Daily Bulletin

Jim Kalbfleisch, who ends his term as UW's provost December 31, has been guest of honour at a series of parties the last few days. In front of seasonal decorations yesterday, he gives the high sign to Scott Charles of UW's audio-visual centre, one of the staff and faculty who dropped in at a farewell open house. Another open house for the retiring provost is scheduled for Thursday, 3 to 5 p.m. in Needles Hall room 3004.

Newspaper suggests site in Cambridge

"At a closed-door meeting Monday night, councillors gave their support to three private businessmen who spearheaded the idea," the paper says. "They want to locate the school on Water Street."

It quotes Tom Watson, a local real estate agent and one of the men behind the idea: "If I was going to have a school of architecture, I would want to locate it in a nice downtown setting on a river with a great inventory of architecturally-interesting buildings around me." The Record adds that Watson "said the project is just getting off the ground and the university has not yet been formally approached".

Don Smith, chief administrative officer for the city of Cambridge, "would not comment", the paper says.

UW's school of architecture is currently housed in Environmental Studies II, which was built for the purpose in 1981 but isn't generally recognized for architectural merit. Jim Downey, acting vice-president (university relations) of UW, said in a recent interview that a new home for the architecture school might be high on the wish list when the university starts its capital fund-raising campaign next year.

UW has some off-campus land used for research, and the staff in the distance education office have been joking about "the Kitchener campus" since moving to their new Gage Avenue offices this fall, but the university hasn't had an off-campus academic location since the school of optometry moved onto the main campus in 1973.

Getting closer to the holidays

After that, the place will be almost entirely closed until Tuesday, January 2. Friday's Daily Bulletin, which will be accessible all through the holiday break, will have information, as detailed as I can manage, about what services and special events are being provided during the nine-day break.

Holiday partying has been well under way, and there are more events today, ranging from the math faculty's staff gathering this afternoon (in the Davis Centre) to a party this evening for the office of development and alumni affairs.

Things are also slowing down in UW's athletic facilities. The Physical Activities Complex and Columbia Icefield, usually open long into the night, will be closing at 6:00 this evening and again tomorrow. Friday the PAC is open only from 8:00 to 4:00, and the Icefield is entirely closed except for recreational skating between 11:30 and 1:00. There will also be a rec skate on Saturday (11:00 to 1:00) but, unlike the schedule in previous years, no recreational skating at all between Christmas and New Year's.

The UW libraries continue their extended exam-time hours (Dana Porter open until 2 a.m., the Davis Centre until 3 a.m.). And because last Tuesday's exams were rescheduled to this Friday, December 22, the libraries will stay open later than originally scheduled on Friday: the doors won't close until 7 p.m. Friday, the minute the last exams of the season begin.

A couple of UW events are scheduled for today:

• A talk in the intellectual property forum series: "Ownership Issues re Sabbatical/ Adjunct/ Scholarship Researchers", 12 noon, Needles Hall room 3001.
• An "orientation session" in the Flex lab of the LT3 learning centre, Dana Porter Library room 329, 4 to 5 p.m.

A correction: Yesterday's Bulletin, talking about the new Silversides collection of drama resources, referred to Joel Greenberg as chair of UW's department of drama and speech communication. He isn't, any more; the department chair now is Jill Tomasson Goodwin, of the department's speech communication side.

Construction trailer burns A fire yesterday just before lunchtime destroyed a work trailer at the Mackenzie King Village construction site on the north side of campus. Safety director Kevin Stewart said the trailer was carrying equipment for applying a rubberized waterproofing to the concrete blocks that the new residence building is made of. The Waterloo fire department and the Ontario labour ministry are investigating the blaze, he said. They are working with the contractor and subcontractor on the construction project, and UW is not really involved, Stewart said. "Fortunately," he added, "it wasn't close enough to the building to cause any damage!"

Universities to pay less for insurance

UW safety director Kevin Stewart says the saving is the result of merging two of the "rate groups" that are the basis for WSIB premiums. UW has been part of group 817, "Universities, Libraries and Museums", which is being merged with group 812, "Post-Secondary Non-University Education".

The colleges and driving schools in group 812 apparently had fewer accidents and disabilities than the universities, libraries and museums, since they've been paying a lower level of premiums: 30 cents per $100 of payroll, compared to 44 cents for the universities and libraries. As of January 1, the combined group will be paying 34 cents per $100 of payroll, Stewart says.

All those rates are far below the Ontario-wide average, which was $2.29 per $100 during 2000 and will be $2.13 in 2001. In general, premiums are based on the amount WSIB has paid out in previous years for worker claims of lost income and medical care for occupational injuries and illnesses. The safer an industry has been, the lower the claims, and the lower its workers' comp premiums will be.

"However," Stewart warns, "the lower premium will increase the likelihood of UW experiencing a subsequent experience rating surcharge for WSIB costs incurred for injuries in 2001." In other words, the lower the rate is, the easier it is to have more accidents and watch the premiums go up again.

UW's bill for WSIB premiums this year was about $711,000 -- part of the more than $20 million spent annually on staff and faculty benefits.

Cool site describes environmental jobs -- from the UW news bureau

While students are often familiar with careers in areas such as computer science and engineering, they may not be aware of equally exciting jobs in environmental fields. Issues such as the Walkerton water contamination and Toronto's controversial garbage plans highlight the need for environmental specialists and planners who can help government and citizens develop practical, long-term solutions.

The "Cool Job of the Month" website is produced by Waterloo's faculty of environmental studies.

This month's "cool job" is a profile of Allana Hamm, environmental coordinator at the Whistler/Blackcomb Mountain Resorts. She has developed recycling programs, hazardous waste management systems and energy conservation projects, all while working in beautiful Whistler, B.C.

"The website will feature a different graduate or student each month," said Geoff McBoyle, dean of environmental studies. "Future profiles include a national park warden, a school board planner, a dot-com executive, and a hospital environmental coordinator. It's amazing where environmental studies graduates work."

Prospective student Thomas Bird added: "I think the website is a great idea. Having concrete examples of what a graduate can do with a degree in environmental studies is a huge confidence builder. There are a lot of opportunities out there -- some I hadn't even considered until now."

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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