Daily Bulletin

Smoking ban in pubs discussed

Students' council, the Federation's governing body, meets at noon on Sunday (in the multi-purpose room of the SLC), and on the agenda is a motion "that all Federation of Students businesses become 'smoke free' as of January 1".

The motion comes from Matt Pippo, council member representing co-op science students, who says in a background paper that "the benefits of a smoke-free environment to non-smokers (both patrons and, more seriously, employees) are self-evident."

He says some people may object that a smoking ban will do financial damage to the Feds' two pubs, but he doubts it. "People have not stopped going out to drink in California," where there is state-wide regulation of smoking in public places, he writes, "and I believe that they will not stop coming out here. . . . Our competitors are all bound by smoke-free regulations, and thus we will continue to be a viable option for student entertainment dollars. . . .

"Although we may theoretically lose some diehard smokers . . . we would theoretically stand to gain an indeterminate number of new patrons with a severe aversion (medical or otherwise) to the presence of clouds of smoke at the Bomber and Fed Hall."

The pubs are among the few places on campus where smoking is still allowed. It was banned almost entirely in UW buildings by Policy 29 in 1994.

Waterloo Region has passed a controversial by-law that will prohibit smoking in "public places", including bars, restaurants and "places of amusement", starting January 1. There's an exception for "member fee-collecting non-profit organizations". The example usually cited is the Royal Canadian Legion, which won't have to ban smoking in its halls.

Pippo says there is "some chance" that Fed Hall and the Bombshelter are also covered by that legal exemption, but "It is my desire that council mandate that all Federation of Students businesses submit themselves to these bylaws without exemption."

Remembering Ralph Krueger A memorial gathering for Ralph Krueger, founding chair of UW's geography department, will be held tomorrow from 10 a.m. to noon at the family home near Thornbury. Says a note from the department: "Dress can be casual. The home is in the country, so if you would like a map for directions, please contact Brenda Sokolowski at ext. 2433." Krueger died at home on November 28, aged 72, after a short struggle with cancer. He is survived by his wife, June, and their two daughters, Karen and Colleen. He is remembered for his teaching -- which won him several awards -- as well as for his research about fruitlands and other environmentally sensitive areas. "Since his retirement in 1991," says Phil Howarth, chair of the geography department, "Ralph has lived near Thornbury in one of the apple-growing regions of Ontario. He tended the apple trees on his property and also established a small forest on the slopes of the nearby river, populating it with a wide range of species. Many colleagues and students visited his home and enjoyed tours of his experimental plantings. His proximity to Collingwood ensured that he could take full advantage of the local ski slopes."

Harassment information offered

"Each year first year undergraduate and graduate students are provided with campus related information regarding sexual harassment. This year's sexual harassment file folders have been distributed through department graduate secretaries, village dons, village colts, and the off-campus dons. Co-operative Education co-ordinators also distribute the folder to all students preparing for their first co-op work terms.

"Any first year student who has not received their file folder is welcome to contact me, and I will provide them with one. If anyone has any questions regarding the information provided in the sexual harassment file folder, they are also welcome to contact me.

"Since these folders have been distributed to all first year graduate and undergraduate students for a number of years, most returning students should already have received a copy. However, any student, staff member or faculty member are welcome to contact me if they would like to receive a copy."

Fry can be reached by e-mail at cafry@nh3adm, phone ext. 5671. She notes that the information in the folder is also available on-line.

Call for a funding commitment
-- from a statement by the Council of Ontario Universities

Reached at his office at the University of Western Ontario, Dr. Davenport spoke to the mounting pressures surrounding enrolment growth. "The pressures are most certainly increasing with every passing day, and, yes, we are all feeling anxious. How can we plan for next year's admission intake, ensure that we can continue to accommodate the sooner-than-expected growth -- not to mention the surge that is almost upon us -- and provide our current and prospective students with a quality and challenging learning experience, when we don't know what our resource base will be?

"Universities will begin issuing offers of admission for September 2000 in March of 2000," explained Dr. Davenport. "Our call for a financial commitment in December leaves us with just about three months to put the wheels in motion before we begin issuing approvals. This is not a comfortable timeframe. It will push the limits of even the most seasoned of planners among us.

"In addition to highly skilled staff, Ontario universities have some of Canada's most notable and accomplished business leaders right on their boards. We are all becoming increasingly concerned about getting the job done, and meeting our obligations to current and future students. But we cannot move forward on an ad hoc basis. We must have a serious plan," said Dr. Davenport, "and that requires firm financial commitments."

