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Daily Bulletin

What if you could visit your future self? A ten-minute skit starring Chris Goddard and Brad Goddard explores the perspective of a student who gets to visit his recently-graduated future self. Things are not going too well for 'Future Chris' until 'Past Chris' decides to come to career services much sooner than planned. Sponsored by career services (of course), the skit ran on Tuesday and continues today from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. on the main floor of Needles Hall, just outside career services.

Next year, more residence rooms

Bud Walker, UW director of business services (and the administrator responsible for housing and residences), says there hasn't been a decision yet on whether Waterloo will "guarantee" an on-campus room to every first-year student. That word carries big weight when students are deciding which university to attend. But with or without a "guarantee", it should be possible for UW to find a room for everybody who wants one, Walker said.

There are always going to be some first-year students who prefer to live off campus -- with parents or spouses, or for other personal reasons. So Walker and his colleagues are estimating that 3,500 beds, which is the number that should be available in September 2001, are enough to meet the demand from a 4,100-student first-year class. What happens if the "double cohort" swells enrolment in 2003 and 2004 -- well, that's a whole different question.

Starting next fall, first-year students will occupy all the rooms in Village I, Ron Eydt Village, the Columbia Lake Townhouses, and the new Mackenzie King Village that's now under construction. The church colleges will continue to take a mixture of first-year and upper-year students, and some rooms for upper-year students will be available in UW Place on University Avenue.

Main features of the renovation and construction program that's under way:

Construction of Mackenzie King Village, which will provide some 300 beds at a cost of $15 million. The new residence (right) is going on a site -- formerly a parking lot -- between Village I and Ron Eydt Village, and is scheduled to open in September 2001.

Renovations at UW Place (left), where the "East Tower" is now Beck Hall, and 120 one-bedroom apartments have become 240 single rooms, with each pair of rooms sharing a kitchen and bathroom. They're being occupied for the first time this month. The "North Court" of two-bedroom apartments, now renamed Wellesley Court, will be emptied out at the end of this term and renovations will start to turn that building into single rooms as well. Similar work on the "West Tower", now Eby Tower, is scheduled to start in January 2002. The other three low-rise "courts" will continue to be apartment housing.

Creation of a "community centre" at the Columbia Lake Townhouses. Work is under way now and the new space should be ready in January, says Walker. It includes a suite for four dons, plus lounge and study space "similar to what's in Village I". A community area for the townhouses is desirable already, Walker said, but will be "essential" when the townhouses are fully occupied by first-year students, which will be the case starting next fall.

Also on the work schedule are renovations to the central complex at Ron Eydt Village, to bring it up to date like the community area in Village I. That project will be starting next year, Walker said.

Everybody's supposed to be asleep

(And while the first-year students sleep, key orientation organizers are being served breakfast -- by UW's deans and other senior administrators, rigorously trained for the occasion by an expert from the food services department.)

Tonight, the big deal in orientation is the Monte Carlo Night in the Student Life Centre. It's a dry event (no liquor anywhere in the SLC) and a cheap one in spite of the "semi-formal" dress code: "A $2 donation to Camp Trillium asked for at the door."

There are three performances of "Single and Sexy" today: at 11 a.m. (particularly for science students), 2:30 p.m. (engineering) and 4:30, all in the Theatre of the Arts.

And I can report that I've now had an explanation of "Under da sea" as the slogan on applied health sciences T-shirts: "It's sort of a nineties take on 'The Little Mermaid'." I trust everyone understands?

While brand-new students are getting oriented, brand-new graduate teaching assistants are getting trained, in programs of various kinds being held in most faculties and departments. In applied health sciences, a two-hour session this afternoon will touch on "classroom strategies", "ethical behaviour issues", and the specifics of TA work in kinesiology, recreation and health studies. Today also begins the two-day ExpecTAtions program run in the faculty of engineering, the math faculty offers a one-day "orientation seminar" for TAs, the modern language departments are running a joint program (using the new LT3 classroom in the Dana Porter Library), and there are programs for TAs in English, drama, psychology and sociology.

And the first of many tours and workshops planned by the UW libraries over the coming weeks is scheduled for today at 1:30. Graduate students are invited to meet at the Davis Centre Library information desk to "learn about facilities and services that will make your library research more effective". Similar sessions are scheduled for Monday through Thursday next week at various hours.

Set to serve super sub on Saturday

To capture the honour, the UW team must torpedo the current Long Sandwich statistic, achieved by a 365-foot, seven-inch (111.4-metre) cheese and steak sandwich in 1998.

