Daily Bulletin

Federation has its new leaders

Chris Farley (photo from Imprint)

It's second time lucky for fourth-year history student Chris Farley, who will be president of the Federation for 2000-01, succeeding the current president, Christine Cheng, in May. Farley was a candidate for the presidency last year too, but came in a distant second to Cheng.

Farley received 676 votes, compared with 428 for political science student Windy Rader and 78 for Steve Kennedy of applied math. There were 47 declined or spoiled ballots, meaning that 1,229 undergraduate students voted for the president's position.

That's a 10 per cent turnout, according to figures provided last night by Federation staff member Avvey Peters. Last year, by contrast, almost 17 per cent of undergraduate students voted.

Elected with Farley was his running-mate for the position of Feds vice-president (education), political science student Mark Schaan. Schaan received 647 votes; there were 533 for psychology student Amber Christie.

Candidates for the two other vice-presidencies were acclaimed when nominations closed in mid-January. Science student Desiree Taric, who was also on the Farley ticket, will be VP (student issues) for the coming year. The ticket didn't include a candidate for vice-president (administration and finance); economics student Shannon Willis was acclaimed to that position for 2000-01.

When he spoke to Imprint as the election campaign began a few weeks ago, Farley said he had "tons" of experience, " both with Feds and outside, including work the university, municipality, Arts Student society, and the History Society". He listed these "major pillars" of his campaign:

• Improve Walksafe and campus safety in general
• Revamp Ground Zero to provide more services to students and ensure profitability
• Play aggressive role in development of off-campus housing
• Communicate directly with students by holding monthly sessions to provide students with an opportunity to express their concerns to the executives around campus
• Raise awareness and foster appreciation of student contribution to the community
• Work to ensure that co-op students are included in co-op changes and decisions
• Volunteering one day a month with Feds services and the local community

Three student senators were elected at the same time as the Federation leaders. Winners in that polling are Ryan Stammers, at-large; Ian Tien, engineering; and Richard Banton, arts.

University chancellors speak out

University chancellors are usually prominent Canadians who lend their reputations and sometimes their wisdom to the universities that appoint them. They receive no pay for presiding at convocation ceremonies and doing other, less visible duties. At UW, for example, the chancellor chairs the nominating committee that chooses a new president.

UW's chancellor is Val O'Donovan, founder and now retired as chief executive of Cambridge-based Com Dev Ltd. Chancellor of Wilfrid Laurier University is John Cleghorn, president of the Royal Bank of Canada. At the University of Guelph it's former lieutenant-governor Lincoln Alexander; at Trent, it's broadcaster Peter Gzowski.

"Recently," says an announcement issued yesterday, "the chancellors of Ontario's universities gathered on the Glendon campus of York University. Though not all were able to attend, it was an unprecedented meeting, called by the chancellors themselves, a group of distinguished Canadians from a wide variety of backgrounds, to share their views and experiences, and to reflect on some of their common concerns.

"Without reservation, the chancellors expressed pride in the institutions of which they are the titular heads, and confidence in the administrations who run them. They talked of future opportunities in and for Ontario, and of the challenges those opportunities present."

And they issued this statement:

Higher education is of the utmost importance to the future of Ontario. To prepare the leaders of tomorrow, we need a university system that is characterized by excellence, accessibility, diversity and flexibility.

The liberal arts and sciences must continue to be a seminal part of Ontario's higher education. This is a practical idea as much as a philosophical one. A number of recent studies have clearly underlined that a well-rounded, general education -- learning to think, to write and to express one's ideas clearly -- is as valuable to future employability as technical or technological training.

To meet these goals, the universities need renewed funding. Both government and the private sector (for it is increasingly a shared concern) must join in an effort to see that the needs of tomorrow -- for a well-educated work-force and a new generation of leadership -- are met.

Whatever new funding mechanisms are developed, they should permit universities themselves to manage enrolment demand and to maintain a diverse and forward-looking curriculum and program of research.

The people of Ontario are, and should be, proud of their universities and what they stand for. They -- we -- should work together to see that that pride is maintained.

Computing courses this month There is still time to register for a number of courses courses being offered in March, the information systems and technology department says. Courses available: Creating a Web Page Using HTML Using Outlook Express as Your Email Tool Learning More About Unix Introduction to SPSS Version 10 What's New in Windows 2000? Web Tools: FrontPage, Dreamweaver, GoLive What's New in Corel WordPerfect Version 9? What's New in Microsoft Office 2000? What New in SAS Version 8? Keeping Up With Your Research Literature -- Electronically! The courses are free for UW staff, students and faculty. Information about them, and a registration form, can be found on the web.

Turn off the lights, stickers say -- from yesterday's Gazette

As part of the campaign, "Please Turn Me Off" stickers are being distributed to affix below light switches as a reminder to flick the switch when leaving.

According to waste management coordinator Patti Cook, the stickers are designed to be used on both incandescent and fluorescent light switches. While neither kind of light should be turned on and off every few minutes, both should be turned off if they won't be needed for an hour or more, she explains. The result will be a savings on energy, lamp bulbs, and labour costs involved in changing the bulbs, said Cook. "It's bound to help, but difficult to measure."

An initiative of the environment commission, the idea came from environment and resource studies student Annie Thuan. The waste management office paid for the stickers. Anyone wishing to order stickers for their office can contact Cook at plcook@uwaterloo.ca or at ext. 3245.

Noted architect speaks, and more

Safdie's visit -- his first to Waterloo -- is part of "a special version of the Arriscraft Lecture Series dedicated to the celebration of the achievements of and prospects for Canadian architecture at the turn of the millennium," says a release from the school of architecture.

Born in Israel and educated in Canada, Safdie apprenticed with the noted American architect Louis Kahn, and has practiced in Canada, the United States, and Israel.

The design concepts for Habitat at Expo 67 (right), one of the best known and widely published experiments in housing of the twentieth century, developed while Safdie was still a student at the McGill University school of architecture in the early 1960s.

Safdie served as director of urban design at the Harvard school of design in the 1980s, and his design work includes the National Gallery of Art in Ottawa and the addition to the Montréal Museum of Fine Art. His most recent book is The City After the Automobile (1997).

The Arriscraft visiting lecture series has been sponsored for 12 years by Arriscraft International in Cambridge.

Also happening today:

• It's the last day of a blood donor clinic being held in the Student Life Centre.
• A special meeting of the senate research council is scheduled today for a discussion with Heather Munroe-Blum, vice-president (research and internal relations) at the University of Toronto, who wrote the recent report "Growing Ontario's Innovation System: The Strategic Role of University Research". the meeting will run from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. in Needles Hall room 3001.
• At 3:30, in Math and Computer room 5158, the Institute for Improvement in Quality and Productivity presents a talk by Anil Gore of the University of Michigan and India's University of Pune: "Statistics for Information Intensive Agriculture".
• The Math Society's Movie Night presents "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace" and "The Fifth Element", starting at 7:00 tonight in Davis Centre room 1302. Phantom Menace

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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