Canada celebrates Earth Day on Saturday

Daily Bulletin

Daffodils at the Health Services building -- photo by Barbara Elve

A record number of students

The number reached 16,466, an increase of 6.2 per cent from the year before, thanks to the September 1999 boom in first-year students. The previous record for full-time undergraduates was 16,272 in 1991-92.

But while full-time undergraduate enrolment was at a record level, UW's total enrolment was almost 17 per cent below its all-time high, also reached in 1991-92. There were 27,297 students that year and just 22,677 in 1999-2000.

The biggest drop was in part-time undergraduate students, whose numbers have fallen by almost half from the levels they reached in the early 1990s. Mostly those numbers reflect a boom and, more recently, a bust in distance education enrolment. Part-time enrolment in 1999-2000 was 4,318 at the undergraduate level (compared with 8,868 in 1991-92) and 328 at the graduate level.

Finally, there were 1,565 full-time graduate students at UW in 1999-2000, representing a slide from the record of 1,793 in 1993-94.

The registrar's office report -- which counts students on a much different basis from other reports used for financial purposes -- provides dozens of tables breaking down enrolment in a variety of ways. A few tidbits:

• In 1989, 41 per cent of UW's undergraduate students were female. A decade later, the figure had risen to 46 per cent.
• The share of undergraduates who are in co-op programs rose from 56 per cent in 1989 to 59 per cent in 1999.
• UW awarded 3,996 degrees in 1999, bringing the total since the university's founding to 110,896 (plus 309 honorary degrees).
• More full-time undergraduates list Waterloo Region as home (3,418 students) than Toronto (2,637) or Peel (1,396).
• UW had 311 undergraduate students on international student visas last year (including 44 from Britain, 29 from Germany, 28 from China and 26 from France), and 237 graduate students (including 50 from China, 16 from Germany and 14 each from Mexico and the United States).

Wallin named to UW board Broadcaster Pamela Wallin is the newest member of UW's board of governors. She was appointed by the board itself as one of the "community-at-large" representatives. A producer and on-air personality with CBC and then CTV, she is best known as former host of "Canada AM" and the CTV national news. She now heads her own production company, Pamela Wallin Productions Inc.

The talk of the campus

Happening this morning in the computer science department is a seminar by Jonathan Schaeffer of the University of Alberta. His topic: "One Jump Ahead -- Challenging Human Supremacy at Checkers". He'll speak at 11:00 in Math and Computer room 5158.

A session on "Back Care for the Back Yard Gardener" is scheduled today, starring Jeff Tuling of the UW chiropractic research clinic. "Get ready for your spring clean-up and gardening," a flyer suggests. Tuling will talk about back exercises and the right way to rake and dig, lead "a warm-up and stretching demo geared to gardening", and talk about "what to do for your back if you didn't follow the above guidelines". The talk, a repeat of an event held Tuesday, will start at 12:05 in room 1633 of the Lyle Hallman Institute (the west wing of Matthews Hall).

The Waterloo Public Interest Research Group has an event today: "At 5:00 p.m., the K-W Youth Collective in collaboration with Waterloo Public Interest Research Group is hosting an information session on Cuba featuring Cuban Embassy representative Rogerio Santana. The event will take place in the Modern Languages building room 104. First there will be a short reception featuring a skit by youth theatre group "Reality Check: Voices of the Youth" as well as a display of art from Cuba. After the reception there will be a short presentation by Rogerio Santana. He will address a wide range of issues about Cuba, such as living conditions in Cuba, Élian Gonzalez and American foreign policy with regards to Cuba. He will then answer questions about Cuba. All members of the community are invited to attend."

TVOntario's "Studio 2" presents a one-hour special on the future of universities tonight at 8 p.m. (repeated at 11 p.m.).

A Canada goose was rushed to the humane society Wednesday afternoon after being struck by a vehicle on the Ring Road. An examination determined the head and wing injuries were too severe to be treated, and the bird was euthanized. Wayne Shortt of the UW police says the goose "inadvertently got injured" when it was hit by a central stores van near the University Club. The driver of the vehicle said this morning he is "sick about it". He said he was keeping an eye out for students -- "it's kind of crazy when they're moving out of the Villages" -- and didn't see the goose until he had stepped out onto the road. Laurie Peloquin of the housing office was on the scene as the goose was captured and transferred to the humane society truck, and observed "its doleful mate looking on from the other side of the Ring Road." A spokesperson for the Humane Society of Kitchener Waterloo said a cruelty inspector examined the goose before the decision to euthanize was made.

Work is under way in Village I to convert most of the third-floor lounges into double rooms. The change will eventually add about 60 Village beds, while leaving two lounges in each "house". One phase of the work started yesterday: removal of the kitchen plumbing in the lounges. Plant operations says 18 houses are on the list for attention this week and next.

People who sometimes have occasion to represent UW at education fairs are being invited to a seminar next Tuesday, says Bruce Mitchell, associate vice-president (academic). The morning-long session on "Making Your Educational Fair Work" is being led by Barry Siskind, a consultant in the field and "a dynamic and engaging speaker", says Mitchell. Wendy Mertz of his office (phone ext. 2663) would like to hear from departments that would like to send people to Tuesday's event.

And now, a holiday weekend

Passover, the Jewish holiday of freedom and family and the Law, coincides with Christians' Easter this year as it often does. Jews will tell the story of the escape from Pharaoh's slavery and the goodness of God: "Dayenu! Enough for us."

• UW police: on duty 24 hours, 888-4911.
• Student Life Centre: open 24 hours, turnkey desk 888-4434.
• Maintenance emergencies: phone ext. 3793, 24 hours a day.

Quite apart from being a holiday weekend, this season is a solemn and exciting time for practising Christians, commemorating as it does the crucifixion (on Good Friday) and resurrection (on Easter Sunday) of Jesus of Nazareth. Special services will be taking place UW's Renison College (Anglican) and St. Jerome's College (Roman Catholic) as they are at places of worship around the world:

• Today, Maundy Thursday -- "Communion and Footwashing" at 7 p.m. at Renison; Holy Thursday Mass at 8 p.m. at Siegfried Hall, St. Jerome's.
• Good Friday -- "devotions" at 10:30 a.m. at Renison; Mass at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. at Siegfried Hall.
• Saturday -- Easter Vigil at 7 p.m. at Renison, "with a social to follow in the Chapel Lounge"; Easter Vigil Mass at 9 p.m. at Siegfried Hall.
• Easter Sunday -- Worship at 10:30 at Renison; Mass at 9:30 and 11:30 a.m. at Siegfried Hall (no 7 p.m. Mass).

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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