involved in a study of the social effects of ripping up the roads for work on pipelines, based on major work done in Kitchener-Waterloo over the past couple of years. According to McKim, while some kinds of trenchless technology (used in installing and repairing pipes) save money for municipalities, other kinds cost more.

"We often can't justify it by construction costs alone, but there are other costs involved -- the costs of closing down a road and detouring traffic, the impact on businesses. The total cost to society includes both the construction and the social costs, and we're trying to quantify the social costs in terms of hard numbers."

The last day of summer: free cake

Co-op students planning to go out on a work term in the winter should pick up the master copy of their co-op record today (from the Needles Hall paging desk, after 10 a.m.). Yes, I know I said yesterday the notice was for students planning work terms "this fall", but as one -- just one -- perceptive reader noted, any student intending to be at work this fall would be there already. I think the text just didn't get updated from last time round. Speaking of students out at work this fall, co-op director Bruce Lumsden told the UW senate last night that "99.90 per cent" of available students have jobs this term; detailed figures should be along shortly.

Meeting on uses of computing

An open meeting is planned for October 9 about the draft statement on "Use of UW Computing and Network Resources" that was circulated late in the summer. The meeting will start at 12:15 that day in Needles Hall room 3001.
Co-op students who were at work in the spring term, meanwhile, probably have work reports due today, though some deadlines vary so it would be wise to check.

Charity run activities at St. Jerome's College, in support of the Volunteer Action Centre, are continuing. Tonight: a tour of the Brick Brewery from 7 to 9 p.m. ("free samples"). The actual run starts at midday Friday and continues all weekend around the ring road.

It's Feds Week, and today the Federation of Students offers a "birthday bash" at its Ground Zero restaurant in the Student Life Centre, with free cake all day long. Tonight, starting at 9, in the Bombshelter pub, also in the SLC: "Bombswick House', live music by Jughead, prizes, balloon hats. Tomorrow starting at noon there will be a free barbecue at the Bomber, "all ages welcome".

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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