Daily Bulletin

Making the winning play, Kristi Herridge, a recreation and leisure studies grad student, easily triumphs over her headless Victorian opponent in a game of parcheesi at the recently renamed Elliott Avedon Museum and Archive of Games at Matthews Hall. The new exhibition, "Victorian Pleasures: Games of the 19th Century", illustrates historic versions of some familiar games. The free exhibit runs through April 2000. The name change honours the significant contributions made by Avedon, now retired from the rec department, since he founded the gallery in 1971.

The date for software engineering

Prabhakar Ragde, associate chair of the computer science department, said yesterday he has learned that "while a September 2000 start date might have been on the table at an earlier point in the process, it certainly is not now. I was under the impression that it was still a faint possibility, but it is not.

"The earliest that students could start, assuming all approvals go relatively smoothly, is September 2001, with a convocation date in June 2006."

He says UW is already getting enquiries from would-be students, but they'll have to choose a different program if they intend to start here next September.

Bloc MPs visit campus

Plans for their two-day visit to Kitchener-Waterloo began with third-year political science student Mark Schaan, who attended the recent International Conference on Federalism and met with a number of politicians and strategists for the Bloc, the Québec separatist party in Canada's Parliament.

Seeking a broader forum for discussion between the younger generations of both English Canada and Québec, Schaan and former Bloc strategist Eric Duhaime decided to embark on a project to keep the two sides talking.

The collaboration led to this week's visit by the five Bloc MPs: Stéphane Tremblay, Pierre Brien, Caroline St.-Hillaire, Bernard Bigrais and Richard Marceau. Their two days at UW and in Kitchener-Waterloo will include dinner at Conrad Grebel College, a meeting with Kitchener mayor Carl Zehr, and community service work at K-W's Reaching Our Outdoor Friends.

The feature event of the two-day tour is a public lecture and open reception entitled "Building Bridges: The New Generation of Sovereignty". The public lecture will take place tonight in the Laurel Room of South Campus Hall. The five MPs will discuss their perspectives on Quebec and Canada and will engage in discussion with those in attendance.

Says a news release: "The five members are seeking an understanding of regional issues outside of Québec. To gain knowledge of English Canada and more notably the realities of its communities will give the group a new perspective on the regional and community-specific concerns of their Québec homes."

As planner Mark Schaan indicates, "this collaboration aims to better understand and operate the community of communities that is Canada."

First Portuguese course offered -- by Michelle T. Lehmann

"It's a dream come true," said Mariela Gutiérrez, chair of Spanish and Latin American studies. "With almost 1,000 students in the program and still growing, it's time to introduce some new courses and branch out in other directions."

The students and graduates of the program are the ones responsible for the expansion into Portuguese. Gutiérrez explained that for years, Brian Hendley, former dean of arts, received letters from students requesting Portuguese courses. "They had written him for the past three years and he finally decided that with so many students interested in Portuguese, he should help the department establish some courses," Gutiérrez said. "We really try to listen to our students and do what's best for them."

"Introduction to Portuguese" can satisfy one of the language requirements for arts students and is designed for anyone who is interested in learning the language, but starts out with little or no knowledge of Portuguese. Students can expect intensive drills in the fundamentals of grammar, comprehension, and oral practice and pronunciation. Reading, translation and composition of the language are essential to the course. There will also be an introduction to aspects of the Portuguese culture.

"We always add a little bit of flair from the country so students get a taste of Portugal," explained Fatima Mota, the professor for Portuguese 101. "Sometimes, it is very hard to separate language from culture." Gutiérrez agreed that language cannot be taught without showing the soul of the people being studied. "It's important to transmit everything or students just repeat the words like a parrot."

Mota, a teacher in Canada for 22 years, was highly recommended by students, teachers, and even priests in the Portuguese community. "Her strong reputation and experience make her the best teacher of Portuguese in this area," said Gutiérrez.

A Portuguese culture and civilization course, to be taught in English, will be the next addition to the program. The culture courses are popular among students across campus because they teach students the names, places, and histories that go with the language, Gutiérrez said.

"Introduction to Portuguese" is scheduled for Tuesdays and Thursday from 9:30 to 11 a.m. this winter. Space is still available in the course.

York students launch web site
-- by Cathy Carlyle, abridged from the York University Gazette

The site, www.campusaccess.com, is a free, all-encompassing university and college resource that is easy to navigate and speaks in a down-to-earth style. With over 400 pages of text it has numerous detailed sections on subjects dear to 1.4 million students' hearts all across the country.

"We're here for you. If there's anything you want that we don't have let us know," it starts out on the home page, reflecting its founder's relaxed and open-for-business manner. "When I was at McGill seeking information on what graduate programs were available and where, and how to get funding, I had difficulty getting what I needed," said the 24-year-old master of political science student. "That's when I became determined to set up a one-stop resource that would be user-friendly, free, current and had a forum for students to keep in touch."

