Daily Bulletin

Teaching awards for students Here are this year's winners of the Award for Distinguished Teaching by a Registered Student, as announced by the dean of graduate studies on Monday: James Benson, physics Selma Hassan, environment and resource studies David Zweig, psychology

Electronic vote starts for staff

Three candidates -- Cathy Hale (research office), Charlene Schumm (registrar's office), and Ann Simpson (Student Life Centre) -- are seeking one of the two staff seats on the UW board, for a three-year term beginning May 1.

While non-union staff are voting electronically, unionized staff are being sent paper ballots of the traditional kind, the university secretariat says. It's the first time on-line voting has been used in a UW staff election. The Federation of Students tried it on an experimental basis in February, just in the faculty of environmental studies.

Voting information is available on the secretariat web site -- starting with the need for each voter to have a userid and password for the UWdir database, which has many uses besides just electronic voting. (You can use it to change your preferred e-mail address, for example.)

People can get their passwords now, also on the Web. To do that, you'll need your employee number, surname and birthdate, says Reg Quinton, security specialist in the information systems and technology department. The handiest place to find that six-digit employee number would be this month's pay slip.

Undergraduate students might also want to get a UWdir password, since electronic polls open next week to help choose one of the student representatives on the board for the coming year. Tomorrow's Bulletin will have more about that election. For students, the UWdir password process starts with a surname, birthdate and student number.

Faculty polled on new articles

Fred McCourt, president of the faculty association, sent out word yesterday that "The FAUW has just completed negotiations on your behalf with the UW Board of Governors on a revised salary structure, annual performance evaluation procedures, and integrity in scholarly research. These negotiations have resulted in two new Articles, 13 and 14, in the Memorandum of Agreement should they be ratified by a majority of UW faculty members and the UW Board of Governors."

In his e-mail announcement, he said a memo to faculty members, signed by him and UW provost Jim Kalbfleisch, would be going out shortly.

There will also be two information sessions at which members of the negotiating teams will be available to answer questions about the two documents. The first of the two meetings will be held today at 3:30 p.m. in Physics room 145. The second will be in the same room, also at 3:30, on Monday, April 10. "We will also be answering questions on these Articles at the Annual General Meeting of the FAUW," McCourt noted. That meeting will be held Wednesday, April 5, at 2:30 p.m. in Physics 145.

Said the association president: "We are on a relatively short time stream with these Articles, because the last Board of Governors meeting before October is on June 6, and we will need to know the outcome of the faculty vote prior to that. Ballots are being sent out from the Secretariat within the next few days, and the returned ballots will be due by noon on Friday, April 14."

McCourt concluded: "I urge you to examine the text of these Articles, as they are important to each and every faculty member. Additional comments on and information about these articles can be found also in the current issue of the FAUW Forum, which should be in your mailbox within the next couple of days."

Construction zone just ahead -- condensed from today's Gazette

University architect Dan Parent shows off drawings and models for UW's future buildings

"We have to balance costs," says Parent. "We don't want to shortchange the user at the cost of excessive aesthetic or design features. I try to make sure the user groups get what they're asking for as a product." Although Parent is himself an architect, his job involves advocating for the users with commissioned architects, rather than doing the design work himself on major UW projects.

The coming deluge of construction has been, in part, started by an influx of funding from the province as part of its SuperBuild program. Announced in February, the grants amount to $31.2 million toward the estimated $68.5 million cost of constructing two new buildings and two additions.

"The good thing," says Parent, "is we've been thinking about these projects for a number of years. We're not starting from scratch."

Plans developed for a previous version of the Centre for Environmental and Information Technologies allocated about 75 per cent of the 165,000-square-foot building to science, and 25 per cent to engineering. Now the balance has shifted to about 50 per cent for science and 50 per cent for math and engineering, said Parent. By the end of March or early April, the architects should be able to begin revising the drawings for tender. Tenders are expected to go out in early August, with construction to begin on the site of parking lot B1 in late September or early October. Construction must be completed by August 2003, but Parent is hoping the building will be ready sooner.

A site isn't settled yet for the Co-operative Education and Career Services Building, but planners are looking at an area between the Dana Porter Library, the Physics building and the Grad House to construct a 43,500-square-foot building with 100 interview rooms, 40 to 50 offices, change room, waiting areas, and a larger career resource centre. While that site would mean the loss of some open space, Parent admitted, the location would be convenient for students and employers, with a short hike from parking lot H. "There won't be a lot of green space lost, and we can possibly improve on the green space that's left," he said. After an architect is chosen, tenders are expected to be called by March 2001, construction to begin in May 2001, and occupancy by August 2002.

An architect should be selected by the end of April for the design of the 41,000 square-foot addition to Engineering III, which calls for a third floor on the current structure and a three-storey addition to the northeast corner of E3. The proposal includes computer chip manufacturing/research labs on the first floor, and offices and classroom and lab space on the second and third floors. Tenders should be out by October, construction crews on site by November, and occupancy in December 2001.

Rather than replacing the roof -- a job that would soon be necessary anyway -- a new floor will be added to the Engineering Lecture Hall. The addition will provide 22,500 square feet of space, allowing construction of seven additional classrooms and new washrooms. The current amphitheater will be split in half to create two 150-seat classrooms. Consultants for the project are expected to be chosen by the end of April, tenders called in March 2001, construction started in May 2001, and work completed by August 2002. Most of the work will take place during the summer, said Parent, when classes are smaller and the disruption minimized.

