Daily Bulletin

First snow of the winter

It won't be the last white stuff we'll see in the next few months, so here's a reminder that UW has a storm closing procedure which says, chiefly, that if local schools close because of bad weather, UW will be closed, and if the schools stay open, UW is open for business too.

The snow shovels are out this morning, and Les Van Dongen of the plant operations department sends a reminder that casual snow shovellers are needed, any morning that it snows. The job pays $8.50 an hour. Anyone interested should show up at 7:30 ("dressed to work outside") at the grounds section in the General Services Complex courtyard -- near the smokestack. Shovels are provided. (Questions in advance: Van Dongen can be reached at ext. 4010.)

Spring will come again, and so will the May-to-August academic term. Today is the first day of preregistration for the spring term 2000. "Pre-register with your department/faculty advisor," today through Friday, the registrar's office notes. "If you are considering a faculty change next term, you should contact the appropriate advisor of the faculty to which you wish to transfer. Information regarding advisors, times and places, etc., is listed in the Course Offerings List." Department offices have the Course Offerings List; the registrar's office in Needles Hall has the undergraduate calendar, for those who haven't yet acquired a copy.

Meanwhile, it's really still fall. The autumn arts and crafts fair, always a highlight of the year in the Student Life Centre, begins today and runs through Friday, with vendors on hand from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day.

The UW Computer Store continues its Fall Demo Days with a display of Sony computers and consumer electronics, today in the South Campus Hall concourse.

The "Journey Beyond Credit" series of lectures sponsored by St. Paul's United College continues tonight: family therapist John Theis, formerly of St. Jerome's University, speaks on "Family in the Future", at 7 p.m. at St. Paul's.

John Herron, Progressive Conservative MP for Fundy Royal in New Brunswick, will be speaking at 7:30 tonight in Math and Computer room 5158 -- "on the subject of the brain drain", says an announcement from the Progressive Conservative Campus Association. A question period follows. Everyone is welcome and refreshments will be served, says math student (and PC) Dan Mader.

The career development seminar series will continue tomorrow, with a session summing up "the career research package" from 10:30 to 12:30 in Needles Hall room 1020.

It started with two tea bowls

"Celebrating its 10th anniversary in the Year of the Rabbit, the program has grown in leaps and bounds," said Renison principal Gail Cuthbert Brandt.

In 1989, Renison offered a single course in East Asian culture and two sections of Japanese language, with an enrolment of 35 students. Today there are 15 sections of Japanese, 10 sections of Chinese, three sections of Korean and two sections of East Asian culture. Last year, there were about 600 student enrolments.

The East Asian Studies Program was founded by the late Peter Swann, who had designed the former Seagram Museum in Waterloo. "Peter's love of Chinese art and culture manifested itself at the age of 15 when he acquired two exquisite Chinese Imperial tea bowls from a London antique dealer," Cuthbert Brandt said.

"The Festival is a wonderful opportunity to immerse oneself in the texture, colour and splendour of East Asian culture through an array of activities organized by the college with the help of the local Asian community," says festival chair Kathryn McKie.

Festivities kick off tonight at 7:00 in the rotunda of the Kitchener City Hall, beginning with the Tastes of East Asian Food Fair. A ribbon-cutting ceremony follows, along with an introduction to consular officials and representatives from Canadian government. Then a range of East Asian cultural activities will take place (music, dance, martial arts demonstrations), including the traditional Lion Dance. Legend has it that the dance drives away evil spirits.

Tomorrow at 1:30, Senator Vivienne Poy will speak at Renison College. In the evening, Toronto author Wayson Choy reads at Waterloo Public Library. Friday brings the annual Renison seminar on doing business in East Asia, and Saturday is Family Day, with crafts, food, martial arts and entertainment at Renison from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission to all events except the business seminar is free.

Volunteers wanted Among this week's invitations from the local Volunteer Action Centre: Become involved in a successful program that encourages people to call the police with information to solve crimes. Volunteers with good presentation and interpersonal skills will work along with Board members to promote Crime Stoppers to the public, assist at school demonstrations, and help with special events. Waterloo Region Eating Disorder Coalition is inviting goal-oriented volunteers who are sensitive to body image issues to join their team. Visionary, enthusiastic individuals may join the Board of Directors. Special event planners will assist in planning community events, conferences and workshops for community professionals. In addition, volunteers with strong communication skills are needed to help develop resources about eating disorders. Volunteer assistance is needed to help with childcare and/or transportation for Live and Learn groups on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday afternoons. Two hours a week will enable low-income women and their pre-school children to receive support and personal development opportunities at this House of Friendship program. Movies, hockey, games, crafts, line dancing and more: Join the Friday Night Social Club, a group of adults with developmental disabilities and other volunteers. Volunteers with an interest in planning recreational activities and supporting people with developmental challenges are needed to help keep this club vibrant and interesting. For more information, the VAC can be reached at 742-8610.

