Daily Bulletin

All faculties surpass targets

His total figure, as of early last week: 4,593.

"There is," he writes in a memo, "a further 133 year one students who are pre-registered (selected courses) but have not paid or arranged their fees. My experience would suggest that although some of these students will become registered prior to November 1, the increase will be offset by the number of 'voluntary' withdrawals." November 1 is the date on which universities officially count their fall enrolment and report it to the government.

The faculty with the biggest crowd is arts, with 1,306 registered first-year students. The November 1 target had been 1,002. Within arts, both regular and co-op (applied studies) programs are over their targets, Burroughs's figures show.

Almost as busy is science, which had been aiming for 600 first-year students and ended up with 731, not counting students in optometry, who aren't in their first university year. Again, both co-op and regular programs have more first-year students than admissions committees had been aiming for.

Other faculties, their actual enrolment and the November 1 targets: applied health sciences, 277 (267); engineering, 926 (840); environmental studies, 317 (281); mathematics, 1,023 (1,015).

Fall talks on 'waging peace'

"We are organizing this lecture series," says Arya, "to give a higher public profile to peace building and conflict resolution."

The series started September 14 with a talk by a survivor of the 1945 atomic bombing of Japan. It continues tonight and will run most Tuesday evenings through the fall term.

Speaking tonight is Wendy Cukier, president of the Coalition for Gun Control, on "Gun Control and the Culture of Peace". Her talk will begin at 7:30 in either Math and Computer room 2034 or Davis Centre room 1304 (I have publicity information hinting at both room numbers).

Later speakers in the series are UW faculty members Mary Louise McAllister and David Seljak ("Values in Conflict: The Search for Environmental Sustainability"), Linda Morgan and Irene MacInnes ("Targeted Sanctions in Iraq: Who's Hurting?"), Joanna Santa Barbara ("Peace Education vs. War Toys"), Mel Watkins ("Letters from Kosovo: The Search for Peace and Justice"), and four local spiritual leaders ("Spirituality and Peace").

UW supports new investment fund

The fund, Waterloo Ventures, is being set up under federal rules as a labour-sponsored investment fund, which provides tax breaks for individuals who invest in it. Other tax benefits are provided by Ontario's Community Small Business Investment Funds program.

Waterloo Ventures is backed by Working Ventures Canadian Fund, a ten-year-old nationwide fund that already has investments of more than $500 million. The Waterloo-area fund is to start off at $5 million, the Record said.

"Andrew Abouchar, a former Working Ventures vice-president, is managing the Waterloo Ventures fund, which will focus on early-stage computing firms, such as Internet service applications and enabling technologies," reporter Mike Strathdee wrote. He explained that labour-sponsored funds "are designed to address the needs of companies which are too small to be able to get financing from larger venture capitalists and other traditional lenders".

Wilfrid Laurier University and Conestoga College had earlier said they were supporting the fund, but UW had held back. "Waterloo Ventures spent a lot of time dealing with UW's concerns, Abouchar said Thursday," according to the Record report. "UW expressed a number of concerns about its liabilities and responsibilities, as well as the fund's narrow focus. Waterloo Ventures spent a lot of time dealing with UW's concerns, Abouchar said Thursday, prior to a reception which marked the formal launch of the fund."

As I understand it, UW doesn't have any formal obligations through being a "sponsor" of the fund along with the other institutions, but is publicly saying that a fund to invest in helping little ideas grow into bigger companies is a good thing. And some of those ideas might well come from research done at the university.

It's a busy day at Waterloo

Photo from Swift Canoe & Kayak It's a canoe country "Canada is a nation of rivers and lakes," says James Raffan, "and therefore a nation of canoes." Raffan is a "professor of outdoor and experiential education" and author of many books, and "has prepared this unique audio-visual presentation on one of our favourite icons". His talk "Canoe Country" is touring Ontario, sponsored by the Queen's University alumni association, and comes to Waterloo tonight, where it's co-sponsored by the UW department of geography. It starts at 7:30 p.m. in the Theatre of the Arts; admission is free.

