Daily Bulletin

Local firms for north campus

The statement updates the announcement last February that Watpark was aiming for "two or three internationally known tenants". Instead, it says, the developers are now looking at local companies -- perhaps UW spinoff firms -- as the first tenants for the long-awaited project.

Said the statement:

The University of Waterloo (UW) continues to move ahead with plans for a research/technology park on its north campus.

The first phase, comprising 100 acres, is off Columbia Street West, adjacent to the existing north campus buildings and nearby industrial lands.

The developers, the Watpark Consortium, headed by Euromart International Bancorp Inc., and Cooperators Development Corp. are proceeding through pre-construction activities, which include marketing, financing and the municipal planning process.

These activities have established the feasibility of initiating development based on a constellation of locally based companies who would comprise the first occupants of the park. Watpark will continue marketing efforts to attract additional tenants.

A conceptual plan of the park has been developed, incorporating several features that take advantage of the site, including a boulevard entrance; clustering of buildings to take advantage of the sense of place; and surface parking. The plan is highly sensitive to the environment, a reflection of UW's commitment to its Campus Master Plan which provides the framework for the park's development.

The Watpark Consortium also includes: IBM Canada, (technology integrator), Infonology Corp. (technology planner), Adamson Associates (architect), The Evergreen Foundation (environmental consultant), Marshall Macklin Monaghan (engineering consultant), and Urban Strategies Inc. (planning).

Weather station equipment on the north campus; Columbia Lake in the background.

Senate talks about growth

The senate touched on the issue of growth more than once, as a faculty representative -- Frank Reynolds of the department of statistics and actuarial science -- asked whether it's wise to be planning a technology park on the north campus, rather than setting aside space for more academic buildings to cope with more students in the coming decades.

"The information I have contemplates a 40 per cent increase in the number of high school graduates in Ontario [within ten years]," said UW president David Johnston, citing a statistic published earlier this year by the Council of Ontario Universities. What nobody knows yet, he pointed out, is whether each university, including UW, will be expected to increase on-campus enrolment by that amount.

The provost, Jim Kalbfleisch, noted that UW's campus master plan, dating from 1992, calls for any new academic buildings to be fit into the south campus ("infill") rather than put on the north campus where they would hardly be within walking distance. At present, he said, the south campus has around 3.5 million square feet of space. There's room for as much as 1.5 million square feet of infill if there were ever the money to build it.

Universities have no idea so far, Kalbfleisch said, what kind of funding the provincial government intends to provide for enrolment growth. "We need that kind of information before we can develop our strategy."

The 40 per cent figure is quite apart from a one-time bulge in first-year students, the so-called "double cohort", that's expected in 2003 when students from the old five-year high school program and the new four-year program graduate simultaneously. Parents are starting to ask pointed questions about that problem, said UW registrar Ken Lavigne, who met hundreds of parents at the Ontario Universities Fair in Toronto on the weekend.

Lavigne was the one who brought a report on this year's booming enrolment. As of yesterday, he said, there are 13,474 full-time undergraduates registered, a number that's up by 4.5 per cent from the figure of a year ago.

Full-time first-year enrolment stands at 4,593, which is 113 per cent of the university-wide target for this year ("slightly larger than we officially planned", said Lavigne). The faculty of arts is showing the biggest bulge: 130 per cent of the enrolment it was wanting.

Sculptor visits this week

Levine's "Dark Grey Satchel" (1974), in the art museum of Arizona State University.

Levine is now internationally known for her ceramic sculpture. A major retrospective of her leather look-alike, high-realist works is taking place (through November 28) at the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery in downtown Waterloo. "Levine works in a hyper-realistic style," one review points out, "using clay to simulate other materials, and reproduces everyday objects so precisely that they are indistinguishable from the original model."

Levine was born in Medicine Hat and started her ceramic career in Regina. She now lives in Oakland, California, and is represented by the prominent O. K. Harris Gallery in New York.