Putting in long hours on his master's degree at York didn't prevent him from working 10 hours a day on planning and setting up such a Web site for students at high schools, community colleges and universities. The new site took a year and a half of preparation, but it was sizzling by Sept. 1 this year. Gurza and his partner in the project, Reza Zargham, pledge to update the Web site information weekly, and to continue soliciting feedback on what people perceive they need at the site.

Gurza began the undertaking by deciding what he would like to see on such a site, asking others what they wanted, then sending questionnaires to students. He took his own advice when financing Campus Access, using information he had gathered which now is available on his Web site. He got a bank loan, hired a site designer and a programmer for the large database, and four months ago took Zargham on board. The site is financed through advertising and sponsorships. For students, though, there is no charge for placing classified ads and accessing free e-mail through the site.

Gurza said the sections on graduate schools and the Canadian job database have had the most hits so far. Financial aid is also up there. The largest section is on professional grad schools such as medicine, law and teaching, where students can acquire information on programs available, online applications, ways to finance schooling etc. "In about 12 minutes students can apply from our site to all Canadian law schools," said Gurza. "Resume-writing is another big area. In fact, we've put together a whole catalogue of action verbs to help students find the right one to use. We've also drawn up a list of sample questions that they might expect during an interview and we're in the process of putting together some suggested answers. We're going to post samples of student art, too, because we want our site to be a showcase for Canadian art. There's even a section where some companies offer discounts for Campus Access users." Sexual health, nutrition, naturopathic medicine and city guides are some of the other sections.

Libraries open later With exam season about to begin, the UW libraries will have extended hours from today through December 21. The Dana Porter Library will be open Monday to Thursday 8 a.m. to midnight; Friday 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Saturday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Sunday 11 a.m. to midnight. The Davis Centre Library will open at the same time as Dana Porter each day and stay open one hour later than Dana Porter. There is no change to hours of circulation and reference services.

Waging peace, and other pieces

Something described as "Xentel Lion's Magic Benefit" will be performed in the Humanities Theatre today at 1:00, 5:00 and 8:00.

Previews continue for the fine arts department's open house and miniature art sale this weekend. The event highlights work by fine arts faculty, staff, students and alumni; hundreds of little (postcard-sized) works will be for sale "at affordable prices". "Proceeds will go," a flyer says, "towards drywalling the Artspace Gallery." The preview today and tomorrow runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

"What use is art?" you retort? "You can't eat it!" Then where you need to be instead is the courtyard of Environmental Studies I, between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., where students will be holding a bake sale as a money-raiser for this year's geography field trip to the warmth of Tejano country. Sniff for a Tex-Mex flavour to what's for sale.

The weekly "Demo Day" for the UW Computer Store today features Sony products -- "to coincide", I'm told, "with the fact that it's Virtual Christmas Eve tomorrow." Demo Days take place in the South Campus Hall concourse.

Under the title "Sonic Textures", Wende Bartley plays electroacoustic music at 12:30 today in the Conrad Grebel College chapel. It's the last in the college's fall season of major noon-hour concerts. "A composer of electroacoustics and instrumental music," says a news release, "she is using her varied skills in audio technology to create innovative and sonic textures from original sound sources (new music). She has several recordings to her credit." Admission is free.

Serious question: "Can history majors find jobs?" Earnest answer from the student History Society: "Yes!" To prove it, HistSoc is holding a "History Career Day at 4:00 this afternoon (Humanities room 280). Speakers will include a lawyer, a teacher, a business manager, an archivist, and so on. "Information on graduate work in history will also be available."

The volleyball Warriors will host Western's Mustangs this evening in the Physical Activities Complex: the women's team at 6:00, the men's at 8:00. Admission is free.

Noted Vancouver architect Arthur Erickson will speak at 7:00 tonight in the Environmental Studies II green room, as the Arriscraft Lecture series continues. His topic: "Modernism as I See It". Arriscraft talks come back-to-back this week, as George Baird of Toronto will speak tomorrow evening, same time and place.

Looking ahead to tomorrow: Murray McArthur of UW's English department will speak tomorrow afternoon in the "Arts Talks Back" lecture series. (The series, according to a poster, "features Faculty of Arts professors describing their research projects as relevant, important and necessary for a thriving Canadian society. The series is open to the public and free of charge.) McArthur will speak at 3:30 tomorrow in Humanities room 373. His topic: "The Origin of the Work of Art: The Case of T. S. Eliot".

Tomorrow also begins the annual staff association craft sale -- Thursday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.., in Davis Centre room 1301. "Over 20 staff employees and retirees will be selling their talented crafts," I'm told; a flyer mentions knitted and crocheted items, pottery, candles, stained glass, chocolates, quilts, wreaths, and the inevitable "much more". A tenth of the proceeds go to the Senate Scholarship Fund and the Staff Association Bursary.

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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