Daily Bulletin

Staff candidates speak today Today's the day for the noontime open meeting introducing the two candidates to be president-elect of the staff association -- Ed Chrzanowski of math computing and Joe Szalai of the library. The question-and-answer session will start at 12 noon in Davis Centre room 1302 (or just possibly, I'm told, a larger lecture hall nearby; watch for signs).

Past president takes temporary role

Downey (left) was president of UW from 1993 until May 31, 1999. He's now on sabbatical leave, and was scheduled to be back on campus this fall, teaching in the department of English. He is cutting his sabbatical short, Johnston's announcement said. "He still hopes to teach in the fall term, as previously scheduled."

Said the president: "I am very grateful to Jim Downey for his willingness to help the university at this critical time. Jim is uniquely qualified to help as we develop plans for a major fund-raising campaign."

Downey himself had a brief comment: "I care deeply about this university, and am anxious to help in any way that I can. I am not a fund-raising expert, but I look forward to working with the excellent folk in development and alumni affairs. And, of course, I will be in close touch with Ian Lithgow to seek his advice and input." (Lithgow, VP for university relations since August 1997, has been under medical treatment for the past several months.)

Johnston's announcement said Downey started work in his new role yesterday, and will be attending the Executive Council's annual "retreat" at Kempenfelt Bay just before the Victoria Day weekend. The main agenda item at the retreat will be planning for the campaign, Johnston said. (At April's meeting of the UW board of governors, he said leaders are about to start work on a list of "academic priorities which we hope will be compelling and exciting" as the basis for the campaign. After it's discussed at Kempenfelt, a "plan" for the campaign will come to the UW senate and board of governors this fall and winter, the president said.)

Part of Downey's temporary role will be responsibility for the office of information and public affairs, which reports to the vice-president (university relations). The Daily Bulletin is among the products of the I&PA office.

Recreation grads explore their field

Presented by the Graduate Association for Recreation and Leisure Studies, the event is open to all students, faculty and staff interested in leisure research. This year, for the first time, other interested members of the public are also invited to attend. Also new this year is the panel discussion with past graduates on the joys and challenges they faced in the transition from student to recreation/tourism professional.

Objectives of the symposium are to advance the state of knowledge about leisure, recreation, and tourism through a public forum of shared research, and to facilitate scholarly communication among students and faculty.

Papers presented by graduate students may be either a completed research study or a work in progress. Both paper and poster presentations are included, and may include philosophical pieces, case studies, literature reviews, conceptual development papers, as well as completed empirical studies. Topics to be covered will include fan attraction and loyalty, body image among women in fitness clubs, conducting research and interviews via e-mail, and the characteristics of Taiwanese ecotourists.

Keynote speakers are Daniel Dustin of Florida International University, and UW kinesiology professor Nancy Theberge. Theberge has just completed a book on gender and sport. Her research, conducted with women who play ice hockey and their coaches and others involved in women's hockey, centred on "women's experiences of skilled bodily practice and the social and cultural conditions that structure this practice," and also on how women on a team develop community. Her keynote address examines the practical issues of ethnographic research and presents her findings about physicality and the formation of community in sport.

Space at the symposium is limited; more information is available at ext. 3894.

UW helps host Alzheimer conference -- based on a UW news release

How to make administrative and other changes that support a more compassionate care model is the essence of her message to participants at the Second Annual Conference on Designs for Dementia Care, to be held today and tomorrow at a Toronto hotel.

Malott, the director of UW's Murray Alzheimer Research and Education Program, will give a keynote address on how organizations can change their culture to improve quality of care for people with dementia.

"This is an important conference, as part of the Ontario Alzheimer Strategy and as an opportunity for care providers, including community, facility and family, as well as owners, managers, policy makers and architects and designers to learn together about the important and valuable influence of (nursing home) design," she said. "This is a very exciting time in this field. We are seeing new facilities and care models that reflect a positive response to the needs of people with Alzheimer's disease."

The conference features presentations from representatives of two MAREP Innovation Centre partners, Kitchener's Village of Winston Park and Barrie's Woods Park Care Centre. MAREP is a co-host of the conference along with the Alzheimer Society of Ontario, the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, and the Ontario Seniors' Secretariat.

At the six Innovation Centres, says Malott, "We take research off the shelf and use it to help people with Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia live better lives." Research is being done in reducing the use of restraints, enhancing the dining experience, advising on re-decor (results of this study will be presented at the next Canadian Gerontological Conference this fall) and staff training.

Malott defines a culture of care as one that "supports quality of life; where decision-making is shared with the family, and in which the resident also participates." Even for those unable to communicate, "We have to assume that on some level, they are still aware of what is happening to them." No wonder, she adds, that they long for the familiar comforts of home.

Among positive changes at leading nursing homes are creating smaller, more 'home-like' space (that look "more like a living room or a kitchen at home, rather than a treatment room"), with humanizing elements that include allowing residents to have their own possessions such as pictures on the walls in their rooms, the presence of plants and a resident cat or dog at the home, carpeting on floors, wider hallways, places for residents to wander safely, enjoy being outside and such simple pleasures as the opportunity to see a movie, help with a garden or listen to music as one chooses.

Other changes that are needed are lowering the resident-to-caregiver ratio, allowing for more personalized attention. Recent research shows that 5:1 is optimal for quality care, Malott said, but in Ontario facilities ratios can be 15:1 and higher.

A correction, a cancellation, and more

As for the cancellation . . . that would be the reception for UW alumni in the Ottawa area, which was to take place tonight at the Canadian Museum of Civilization. The event won't be happening, says Dave McDougall in UW's office of alumni affairs.

"Best sushi I have ever eaten," one alleged connoisseur says. "Darn good," says Mark Zanna, chair of UW's psychology department. The meal they're praising? The "absolutely outstanding sushi" that will be served at noontime today in the third-floor lounge of the PAS building. It's part of the psych department's series of weekly summertime luncheons, and will be served "completely vegetarian or a mixture of fish and vegetarian". Reservations were being taken yesterday at $4.99, but it's just possible there will be a little extra.

The department of sociology presents a colloquium today by Christian Fleck of the University of Graz. He'll speak (2 p.m., PAS room 2030) on "Long Term Consequences of Short Term Fellowships: German-Speaking Rockefeller Fellows, 1920s to 1960s". The talk is part of the Waterloo-Graz international exchange program.

The UW-based Carousel Dance Centre presents the second and final performance of its spring show tonight, offering Sleeping Beauty (ballet) and Millennium Memoirs (modern dance) performed by its students, who range from five-year-olds to university age. The show starts at 7 p.m. in the Humanities Theatre, and tickets are available at the Humanities box office, ext. 4908.

Here's an advance note that on Friday evening, UW's The New Quarterly holds its 20th anniversary celebrations -- "Writes of Spring" -- with readings by Di Brandt, silver medallist in the National Magazine Awards for a suite of poems first published in TNQ; Eric McCormack, who appeared in the first issue and has gone on to publish a series of macabre novels and short fiction; and Sandra Sabatini, a finalist for the 1999 Journey Prize for a story first published in TNQ, part of a forthcoming collection. The party takes place in the Fireplace Lounge, Sweeney Hall, St. Jerome's University. Tickets are $10 (call ext. 2837).

And the University Club sends word that there are still seats available for its Mothers' Day brunch on Sunday -- "Victorian baked French toast", roasted pork loin with mango and ginger sauce, grilled chicken with black bean and smoked tomato salsa, wild mushroom risotto, and a good deal more. There are sittings at 11:30 and 1:15, and reservations ($17.50 per person) can be made by phone, 888-4088.

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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