Plant operations staff will be scrambling to meet the usual work requests on top of the extra workload of the new buildings over the next three years. Parent said the department will be looking at staff needs and at reallocation of some duties in response to the increasing demands. In addition to the SuperBuild projects, UW had already planned to begin construction of Mackenzie King Village -- a 320-bed residence between Village I and Ron Eydt Village -- this summer. Sod will be turned on parking lot F in early May, with the residence scheduled for occupancy in September 2001.

Renovations are continuing to the Red Room in the Math and Computer building to create four computer labs, two large classrooms and a lecture theatre. Classes are expected to move in for the spring term. Also on the building schedule this summer is an addition to Carl Pollock Hall to provide a 120-seat classroom adjacent to the patio in the area of POETS pub. Construction is slated to begin in May.

Grad students discuss smoking

Plans have changed a little and there won't actually be a vote about a bylaw change to ban smoking in the house, says Bill Bishop, new president of the GSA. "However, there will be a discussion of the new policy and its impact upon the Graduate Student Association. I encourage all graduate students to attend."

Bishop notes that last week the GSA's board of directors unanimously passed a motion banning smoking inside the Graduate House effective May 1. "The Graduate House is a private club," he says. "As such, it is not subject to the smoking ban imposed by By-Law 96-055. However, we believe that a majority of our members would prefer a smoke-free environment. After May 1, smoking will only be permitted on the upstairs patio. We will also be discontinuing the sale of all tobacco products."

The date of May 1, says Bishop, was chosen to coincide with the start of a new term. "If we had chosen to ban smoking immediately, we would have been forced to issue refunds to all of our affiliate members. The deans of faculties that purchased one-year group memberships to the Graduate House for their faculty and staff members will be offered partial refunds in April. It is hoped that they will decide to refuse the refunds and continue to offer membership to the Graduate House as a perk to their dedicated faculty and staff members."

The GSA annual meeting starts at 6:00 this evening in Needles Hall room 3001.

One-act plays, and other events

In other events at a university rushing to the end of the term . . .

Girl Guide cookies are for sale in the Student Life Centre all day today. "These are the original chocolate and vanilla sandwich-style cookies," says Grace Hunter, who can be found in UW's faculty of science when she's not busy as area coordinator for Link. Selling the cookies today are members of Link, she explains -- "Guiding members between 18 and 30 years old who are too busy (often with full-time studies) to commit to being leaders on a weekly basis", but who still take part in Guide service projects and other activities when they can.

The people who made this month's Campus Day open house a success are having breakfast together today, in the third-floor lounge of the Humanities building, and will talk over how things went. "Repeatedly I was told by our visitors," says Tina Roberts, director of undergraduate recruitment, "that 'everyone is so friendly here' and 'what a great day.' Wayne Shortt of the police reported that about 1,200 cars were parked with about 4.5 individuals in each car. That means our numbers were up around the 5,000 mark."

The personal safety advisory committee will meet at 9:10 a.m. in Needles Hall room 3043. On the agenda: the annual safety grant from the Ontario government, a committee on alcohol use, and other matters.

There's "more great music at Grebel" today, a flyer says, with a noon-time student recital starting at 12:30 in the Conrad Grebel College chapel, admission free. Students performing today -- and I'm sorry, I don't know what their instruments are -- include Anna Janecek, Hala Khalaf, Louise van Niekerk, Winnie Wong, Charmaine Martin, Angie Logan, Jennifer Vording, Deanne Hallman and Stacey Hoffman.

John Sheridan, vice-chair of Bell Canada, will speak today at a seminar sponsored by the Infranet Project. His topic: "Getting Smarter -- Speed and Growth in the Internet Economy". Sheridan is a UW graduate in environmental studies and has worked in cable television and other fields before taking over his senior position at Bell. An announcement says he "will discuss the values of speed and growth in the Internet economy and he will offer his perspective on how companies, communities and individuals can tap into these values. John will also share how Bell Canada is putting these values into action and ensuring its place as a leading Internet player."

"Jazz Goes to College" continues at the Graduate House tonight, with music from the Jackie Chalmers Trio from 7:30 to 11:00. (Friday night, the Grad House offers an end-of-term bash starting at 9:00, with a live band and door prizes.)

The Hindi Movie Club has a showing tonight at 9:15 in Davis Centre room 1302: the popular film "Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani". Tickets are for sale in advance, from 11:00 to 1:30 today in the Student Life Centre.

Mudie's cafeteria in Village I will hold a "Mini Trade Show" tomorrow from 11:30 to 2:30 (a change in date, as it was originally scheduled for today).

Advance word: auditions for this year's production of "Single and Sexy" will be held next Wednesday, April 5. The show goes on mostly in orientation week in September, and there are paid positions for seven actors (three female, four male), a male who is an "improvisational keyboard player", and a stage manager. Darlene Spencer in UW's drama department, who directs the show, can provide more information (ext. 3672). Auditions will be held in the Theatre of the Arts on April 5 from 2 to 6 p.m.

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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