Daily Bulletin

Works of art go digital

TRACE gives "instructional development" grants each term and draws attention to one project. In the past, for instance, grants have helped to support an international conference on the teaching of the Holocaust, and a study of first-year students' mathematical skills.

This term Don MacKay of fine arts is the grant recipient. TRACE's web page explains the project:

The traditional way of presenting visual material in art history and art studio classes is to project 35mm slide images. Slides are expensive; require cataloguing and stacking; and must be located, arranged, and replaced each time they are used for lectures or for study. This is a labour-intensive operation that creates wear and tear on slides. Equipment can also cause problems: projectors may break down, focus mechanisms may jam, and remote controls may fail. (Most art history lectures employ two projectors at a time for image comparison, compounding the problem.) Handling of slide materials, heat from projectors for extended periods of time, and high humidity in areas where slides are stored can cause serious deterioration within several years, particularly in frequently used slides. Art history courses require from 500 to 700 slides per course.

MacKay (pictured at right) and Jean Stevenson (Research Assistant) believe that digital images retain colour and image data better and can be used more efficiently and effectively than slides for lectures and self study. With the help of TRACE Instructional Development Grants, and the assistance of Carl Hennig of the Arts Languages Lab, they have developed procedures that enable instructors and students to view and make image presentations from the Fine Arts Images Database over the internet.

In developing the image presentation procedures, they investigated a number of interrelated issues: image scanning; image process and compression (about 1150 images for Fine 210 and Fine 219 were processed); input and output template design; and image arrangement, mapping, etc. for internet viewing. They are pleased with the outcome of the project. In Winter 1999, Fine 219 was taught using digital images and the image presentation module. The response from students and the instructor was very positive. In Fall 1999, Fine 210 is expected to be taught in a similar manner.

Remember, registration's in NH

• Registrar's office, second floor, for undergraduate schedules, fee receipts, changes of address.
• Renison College or St. Jerome's University, for undergraduate students registered through those institutions.
• Room 3001, third floor, for Ontario Student Assistance Program loan documents.
• Graduate studies office, third floor, for submission of course registrations and other paperwork for graduate students.
• Cashiers, first floor, for those who owe the university money other than tuition fees.

Processing of OSAP documents is taking place on the third floor of Needles Hall this week, and lineups seem to be a thing of the past. Armaghan Nazari, left, a first year science student, consults with financial aid assistant Jonathan Allen, while in the background, Jack Wang, a first year computer science student, is assisted by senior financial aid assistant Julie Kubisewski. Other staff from the registrar's office wait for more students.

Orientation activities continue today, with residence-based programs in the daytime, including the Canada Day Carnival for Villagers and the Waterlooathon for students based off campus. This evening, engineering students have a murder mystery night, science students a bonfire, and so on. The parties might go late -- tomorrow morning promises a "campus-wide sleep in", and everybody will want to be well rested for Monte Carlo Night starting at 8:00 Thursday evening.

Performances of "Single and Sexy" continue -- tonight at 6:30, Thursday at 3:00 and 4:30, Friday at 9:00, 12:00 and 3:00, all in the Theatre of the Arts.

Visit to researchers Michael Hodgson, a program officer with the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, will visit UW tomorrow and will meet with researchers from 9 a.m. to noon in Environmental Studies 1 room 221. Barb Cooke in the UW research office, phone ext. 5018, should have last-minute information.

Plaque marks lab improvements

Says a release from the UW news bureau: "Work involved laboratory renewal projects at the faculties of Science, Engineering and Environmental Studies. The improvements will provide modern facilities for teaching and research activities. Utility renovations improved air quality and reduced energy consumption.

"The $2.7-million project was funded under the Canada/Ontario Infrastructure Works program, with the three partners (federal and provincial governments as well as the University of Waterloo) contributing one-third of the total cost."

Said Witmer: "In Canada's Technology Triangle, business and education lead the way. This renewal of campus infrastructure will help the University of Waterloo to continue to be an important partner in the economic development and prosperity of this region and, indeed, our entire province and country."

And from Telegdi: "This is a great example of partnership between governments and educational institutions produces wonderful results. Ever increasing numbers of students are seeking to acquire technology skills in order to face the challenges of a knowledge economy. The University of Waterloo is at the leading edge of higher learning and I am glad that the Canada/Ontario Infrastructure Works program helped upgrade its facilities."

Johnston said the support of two levels of government "is most appreciated by the University of Waterloo. It helps us keep abreast of the needs and expectations of our faculty and students."

What's now being celebrated is the second "phase" of the Infrastructure Works program, announced in the fall of 1997. Dennis Huber, UW's associate provost (general services and finance), said at that time that the grants to UW would include $675,000 to upgrade the campus computer network, $625,000 for renewing faculty laboratories, and $1,415,947 for "maintenance of mechanical systems in academic buildings".

In the first phase of the program, five years ago, UW received some $5.5 million in Infrastructure Works funding, which helped pay for the Matthews Hall addition (the Lyle Hallman Institute) and an addition to the Optometry building, as well as student residence upgrades.

Canada/Ontario Infrastructure Works is a $2.8-billion joint venture of the federal and provincial governments with participation from local partners such as municipalities, educational institutions and health-care facilities.

US students hear about binge drinking
-- by Chris Griswold, reprinted by permission from the Pitt News, University of Pittsburgh

Most recently, Kristine Lurowist, 21, a Penn State University student, nearly died after drinking a "21-gun salute" on her 21st birthday. Her blood alcohol content by the night's end was 0.682, usually a fatal level.

Shirley Haberman, director of Student Health Service's health education department at the University of Pittsburgh, said she wants freshmen to be prepared for recreational drinking. Haberman spoke to freshmen Thursday and Friday about binge drinking, a common problem on campuses across the nation, and the results it can have.

In a lecture entitled "Alcohol: Surviving the Party Scene at Pitt," Haberman explained the dangers of drinking too much and the misperception that "everyone drinks." Haberman pointed to a spring 1998 SHS survey in which 19 percent of Pitt students said they don't drink anything when they "party." However, only 0.5 percent said they thought most students don't drink.

Haberman demonstrated the effect one person's drinking can have on that person's friends by showing an episode of MTV's program "The Real World," in which one roommate, Ruthie, gets drunk to the point of alcohol poisoning. Her roommates try to help, eventually calling an ambulance.

Pausing the tape and referring to one roommate's predicament, Haberman asked, "Do you think he thought he would be ending his night by holding a drunk woman naked in the shower, trying to make her vomit? Does he look like he's having fun?" Haberman said she uses the clip because the show features real people rather than actors, making it "a little more persuasive than educational videos."

Haberman said that alcohol-related deaths occur once a week on college campuses nationwide, although it has been five years since a Pitt student died from drinking.

However, Lurowist's recent near-death experience has brought renewed nationwide media attention to the problem, and colleges are reacting with education and prevention programs.

"To me, that's such a senseless, tragic loss," Haberman said of Lurowist's near-death. "To not know that 16 shots of vodka can equal death just baffles me."

Haberman concluded her presentation with a simulated field sobriety test. Participants wore a set of "beer goggles," which distorted their vision, and went through the test, walking a straight line, touching an object in a police officer's hand, and catching a ball. She gave the volunteers car-shaped key chains that read, "Don't be boozing if you're caught cruising."

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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