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Daily Bulletin

About that $200 Ontario cheque

That's the suggestion, anyway, from Bonnie Oberle in UW's office of development, who says some people have already endorsed their "Taxpayer Dividend" cheques over to the university when they arrived from the Ontario government.

Cheques are being mailed this month to some five million taxpayers, in a gesture that uses up some of the provincial budget surplus and emphasizes the tax-cut philosophy of premier Mike Harris (left, in a photo op with a giant cheque).

"Now that we've balanced the budget, it's time to give something back to the taxpayers," Harris said in a recent news release. "After all, government must never forget that it's the taxpayers' money. "These cheques are a reminder that the surplus belongs to the people of Ontario, not the government."

The Taxpayer Dividend adds up to $1 billion, the government says, with everyone who paid $200 or more in Ontario income tax last year due to receive that amount. "Keep checking your mailbox, because the $200 cheques will be mailed out throughout October," Harris said.

A number of organizations have suggested that taxpayers turn over their cheques to charity, arguing that another effect of the Harris government's policies has been to increase the number of people in the province who need help.

Now comes the invitation to "donate your dividend" to UW. The development office has a display ad making that suggestion in this morning's Gazette. "By donating your $200 cheque," it says, "you'll be helping maintain Waterloo's position as the Best Overall university in Canada -- and also receive an official receipt for your 2000 tax return.

"You can even double the value of your $200 if you designate it for the Senate Scholarship Funds, the Retirees' Bursary Fund or CUPE Local 793 Award (all these are matched 1:1 by UW). . . .

"Simply sign your cheque and mail it to the Office of Development, South Campus Hall." For more information, Oberle can be reached at boberle@uwaterloo.ca.

The pension savings I made an embarrassing mistake in the Bulletin yesterday, talking about the amount of money that UW has temporarily saved through reduced contributions to the faculty and staff pension plan. I wrote: "Pension contributions have been reduced by 75%, resulting in temporary operating budget savings of about $6,500 per year." Not surprisingly, somebody responded in in uw.general: "Is this a typo? 75% of normal pension contributions is $6,500? If this is the real number why do we keep hearing about this savings. I'm surprised $6,500 even shows up on the radar. Now if it was $650,000 I could see why this number keeps coming up." In fact, it's more than that -- the correct number is $6,500,000 that UW will have to find each year once the temporary reduction ends. I left off three zeroes from the number as quoted yesterday. Lazaridis degree Mike Lazaridis, co-founder of Research In Motion, did not -- as I wrongly said yesterday -- "receive his own UW degree in electrical engineering fifteen years ago". Media reports following his contribution of $100 million to launch the Perimeter Institute for theoretical physics have noted that he left UW shortly before graduating, to devote full attention to RIM -- though I see the Globe and Mail also got it wrong. With the honorary DEng he received on Saturday, though, Lazaridis is now undoubtedly a UW graduate.

In search of a new provost

The first step is election of members to a nominating committee. Here's the official notice from the university secretariat.

Faculty

Should a decision be made to split the Vice-President, Academic & Provost portfolio, this Committee will serve as the nominating committee for the Vice-President, Academic position.

The nominating committee also includes two students, one member of the board of governors, and someone from the church colleges. As the secretariat's memo notes, it's chaired by the president.

Nortel holds special day Thursday

Disruptive? The good old peaceful Internet? How can this be?

It revolutionizes the whole digital information economy. Do you want to know the next potential industry disruption and a new business model? Do you want to understand the concept of "edge-driven" network and understand what is beyond the "routers and the router-based protocol"? If the answer is "Yes", and you want to understand how virtual communities can be developed in cyberspace, and its enabling software technologies, please come and participate.

Some of the speakers' titles provide clues to the way Nortel thinks. The day starts with a 10:15 a.m. talk on "The New World of Communications" by Claudine Simson, "Vice-President, Disruptive Technology, Network and Business Solutions". At 11:00, it's "Disruptive Markets", by Marek Wernik, "Director of Disruptive Market and Business Solutions".

