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Daily Bulletin

Acting dean of math is named

She'll fill in for the dean, Alan George, who moves over to Needles Hall on January 1 to become acting vice-president (academic) and provost.

Thompson joined the UW faculty in 1969, right after completing her PhD at the University of Illinois. Her undergraduate degree in math is from Toronto. She served a term as associate dean (graduate studies and research) in math before becoming chair of the stats department in July 1996.

Said yesterday's memo from president David Johnston, announcing her appointment: "Her research interests include statistical estimation theory, inference for stochastic processes with applications to the health and environmental sciences, and survey methodology. She is Co-Director of the UW Survey Research Centre, and currently a member of the Advisory Committee on Statistical Methods of Statistics Canada. She is an elected member of the International Statistical Institute, and is a fellow of the American Statistical Association and of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics.

"On behalf of UW, I want to express my sincere appreciation to Professor Thompson for agreeing to accept this important responsibility. I know she can count on your cooperation and support."

By coincidence, her appointment means UW will have two deans named Thompson. John Thompson, no relation, is dean of science. The new dean of math is also not related to the assistant to the dean of math, Shirley Thomson (note the different spelling). Mary Thompson is, however, married to Carl Thompson of civil engineering.

'Casual' payroll will be monthly

A memo from Sandie Hurlburt of the payroll office in human resources explains the change:

"Over the past few years, the number of casual earnings payments at the University has more than doubled. This has resulted in considerably more work for departments, as well as Human Resources, in processing casual earnings requests. To cope with limited resources in both areas and this additional work, Human Resources will be moving to a monthly payroll cycle for employees on casual earnings. The paydate of February 2, 2001 will be the last biweekly casual pay date.

"For work performed from January 28, 2001 onwards casual earnings will be paid on the monthly schedule. Please refer to the Casual Payroll Schedule on our website. There will be a contingency plan to assist students if they require emergency funding during the initial transition period and you will be informed as soon as these procedures are finalized."

She continues, in a memo addressed to UW departments: "We are confident that these changes will result in smoother payroll processing, plus time saving for both Human Resources and your department."

The memo also notes that "information meetings" will be scheduled shortly to help staff who deal with payroll matters, such as administrative assistants, understand the system, "such as valid payroll account code combinations, benefits categories, new employee signup, and any other concerns you want to have addressed. These meetings will be announced shortly."

Profs call for more federal spending

Says a news release from the CAUT: "52% of Canadians say Ottawa should boost social spending. Only 21% say the surplus should first be used to cut taxes while 24% say it should be used to pay the debt. Support for reinvesting the surplus was highest in Atlantic Canada (69%), and amongst women (61%) and 18 to 24 year-olds (58%)."

"These results show there's a big gap in the current election campaign between the two leading parties' focus on tax cuts and what Canadians really want," said CAUT president Tom Booth.

CAUT, which represents faculty associations across Canada, commissioned the poll, which was conducted by Decima Research Inc. between October 17 and October 26. It says the poll found that "nearly 70% of Canadians are concerned that rising university and tuition fees are making it more difficult for people to get a university or college degree."

The Liberal government of Jean Chrétien, which is seeking re-election in Monday's federal vote, received "a poor grade" for its handling of post-secondary education. According to CAUT, 78 per cent of those who answered the poll say Ottawa "should be doing more to ensure that all qualified students can get a university or college education".

And more: "When asked to choose the two highest priorities of the next federal government, 70% of respondents picked health care and 46% identified education. 26% said reducing taxes and 27% said lowering the debt should be high priorities. The poll also reveals that 43% of Canadians think the federal government should take the lead in ensuring universities and colleges have the resources to provide Canadians with the education and skills they need. 30% identified the provinces and 19% said businesses."

Education is a provincial jurisdiction, Booth noted, "but Canadians feel there needs to be a strong federal role too."