Build a superbig sub and set a new record? Sounds pretty straightforward, says Mark Murdoch, UW's director of food services and originator of the Big Sub Challenge. The mega-sub will require 375 pounds of bread dough, 200 pounds of cold cuts, 150 pounds of lettuce, 100 pounds of tomatoes, 45 pounds of cheese and two gallons of mayonnaise, and it will take at least 50 staff and UW students to create this mega-sub, expected to be devoured by 3,000 or so students.

But there's a catch: Guinness judges insist that to qualify as one sandwich, the Big Sub must be made from one loaf of bread, not several pieces patched together. To get one very long bun for the supersub, Murdoch and chefs have helped develop a supersized bread oven designed to fit together in sections. Smaller models of the design were in the test-firing stage (pictured at left) a few days ago, says Murdoch, and "it looks good. We could have the world's first functional 500-foot bread oven that is portable (in 10-foot sections)." This means that the Big Sub Challenge "could become an annual UW event".

Details of the oven are a secret, says Murdoch, "but anybody who turns out on September 9 at the event near East Campus Hall will be able to see how we are doing it." Dough-making will start at 4 a.m. and baking around 8:30, in time for the sub to be ready to eat during the pep rally at 12:30. (Sub-sated revellers will then head off to University Stadium for the football game against McMaster.)

Guinness rules state that Big Food record-holders must be no different from their conventional-sized inspirations. To be recognized, Big Food contenders must be "totally edible" and judged "safe for the public to eat". Guinness requires that length and edibility are demonstrated in photos and video and witnessed by independent judges "of some standing in the community", one of whom must be a surveyor or professional "involved with weights and measures". Names of the UW Big Sub judges have not yet been confirmed.

Murdoch got the idea from the annual Maclean's magazine university ratings, which does not include a "great food" category. UW has done well in the annual survey and tops the list in the reputational category. "So why not some sort of record for student food?" Murdoch remembers wondering. "The Longest Pizza had recently been created, so why not the World's Longest Submarine Sandwich?"

The World's Longest Sub Challenge will also benefit needy students. Donations will go to the UW Federation of Students food bank.

UW wins awards for food services -- based on a release from the UW news bureau

UW Food Services recently received recognition with two awards from the National Association of College and University Food Services, trade association for food service professionals at more than 650 institutions in the United States, Canada and abroad. Results of the Loyal E. Horton Awards were announced at the NACUFS annual conference, held this year in Calgary, and UW placed third among "medium" sized institutions for residence dining and first in its category for catering. Judging criteria included quality, freshness, nutritional information, and appeal of both the food and the menu, variety, recipes, cost efficiencies and health and safety issues.

Approximately 25,000 people live, study, work and dine on the UW campus. "That's a lot of customers to please," says Murdoch, "and satisfying customers is the business we're really in. We don't just feed people. We offer them plenty of variety and choice." This means fresh fruit and vegetables, low-fat choices, a variety of places to eat scattered all across the campus -- from cozy coffee bars to large dining halls -- and providing full nutrition information.

The meals, designed by dietitian Linda Barton, offer plenty of healthy offerings for vegetarians, and other special dietary requirements, such as Halal (Muslim). In addition, there are such Sunday dinner "standards" such as beef bourguignon and curried beef, and perennials such as subs, hamburgers and lasagna.

Theme dinner nights are held several times during the month to make the dining experience fun and exciting. Food Services works with their suppliers to plan events that are authentic and offer entertainment such as Oktoberfest dancers, and prizes. This offers the students the opportunity to try different foods, meet with their friends, and take home a memento.

Adding to the convenience of on-campus eating is a web site where diners can check the offerings du jour at all of UW's food venues. All are also open to the public (such as visiting parents), "offering quality food and competitive prices," says Murdoch.

Student feedback is invited in a formal comment program, and all answers are looked after personally by contacting the customer and then posting the comment card and reply. Also giving students broader choice is the method of payment, via WatCard. This form of debit card can be used to buy almost anything (with the exception of alcoholic beverages) on campus and at selected near-campus venues. Students can eat where and when they want. "Late night, early morning, smaller portions for people who prefer to eat five or six smaller meals a day -- these are all innovations we've made to suit the times," Murdoch says.

"Forty years ago (in the early days at UW), it was all big cafeterias in huge halls and one big sit-down at a certain time. That's no longer how students want to eat. We're downsizing those big, impersonal places and putting in more smaller spaces with soft seating, low couches, coffee tables, or stools at window counters -- we recognize we feed a very diverse group of people who want individual choice."

Food Services also has a special program allowing parents and friends to send their student a special occasion treat, such as a birthday cake or special greeting goodie basket with a get-well or exam-survival theme. The program, in place for several years, was updated this year to include flowers, balloons and novelty items. A personalized card and message from the sender accompanies every order.

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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