Following lunch, at 2:00, Yuk-Wha Li, "Director, Strategic and Business Planning", speaks on "Telecom Market Dynamic". At 3:00, Clifford Grossner, "Manager, Disruptive Network Services Solutions", speaks on "Applications Services for Virtualized Networks". Finally, at 3:45, Richard Vickers, "Director of Disruptive Network Solutions", speaks on "Network Architecture for the Next Generation Internet".

The event will be held in the Davis Centre. People who want to attend are being asked to RSVP by e-mail (NNI@ece.uwaterloo.ca).

The Nortel Networks Institute for Advanced Information Technology was established at UW last year "to create global leadership in advanced information technology research, innovation, education and training".

An NNI web site has just been launched, says Matthew Lok, senior manager of the Institute, "to facilitate the knowledge interaction between the university and the industry. The soon-to-be developed 'Come-Together Cafe' will provide an engine to turn the wheel of learning -- asking questions, developing ideas, testing the hypothesis and reflecting on the results."

What's happening around here

A blood donor clinic continues (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) in the Student Life Centre, today and again tomorrow.

Noontime brings the first of two talks on "Enhancing Self-Esteem", by Tom Ruttan, who's based in UW's counselling services department. "A person's self-esteem can be enhanced in a number of ways," he writes, "including learning how to understand, accept and nurture ourselves, along with learning how to change our thinking about ourselves." The talk, sponsored by the Employee Assistance Program, starts at 12:00 in Doug Wright Engineering room 3522. Part two will come at the same time and place next Wednesday, November 1.

Mark McArdle, vice-president of MyCIO.Com, speaks at 2:30 this afternoon (Davis Centre room 1302) in a seminar organized by the InfraNet Project. His topic: "(In)Security in the Smart Community". "With the sacred freedom of communication comes a dark side," McArdle warns. "What should academia, industry, government and the citizenry do to ensure that the Smart Community is a Safe Community?"

The UW Shop in South Campus Hall is having a surprise sale, today through Friday. Says Jason MacIntyre of retail services: "There are great bargains to be found at our Concourse Clearance Sale. A wide range of UWShop clothing, gifts, and crested products are being cleared out at rock-bottom prices. Come early for the best selection."

An exhibition titled "Times of Uncertainty" -- paintings (1983-1999) by Doug Kirton -- opens today in Gallery I in East Campus Hall, and will run through December 9. There will be a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. today.

Novelist Wayson Choy will read at St. Jerome's University this afternoon. A little background from the hosts:

Vancouver's Chinatown has proven to be rich literary turf for writer Wayson Choy. In 1995, his first novel, The Jade Peony, excited readers and reviewers with its portrait of that unique community. Wayson revisits Chinatown in his most recent book, a highly personal memoir, entitled Paper Shadows (Penguin), which has just been short-listed for both the Governor General's Award for Non-Fiction, and the new Drainie-Taylor Biography Prize. Born in Vancouver, Wayson has spent much of his life engaged in teaching and writing in Toronto. Since 1967, he has been a professor at Humber College and also a faculty member of the Humber School for Writers.

"Grimm Tales" opens today in Studio 180 in the Humanities building -- the drama department's first production of the year. There are school matinees starting today, and public performances Friday night, Saturday afternoon and Saturday night (tickets from the Humanities box office).

There will be a meeting of the UWStudent.Org media corporation at 7:00 tonight in Humanities room 334. "Everyone is welcome," says George Roter, one of the organizers, "and we will be discussing a variety of subjects including organizational development, editorial operations and technical operations."

Looking ahead, tomorrow (Thursday) night brings a public lecture by Howard Pawley, former premier of Manitoba and the current Stanley Knowles Visiting Professor in Canadian Studies. He'll speak at 7:30 tomorrow night in the Humanities Theatre, on "The Choice We Face as Canadians: Is Survival Running from Our Friends?"

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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