Daily Bulletin

Library disruptions next week

CD-ROM workstation on the second floor of the Dana Porter Library

Things are being moved and a new, bluish carpet will replace the existing, ancient gold carpet, in a project that will start December 20, extends through the long holiday and is scheduled to be finished in the first week of the winter term.

Says Mary Stanley in the library office: "In preparation for this work, the collections and computers will need to be moved. . . . All collections and equipment will be back in place and accessible by January 7."

She gives some details on how library services will be affected:

• The reference collection on the 2nd floor, including indexes and abstracts, will not be available for use from December 20 through January 7. "If you require access to these types of resources please check the Davis Library, one of the other campus libraries or the other TUG libraries, or check with staff at the Information Desk."
• A few TRELLIS workstations on the 2nd floor will be available for use up until December 23. Floors 1 and 3 also have workstations available.
• CD-ROM workstations will not be available from December 22 to January 6. Most databases available via these workstations can be accessed at computers in the Davis Centre Library.
• Access to the public printers will not be available from December 23 to January 4. Public printing is available in the Davis Centre Library.

A note about Watpubs Veronica Chau, vice-president (education) of the Federation of Students, has this advice: "Co-op students who are heading off to work in January should be sure to sign up for Watpubs before they leave. Watpubs are events held in various cities across North America for co-op students. Its a great way to meet other people in your city and to get to know some of the hot spots in town." Anyone interested can sign up on the Watpub web site.

70,166 get federal scholarships

"More than 35,000 Ontario students" will get the money for 1999-2000, and a total of 70,166 in nine provinces and three territories, the foundation said in a news release. It was silent about Millennium Scholarships for students in Québec, where federal and provincial governments continue to disagree about who gets the scholarship funding and what level of government gets the credit.

Said the news release: "The 35,416 Millennium Scholarships dedicated to Ontario's neediest students represent for the Foundation an annual investment of $106,248,000 in the future of the province's young people.

"Recipients will be notified by mail in the coming weeks. . . . Next February, the Foundation will confirm in writing that the scholarships have been deposited directly at the recipients' financial institutions in order to reduce their student loans."

Said Jean Monty, chairman of the board for the foundation: "The Millennium Scholarship program confirms Canada's willingness to invest in our country's young people, whom all Canadians regard as their greatest hope, and in knowledge, which is young Canadians' guarantee of future success. This federal government initiative along with the initiatives of our provincial and territorial partners will give young Canadians the necessary skills to face the modern world and enjoy a better future."

The Foundation said agreements with the provincial and territorial governments "were negotiated with a view to complementing existing programs and avoiding administrative overlapping that could have resulted form the distribution of the new scholarships."

The Foundation was created last year and manages a $2.5 billion endowment fund that will provide scholarships until the year 2010. The scholarships are divided among the provinces based on population.

UW accounting grads excel
-- from the UW news bureau

As well, 12 UW grads were in the top 21 in Ontario, including first, second and fourth place and tied for fifth among the 1,049 people in Ontario taking the exam, said Morley Lemon, director of the UW school of accountancy.

Douglas Allison, employed at Ernst & Young LLP, was fourth on the national honour roll and first in Ontario; Pamela Herniman, BDO Dunwoody LLP, was fifth nationally and second in Ontario; Eoin Brady, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, was tied for 15th place in Canada and fourth in Ontario; and Grace Fung, Shimmerman Penn Burns Becker LLP, tied for fifth in Ontario.

The challenging four-paper, four-day exam is frequently cited as among the most rigorous of professional examinations. There were 110 first-time UW Master of Accountancy students who had an 85-per-cent pass rate. The overall pass rate for UW students was 83 per cent.

Meanwhile, Cindy Veinot, a UW accounting graduate, was first among 63,000 candidates taking the Uniform Certified Public Accountants examination in the United States in November 1998.

And in other news from the accounting school . . . the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario has given faculty member Efrim Boritz its Award of Outstanding Merit. That is the association's highest honour, recognizing "conspicuous and sustained service to, or on behalf of the CA profession and to the broader community". It notes his distinction as a "teacher, researcher, administrator, consultant and agent of change in accounting education".

John Cleghorn, chairman and of the Royal Bank of Canada, and Peter Godsoe, chairman and chief executive officer of Scotiabank, were also given the award this year.

Help for New Year's "Volunteer on New Year's Eve!" says a note from the local Volunteer Action Centre. "The City of Kitchener still needs volunteers for the Festival of the Night celebrations at Victoria Park, Kitchener City Hall, Victoria Park Pavilion, Victoria School Centre. Volunteers are especially needed to help with children's activities, crafts and security. All volunteers will be able to watch the fireworks at midnight. The City of Waterloo is looking for volunteers for Complex Countdown '99. This fun event includes many amazing activities that need your assistance. You could be a face painter, greeter, room monitor, or craft helper. Volunteers are required for two to three hour shifts between 6 p.m. and 12 midnight and are encouraged to join the party when their shift is over." More information: 742-8610.

Happening today and tomorrow

Jan Narveson of UW's philosophy department will speak this morning "On Lives Good and Bad, and the Meaning(s) Thereof". His colloquium starts at 9:30 in Humanities room 334.

The undergraduate council of UW's senate will meet today at 3:30 in Needles Hall room 3004. Undergrad council is the body that goes through the minutiae of curriculum changes for the whole university, and today's agenda emphasizes proposals from the engineering faculty, including the planned new software engineering option. Also coming up: a draft statement on "Initiation, Approval and Review of Programs Offered Under a Co-op Model".

The department of statistics and actuarial science presents a talk today by Robert Nadon of Imaging Research Inc. and Brock University. He'll speak (3:30, Math and Computer room 5158) on "Data Analysis, Gene Expression, and Yet Another Revolution in Molecular Genetics".

Some graphics copy centres will be closing early today -- the staff Christmas party is at hand. Specifics: the Davis Centre copy centre will close at 4:45; Graphics Express in the Dana Porter Library will close at 4:25. Customers will be able to do work at the Village I document centre until 7 p.m., but no colour copies will be available there.

What's not happening today: the pension and benefits committee, which had been scheduled to meet, has thought better of it and the meeting is cancelled.

Noon-hour tomorrow brings two events of some importance. First, at 12:00, Paula Dimeck of applied health sciences and Helena Hahn of the dean of science office will speak on "Stress Management for the Holidays", in a seminar sponsored by the Employee Assistance Program. It takes place in Davis Centre room 1302.

And the annual faculty of arts carol sing, led by Jake Willms, will take place in the lobby of the Modern Languages building, for the 15th year. The music starts at 12:15 tomorrow, all are welcome, and refreshments are offered.

CAR

Editor of the Daily Bulletin: Chris Redmond
Information and Public Affairs, University of Waterloo
credmond@uwaterloo.ca | (519) 888-4567 ext. 3004
| Yesterday's Bulletin
Copyright © 1999 University of Waterloo