During her time in Waterloo she will give a slide presentation, lead a tour of the exhibition and demonstrate her techniques of clay construction, not only with the students during classes, but also in a workshop open to the general public on Friday evening and all day Saturday.

For information and registration for the weekend workshop, anyone interested can contact Ann Roberts of the fine arts department at ext. 3767 or the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery at 746-1882.

Some events and some notes

Clubs Days get going today in the Student Life Centre -- an opportunity for new and returning students to find out about the sixty-some clubs recognized by the Federation, including ethnic, political, hobby and just plain odd. Among the clubs is Konnichiwa Japan, which will be holding its first general meeting of the fall term today, Tuesday, in Physics room 313 at 5:30 p.m. Says environmental studies student Carol Nishitoba, the acting president of KJ: "The club is open to anyone in the K-W community interested in the Japanese culture or exchange programs -- new members are always welcome!"

And my mail yesterday included a news release from the IODE (which is no longer the Imperial Order of Daughters of the Empire), advising that they too will be on hand for Clubs Days. "Students are invited to talk with members of the IODE regarding educational scholarships, bursaries and awards available through the IODE," and the group's many service projects.

Co-op students are reminded that their work reports from the spring term are due by 4:00 today. "Some faculties differ," says a memo from the co-op department, "so students should check with their undergrad office." Also today, starting at 10:00, students who are about to go through the interview process can pick up their "master copy co-op record" in Needles Hall. There's just no end to the cycle, is there?

Memo from the health services department: "Our hours are now extended -- Monday and Thursday evenings until 7:30 p.m." (And health services got a new phone number back in July: 888-4096.)

Stephanie Filsinger of UW's health behaviour research group also has a connection with the Council for a Tobacco-Free Waterloo Region -- the two groups have a lot in common -- and sends word of "a campaign to promote the upcoming smoke-free public places by-law that will take effect January 1". In particular, students are being invited to take part in an advertising design contest drawing attention to the advent of smoke-free bars and nightclubs. "Winning ads will appear on city buses, as a full-page ad in the Saturday Record, and as a billboard," an announcement says. Filsinger has contest guides and more information available; she can be reached at ext. 2278.

As the Bulletin noted yesterday, the campus recreation program is getting going, with registration for instructional activities starting today. Like other clubs, recreational clubs are having their first meetings of the fall term -- for example, the Judo Club, which is based at the K-W Judo Club's main dojo at Club Olympia on Charles Street West in downtown Kitchener. "Further information," I'm reminded, "can be seen on the web or contact Sensei Ed Spike at spike@engmail.uwaterloo.ca."

Advance note: as the Blue Jays season comes to an end, it's "university and college night at the ballpark" this Friday. The Jays host the Cleveland Indians, and a pregame party is planned at Gate 9. "The school that shows the most spirit, by purchasing the largest quantity of tickets, will receive the 1st annual Toronto Blue Jays College/University Cup and a $1,000 bursary to that school's scholarship foundation." The Jays' group sales department is waiting for calls.

Another advance note: coming this Saturday is the annual open house for distance education students. "As a one-day event this year, we are hoping to concentrate student attendance," writes Don Kasta, director of distance and continuing education. "In previous years it was split over two days. The Open House is extremely important to our distance education students as it provides the opportunity for them to meet instructors, administrators, and other students." Events will run all day, mostly in the Davis Centre, with a luncheon in South Campus Hall.

Can't wait for ski season? "Then satisfy the urge," says the Volunteer Action Centre, "by contacting Waterloo Region Track 3 Ski School, an organization that helps youth with a disability learn how to ski. They are planning now for the upcoming season and want to hear from enthusiastic volunteers with at least intermediate skiing ability to be trained as volunteer instructors. Excellent training is provided in return for one evening a week of your time during January and February." Inquiries about this and other volunteer opportunities: call the VAC at 742-8610.

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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