Learning la lezione di Roma

Rick Haldenby, director of the architecture school, flew off yesterday to join the celebrations in Rome, leaving behind an explanation of how important the Rome program is to architecture at Waterloo:

The school, a leader in architectural education, sought to enrich the cultural and architectural experience of its graduates. In reviving the tradition of the Roman sojourn Waterloo was championing the view that architecture had a past, something that the modernism of the 50's and 60's seemed largely to have forgotten.

Now, twenty years later, more than eight hundred Canadian architecture students have passed through the Waterloo Studio in Rome. The programme is also well established as a creative and cultural centre in Rome. The Waterloo Studio is located in a 17th century building in Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere, one of the oldest and most beautiful squares in Rome. The Programme has always aimed at being more than a visitor, involving itself directly in the current architectural projects and debates in Italy. Out of it have grown a series of exchanges, design collaborations and exhibitions. Hundreds of North American architecture students visit Italy each year, but through its exchange with the University of Chieti/Pescara. Waterloo is the only North American school of architecture to offer Italian students the opportunity to study on this side of the Atlantic.

"The Canadians represented," says Haldenby, "are winners of the Canada Council Prix de Rome who have each been resident for twelve months in the Studio Apartment next door to the Waterloo Studio in Trastevere. The exhibition also includes a poster exhibit tracing the history of the Waterloo Rome Programme, placing its teaching and design activities in the context of changes in architectural thought and the cultural situation in Rome during the period 1979 to 1999."

The second activity is a conference this Friday which will reflect on Rome's enduring influence on the architecture of the 20th century and the validity of the "Lesson on Rome" in contemporary architecture and culture. Conference participants include Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown, two of America's most famous architects and theoreticians. Haldenby again: "Written in Rome while he was a resident at the American Academy, Venturi's book, Complexity and Contradiction in Modern Architecture, published in 1972, changed the course of architectural history, restoring Rome and architectural history in general to a central position in the education and professional formation of architects." Among other guests will be Canadian architect John Shnier, a UW graduate and the first winner of the Canada council's Prix de Rome.

On Saturday, a symposium will be held at the faculty of architecture of Roma Tre University. The event will involve Italian teachers and students with a panel discussing the influence of Rome in contemporary architectural education.

Finally, all this week Shnier will lead a design charrette for architecture students from UW and the University of Toronto.

Feds produce student CD-ROM

New students routinely ask these questions and at least 200 others, says Chris Harold, vice-president (internal) for the Federation of Students. He and Feds information resource manager Avvey Peters compiled lists of frequently-asked questions, found the answers, provided contacts for more information, and put it all on a CD-ROM.

"Everything you wanted to know about being a student but were too afraid to ask" is the first CD-ROM ever produced by a student union in Canada, says Harold, in an interview that appears in today's Gazette. He and Peters are pictured on the front page.

Some 3,900 free copies of the CD-ROM were distributed to first-year students in September. Besides FAQ's, the disk has interactive maps "which make navigating the campus a breeze", video interviews with students about "real student issues," hyperlinks to both internal and external resources, and "some funky graphics".

While much of the information contained on the disk was presented to new students at Student Life 101 in August and during frosh week in September, first-year students often feel overwhelmed by information overload and don't always retain everything they've learned about services and resources, says Harold. The CD-ROM is designed to complement other sources of information with a format that is accessible as a ready reference when the need arises "at home or as they sit in a computer lab between classes".

While the disk has been distributed so far to first-year students who participated in orientation week, off-campus frosh can pick up a copy at the Feds office in the Student Life Centre. Much of the content has been incorporated into the Feds' new Web page, and copies of the CD-ROM are also available for loan to upper-year students.

Also in today's Gazette: A personal battle with leukemia inspired Conrad Grebel College student Lauren Clarke (pictured at right) and her mother, Juanne, a sociology professor at Wilfrid Laurier University, to write Finding Strength: A Mother and Daughter's Story of Childhood Cancer. The book, available in the UW bookstore, chronicles Lauren's battle with the disease, as well as her mother's personal and academic perspective on their experience with the medical system.

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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