Daily Bulletin

A new president? New dean of arts?

The one agenda item for each meeting: "Report of the Presidential Nominating Committee". The committee was set up last winter to find a successor to James Downey, who will end his term as fourth president of the university on June 30, 1999.

Both meetings on Tuesday -- the senate at 5:30 and the board at 7:00 -- will be held in confidential session, open only to members. Under the procedure for choosing UW's president, Policy 50, the senate and board are the bodies that must give approval to the recommendation that comes from the nominating committee.

Meanwhile, other senior positions are being filled through the work of other nominating committees, including one for dean of arts, since Brian Hendley will end his eight years as dean next June.

The secretariat announced yesterday that two candidates for the position, both from inside UW, will meet with interested faculty, staff and students next week:

• David John, department of Germanic and Slavic languages and literatures, Monday, October 5, 1:30 p.m.
• Robert Kerton, department of economics, Wednesday, October 7, 12:30 p.m.

A memo from the dean of arts nominating committee said there had been a third short-listed candidate, who withdrew from the competition on Monday.

Helping prevent staff injuries

According to the 1997 statistics compiled by the safety office, some 50 injuries were reported in housekeeping services, which includes workers in both housing and plant operations. Among the most frequent problems in housing are repetitive strain injuries, back injuries from lifting, and assorted strains and sprains, the story says.

With the help of kin student Don Andrews, a program is being developed to cut the injury rate for janitors, housekeepers and duty attendants who work in residences. "We have a high frequency of disabling injuries in housing," said Andrews, who is applying his study of ergonomics to making the workplace both safer and more efficient.

Workers who have filed claims with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (formerly the Workers' Compensation Board) are being asked to return to the job earlier than in the past, explained housing director Gail Clarke, often with the proviso that they perform "light duties only". The challenge for supervisors is defining "light duties" and providing adequate direction to prevent a worker from being reinjured.

In consultation with safety office director Kevin Stewart and safety coordinator Angelo Graham, Andrews has developed a set of physical demand analyses (PDAs) to describe the specific physical movements and repetitive aspects of tasks performed by cleaning services staff.

Although Return to Work Programs have been developed on campus for individual injured workers as the need arises, said Graham, this is the first time a department has taken a proactive approach to the issue.

United Way campaign is coming

Lamont and Cherry are making a special appearance at Executive Council this morning to brief UW's top brass on the campaign, which will seek to raise $135,000 on campus to support the work of some 51 local charities and service agencies. Across Kitchener-Waterloo, the United Way has a fund-raising goal of more than $3 million this year.

The campaign at UW will start October 16 with a "dress-down day" and is to last for a brisk two weeks.

East Asian festival starts today

Tonight at 7 p.m. in Kitchener City Hall's Rotunda, the public can sample East Asian food prepared by local restaurateurs, as well as take in Korean dance, the Chinese Lion Dance, Chinese and Western folk music, martial arts, origami and calligraphy demonstrations.

Thursday, in Renison's chapel lounge, a showcase of study, research and employment opportunities for Canadians in the East Asian region, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. At 4:30 p.m., Korean architect Ju-Suck Koh will give a keynote address on "Korean Culture Reflected in Architecture and Landscape" in Environmental Studies II room 280.

A literary evening beginning Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in UW's Theatre of the Arts, beginning with a book reading by Kerri Sakamoto, author of The Electrical Field. The book is about a Japanese Canadian woman's friendship with a young girl and explores the internment of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War.

Then Peter Li will speak about the recently-published second edition of his book The Chinese in Canada, which includes the events of the past 10 years. Li is also the author of The Making of Post-War Canada, and Race and Ethnic Relations in Canada.

Also as part of the evening, Dora Nipp, director of "Under the Willow Tree: Pioneer Chinese Women in Canada", will preview her National Film Board documentary chronicling the lives of Chinese-Canadian women through stories told by their daughters and granddaughters. Tickets for the literary evening are $3 at the door.

On Friday in the college's chapel lounge, the fourth annual East Asian Business Seminar. Panels will discuss "Identifying Opportunities", "Doing Business in East Asia", and "Bringing the Deal to a Successful Conclusion". Sergio Marchi, federal minister for international trade, will give the luncheon keynote address. There's a $99 registration fee for the business seminar.

Saturday, cultural demonstrations in Renison's great hall and chapel lounge, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., including acupuncture, kite making, origami, bonsai, martial arts and calligraphy.

Last day to register; and more

"If you did not pay or arrange your fees prior to September 4, you must do so today, at the cashier's office, first floor, Needles Hall."

A further note: "There are many schedules and fee receipts still remaining to be picked up from the registrar's office. If you have not received a completed schedule, please check with the registrar's office as soon as possible. If you are an Engineering or Optometry student, you can pick up your schedule at your department office. If you an Independent Studies student, your schedule will be mailed to you. If you are a part-time student, your schedule, fee receipt and stickers will be mailed to you. If you are a full-time 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 are being released in the Student Awards Office, second floor, Needles Hall."

And these other items, briefly:

Noon-hour concerts at Conrad Grebel College begin for the season today, with "Music for String Quartet with an African Influence" at 12:30 in the chapel.

The Infranet Project presents "distinguished speaker" David Mann at 2:30 today (Davis Centre room 1302). Mann, a vice-president of Nortel, will talk about "Speed, Agility and Innovation: Fulfilling the Promise of Webtone".

High-tech company Research in Motion, looking for graduating students in technical fields, is offering a pizza party starting at 4:30 today in Davis Centre room 1301. "Go wireless," its publicity urges. "With cutting-edge products like two-way pagers, wireless PC cards and radio modems, our innovative ideas are changing the way the world communicates forever."

Compufest '98, sponsored by the UW Computer Store and TechWorx, shows off "the latest in what gets you wired and what keeps you there", from 10:00 to 4:30 today and tomorrow in the Student Life Centre. Admission to the hardware show is free, ads say, and "there will be lots of giveaways and prizes."

Heating and hot water will be turned off in both Environmental Studies buildings tomorrow, from 8 a.m to 2 p.m., so a leak can be fixed, the plant operations department advises.

"The Weight Watchers group is a go," writes Denise Barrett of information systems and technology, who was trying to get such a group operating on campus. "The program will run for 15 weeks at a cost of $180. The meetings are on Thursdays from noon for one hour in Math and Computer room 5136. The first meeting is this Thursday, October 1. Anyone who is still interested but hasn't signed up should contact me." She's at ext. 6627.

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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