Universities have been working with government to plan for the expansion through meetings with ministry officials and the joint Working Group on University Capacity. Robert Prichard, past chair of Council and president of the University of Toronto, said, "We are pleased that the Minister reconvened the working group and recently asked us to accelerate our deliberations and submit our report and recommendations by mid-November. The challenge for the province will be to respond quickly enough to meet our urgent needs and to ensure a place for every willing and qualified student next fall."

This year's dramatic increase of 6.6% in first-year enrolments, which represents the highest year-over-year increase in a decade, resulted in considerable scrambling to accommodate all students. While Ontario universities have managed to wind their way through the difficulties and have accommodated all of the new students this year, Dr. Davenport acknowledged that they could not pull this off again next year. "Many of us are bursting at the seams," he said, "and all of us continue to struggle to deliver quality education after operating grant cuts in the range of 25%."

And other notes for a weekend

Richard Coe of Simon Fraser University will speak in UW's English department this morning (Humanities room 373, 10 a.m.). His topic: "Writing as Symbolic Action; or, Teaching Writing with (Burkean) Action". Coe is author of the textbook Process, Form and Substance: A Rhetoric for Advanced Writers.

Peter Loptson of the University of Guelph will give a philosophy department colloquium at 4 p.m. (Humanities room 334) on "Several Kinds of Worlds".

The Tamil Students Association will hold its end-of-term dinner and dance entertainment night at the Greek Cypriot Community Hall in Waterloo starting at 7:00 this evening. Besides entertainment, the evening will feature an eagerly-awaited new issue of the WATSA magazine, Arivuthagam.

End-of-term concerts by various ensembles from the music department are planned this weekend. First comes the Chamber Choir, performing tonight at 7:30 at Conrad Grebel College, where the music program is based. Tickets for the concert ("Music, All Powerful Madrigals, Romantic Partsongs and Lieder") are $8, students $5. Also singing tonight is the UW Choir, at 8 p.m. at First United Church; admission to "Songs for the Manger" are again $8 and $5. Finally, the instrumental chamber ensembles will perform Saturday night at 7:30 at Grebel; admission to "Definitely Different!" will be free.

1957 film of "12 Angry Men", starring Henry Fonda

An unusual play production comes to the Theatre of the Arts stage at 8:00 tonight and Saturday night. It's Reginald Rose's classic play "12 Angry Men", starring a dozen members of the Waterloo Regional Police as the jurors who argue over a verdict. A retired judge will play the judge, and a local crown attorney also appears. Tickets for the show (888-4908) are $15; proceeds go to local women's shelters.

The drama department studio production of "Sex, Lies and Other Stuff -- A Threesome" continues tonight and Saturday night: 8 p.m. in Humanities room 180, "donations accepted at the door".

Something called "A Winterland of Song and Dance" will be presented in the Humanities Theatre at 8:00 tonight, 2:00 and 8:00 on Saturday.

Saturday brings the William Lowell Putnam math competition, the 60th annual contest (and the 32nd in which Waterloo students have taken part). Says organizer Chris Small of the statistics and actuarial science department: "Students who have pre-registered for the competition should come to MC 4059 no later than 9:45 a.m., as the contest starts at 10 a.m. sharp. Students who have not pre-registered for the contest, but would like to write the Putnam, can also come to MC4059. Contest papers are provided only for those students who have pre-registered. However, some of the pre-registered students are likely not to show. Therefore, some students will be able to write if contest papers are available. (So far, we have never turned away an eligible student!)"

The women's basketball team will host Western's Mustangs tomorrow at 2 p.m. in the Physical Activities Complex. Away from campus, the hockey Warriors play at Windsor Saturday night. And the track and field team is at Western on Saturday. With exams approaching, those are the only sports teams in action this weekend.

Monday is the 10th anniversary of the Montréal massacre, the horror of December 6, 1989, when a man with a gun killed 14 women at the engineering school of the Ecole Polytechnique. Memorials have been held annually since then, and one is scheduled for Monday at UW. Writes organizer Desiree Taric: "The ceremony will consist of candle lighting, both for the 14 women of l'Ecole Polytechnique and for women who have died of violence this year. Speaker and reflections. Afterwards there will be various discussion groups people can participate in if they are inclined to do so. We are hoping to shift the focus of our ceremony a bit this year -- it is usually placed entirely on the 14 women from the Montreal massacre, but we are hoping to also concentrate on women who have died in violence in general." Monday's event begins at 4:30 p.m. in the Theatre of the Arts, Modern Languages building.

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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