Under a blanket of whiteness

Some of today's other events and activities, very briefly:

• The annual TexMex bake sale -- a fund-raiser for the Environment and Resource Studies 475T field trip to Texas and Mexico in February -- from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Environmental Studies I foyer.
• The senate graduate council, 9 a.m. in Needles Hall room 3004.
• A student recital at 12:30 in the Conrad Grebel College chapel, featuring pianists Jacinda Burden and Laila Brand; sopranos Elizabeth Russell, Gabriella Vegvari, and Anna Janecek, and saxophonist Derek Steinbach, all accompanied by Heidi Lindschinger on piano; Mandi Cox, mezzo, with soprano Karen Caruana.
• The senate research council, 1:30 p.m. in Needles Hall room 3004.
• Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System training, lasting about one hour, at 2 p.m. in Davis Centre room 1304.
• A talk by Helmut Konrad of the Karl Franzen Universität, Austria, about "Austria and Germany as Neighbours", at 4 p.m. in Modern Languages room 246.
• "A Celebration of 100 Years of Quantum Mechanics", from 4:30 to 7:30 in Physics room 145, sponsored by the Guelph-Waterloo Physics Institute and the Guelph-Waterloo Centre for Graduate Work in Chemistry and Biochemistry.
• A preview of the fine arts department's fourth annual miniature art sale and open house, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (and again tomorrow and Thursday) in East Campus Hall. The sale itself runs through the weekend, starting Friday from 4 to 8 p.m.
• The Hindi Movie Club, in association with the Federation of Students and Student Life Centre, presents "International Flavours", a multicultural celebration. "Performances, exhibits, and food are all on the table," organizers say, and the Hindi film "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" will be shown. The event runs from 6:00 to midnight in the Great Hall of the SLC. Proceeds will go to the Hospital for Sick Children ($2 donations are encouraged).
• A preview performance of the drama department's "The Merchant of Venice", which opens its regular run tomorrow. Tonight's performance is for invited guests, including students on the dean's list in the faculty of arts. And tonight's performance is at 7 p.m., not the 8:00 that will be the regular showtime for the rest of the week.

Looking ahead . . . the music department at Conrad Grebel College has sent word that its annual noon-hour concert in the Davis Centre great hall is scheduled for Wednesday, December 6. And I've been told that the traditional carol-sing in the Modern Languages lobby will be held at noontime on Thursday, December 14.

Also on a pre-Christmas theme, Austin Hung of the Circle K Club has a message:

Please join in filling a shoe box for Operation Christmas Child. Last year 107 shoe boxes were collected at UW, part of 494,225 collected in Canada, and sent to a child in one of over sixty-five countries, including Costa Rica, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Belize, Guatemala, Mexico, Brazil, Cambodia, Vietnam, Benin, Kosovo, Ivory Coast, or Sierra Leone.

Operation Christmas Child is once again being jointly organized by the Circle K club and the Navigators club. Together, we have set a new goal to collect 150 boxes across campus. We can send you a brochure, or you are welcome to pick one up our display table during the lunch hours (11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.) in the Student Life Centre on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday and on the 3rd floor of MC on Thursdays.

Filled boxes may be dropped off at the display centre, at the Turnkey desk 24 hours a day (care of Nancy O'Neill, ext. 6283), or at Karen Kopciuk's office (Math and Computer room 6227).

"Looking for a challenge?" asks the Volunteer Action Centre. "If you possess excellent problem-solving skills and have a strong desire to make a real difference in your community, Partners in Literacy needs your help. We are seeking dynamic, creative and solution-focused professionals to assist with the development and operation of a charitable foundation that will support local literacy programs.For more information about this exciting opportunity, please call." The number at the VAC is 742-8610.

Indeed, people at UW keep helping in so many ways. The post-campaign news from Chandrika Anjaria, co-chair of UW's United Way effort, is particularly cheering: "Today we reached $157,788.23." That's well ahead of the campus's $142,000 goal, and money is still coming in to support the 50-some United Way agencies, she says, sending thanks to donors and also to the volunteers, department representatives and others who did so much this year. There will be a wrap-up United Way lunch on December 5.

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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