Starting at 10:30 this morning, FACCUS -- the Faculty Computing User Support group -- will meet in Math and Computer room 2009 to discuss a range of topics: "Skills for the Academic e-Workplace", "Bell High Speed Sympatico Edition Update", "Web based training revisited at www.zdu.com", "Request Tracker Update", and "Y2K Update". Everyone is welcome to attend, says organizer Bob Hicks of the information systems and technology department.

The career development seminar series is under way again, with a session on "the work finding package" today at 10:30 in Needles Hall room 1020. More information about these events is available from the career resource centre.

Colin Campbell of science computing will speak this morning on "The Role of Mathcad in Physics Education", as part of the physics undergraduate seminar series. Everybody's welcome; the talk starts at 11:30 in Physics room 145.

Communications and Information Technology Ontario, an agency with much UW involvement, today holds its advanced technology research conference, under the title "Research in the Next Millennium". The event takes place at the Toronto Congress Centre, on Dixon Road near Pearson Airport, and includes presentations about "strategic, leading-edge research" being done under CITO auspices. CITO is an Ontario "centre of excellence" linking researchers in computer science and related fields, including many from UW. One speaker today will be Xuemin Shen of the electrical and computer engineering department; his topic is "Resource and Mobility Management in Wireless Communications Networks".

The teaching resources and continuing education department offers a workshop at 12 noon today in Chemistry II room 170. Topic: "Facilitating Effective Discussions". Effectively facilitating today's event will be Kelly Pryde and Tracy Light, "teaching assistant developers" for TRACE. Says an abstract of their plans: "Classroom discussions allow students to articulate their ideas, respond to their classmates' points, and develop skills in evaluating the evidence for their own and others' positions. Initiating and sustaining lively, productive discussions are among the most challenging activities for an instructor. In this workshop, you will participate in small group discussions on issues such as how to start and guide a discussion, how to deal with problem situations and prevent the discussion from deteriorating, and how to encourage student participation. Groups will share their responses so we can all benefit from each others' experiences. The workshop is open to anyone who teaches at UW, so please pass this notice on to your colleagues. Remember to bring your lunch. Juice will be provided."

A reception will be held starting at 5:00 today to spotlight "Landscape Journal", an exhibition of works by UW graduate Shi Le, in the UW art gallery in Modern Languages. The show has been open since early September and will close this Friday.

Chris Small writes thusly from the department of statistics and actuarial science: "Would it be possible to get a brief item on the Putnam Competition in the Daily Bulletin? This year the students may be a bit confused about how the event is to be organized as they know that I am on sabbatical. However, it turns out that it will be business as usual from my point of view." Business starts with a meeting tonight at 7:00 in Math and Computer room 5158, aimed at undergraduate students interested in writing the Putnam competition, which is offered on the first Saturday in December. Says Small: "If you like mathematics problems enough to give up six hours (three in the morning and three in the afternoon) solving challenging mathematics problems for fame and glory (and occasionally money), then maybe the Putnam is for you. If you would like to sign up for the competition, you can do so at the kickoff session. If you cannot make it, you can send an e-mail message to me at cgsmall@uwaterloo.ca, or drop by my office, MC 6013A."

Looking ahead to Saturday: it's the fourth annual St. Jerome's University wine tour. Says Harry Froklage, the new director of development and graduate affairs at the college: "The Executive Team of SJU's Graduates' Association has organized a tour of two award-winning wineries in the Niagara region, along with a visit to the quaint shops and colourful gardens of Niagara-on-the-Lake. A few choice spaces remain for this tour, which includes bus transportation, a Trolley Tour of Pillitteri Estates, lunch, a leisurely self-guided tour of the Inniskillin Winery with its outstanding ice wines and a sampling of the exceptional wines produced at both wineries. Buses leave St. Jerome's at 8:15 a.m. and cost is $40 per person." More information: Froklage can be reached at 884-8111 ext. 255.

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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