Federal funding An announcement is expected today about federal funding for UW's north campus "research and technology park" -- the last piece of the puzzle, and one that will let construction of the park get started this spring. Federal cabinet minister Andy Mitchell, who is secretary of state for rural development and for the "federal economic development initiative for northern Ontario", will be making what's described as "a major funding announcement" during a visit to campus. The event is scheduled for 3 p.m. in the great hall of the Student Life Centre.

Hire a student, president urges

"I am writing to you today to ask for your help," says president David Johnston. "The current challenge is the slump in the economy which has adversely affected the ability of our students to secure co-op jobs for the upcoming January to April work term. In fact, there are still 900 students from all faculties with a variety of excellent and relevant skills requiring employment.

"Because co-op is a defining feature of our University, collectively we need to do all we can to ensure that it continues to succeed, and therefore continues to help maintain and build our reputation as an innovative, educational leader."

Who you gonna call? To discuss the possibility of hiring co-op students: Arts, Environmental Studies -- Shirley Thomson, ext. 3698, shirleyt@uwaterloo.ca Applied Health Sciences, Science -- Diane McKelvie, ext. 2438, mckelvie@uwaterloo.ca Mathematics, Accounting -- Ruth Hawes, ext. 2593, rhawes@uwaterloo.ca Engineering -- Janet Metz, ext. 3373, jmetz@uwaterloo.ca

His proposal: "If there are functions in your department that you could assign to one or more co-op students, you would be providing much-needed support. Please consider hiring a co-op student to conduct research, write reports, design documents, edit, do lab work, conduct experiments, create presentations, develop or revamp your Web site, do analysis, provide user support, chair meetings, participate in committee or team work, sell ideas, write code, or practically anything else that would provide a meaningful work experience.

"If hiring for the January term is not possible, let me urge you to review your needs for the May-August term. We anticipate that for the next few terms, we will have far more students than jobs."

Firm will create chair in e-commerce

CGI will spend a total of $1.5 million for the UW professorship and the creation of an e-commerce lab at the Université de Montréal.

The news release that made yesterday's announcement quotes Michael Roach, CGI's president for Canada and Europe: "This initiative will act as a catalyst in providing deeper understanding of which concepts of future e-business solutions are most likely to provide competitive advantages in key sectors including financial services, telecommunications and government. It enables the creation of targeted, high quality e-commerce solutions, while solidifying CGI's growth commitment to the Kitchener-Waterloo region where it is active in the insurance market serving such clients as Economical."

As a complement to this initiative, the release said, CGI "will seek a major client in each key sector to participate in the development of a world-class research centre of excellence with an emphasis on real business issues. The financial services research centre of excellence will be in the insurance field, one of CGI's strong and well-recognized areas of expertise.

"As part of the partnership, the University of Waterloo and CGI signed a protocol for a human resources stream that will facilitate academic exchanges including access to graduates and increased participation in the University of Waterloo's highly successful co-op programs."

"This project is based on the concept that research in e-business cannot be done well in discrete pieces, but requires a team approach with complementary expertise over a wide range of interest," said UW president David Johnston. "This is a model case of a university working hand-in-hand with a renowned business leader to create a win-win outcome."

Other notes The key control office will be closed today from 11:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The regular sale of surplus UW property will be held tomorrow, 11:30 to 12:30, at central stores, East Campus Hall.

Games museum mounts new show

Games are nothing new, says museum curator Bernie Range, a graduate student in the recreation and leisure studies department. "Evidence has been found in archaeological digs of early civilizations (6,000 to 9,000 years ago) pointing to the existence of games. Early games were symbolic representations of necessary social and skill behaviours, and were passed on from generation to generation as a way to teach others, especially the young, the skills needed to survive in the primitive and harsh world of that time.

"It has also been speculated that the element of chance in games is due to the notion that those who may not have been as physically capable of performing skills, could then play through the use of such things as dice, bones, spinners, counters, etc., that equalized games and levelled the playing field, so to speak.

"These and other ideas are presented as part of the new exhibit. Discover for yourself, as you think about why certain games appeal to you, and what draws you to a game."

As usual in the UW museum, he notes, the new exhibit features a hands-on opportunity for visitors to play and enjoy many games.

The museum is moving into its 32nd year, and has been on the ground floor of Matthews Hall (right) since the building opened in 1972. Its collection includes more than 5,000 objects -- many of which have been exhibited at various times, although for lack of space, others remain in storage. The games in the collection come from many parts of the world, and donations are always welcome. A few hundred of the items in the collection are documented on the museum web site, which features photographs, tours, and documentary text. Presented in the form of a "Virtual Exhibit", each documentary web page includes one or more illustrations of collection objects -- many of them photographed by Gerry Hagey, UW's founding president, who became a serious hobbyist photographer when he retired.

This fall, Range reports, the museum was selected to take part in a "virtual museum" project sponsored by the Canadian Heritage Information Network. "This project involves the creation of a virtual museum exhibit in conjunction with the North American Indigenous Games to be held in Winnipeg July 25 to August 4. A museum intern, Elena Ignatov, was hired to organize the digital content and images, and to coordinate our museum's efforts with the other institutions in North America working on this project," he adds.

The new exhibit will be open to the public until early May. Admission is free, although cash donations are welcome. Winter hours are currently set as follows: Mondays and Wednesdays from 11a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesdays and Thursdays 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Groups can make special arrangements for an appointment. The museum will be closed December 21 to January 7.

Staff leaders want to know about abuse

She's joined the association executive as a director, filling the term of Paul Ludwig of electrical and computer engineering, who resigned. "The reason is scheduling conflicts," says association president Ed Chrzanowski. "Being the head of ICR hardware has given him less time than he thought. He felt that he could not give as much time to the directorship as he originally had considered."

The December issue of Staff News, distributed last week, includes season's greetings to all, as well as several more substantive articles. One of them is a report on issues raised at the association's "town hall meeting" on October 10. (The next town hall meeting is scheduled for February 13.)

Clockwise from lower left: Steve Breen (president-elect), Avvey Peters (director), Brian Whitfield (director), Doug McTavish (treasurer), Barb Yantha (office manager), Anne Jenson (secretary), Walter McCutchan (past president), Nancy O'Neil (director), Bruce Woods (director), Chris Henderson (vice-president), Ed Chrzanowski (president).

Says one paragraph: "Edward Chrzanowski indicated that the SA Executive Committee is aware of cases of employee abuse. This issue can not be raised with UW's senior administration with rumours. Chrzanowski encouraged staff to share instances of abuse with the SA Exec. Committee by contacting the UWSA Members' Advisory Committee, ext. 3893 or 6487, or by mail to Staff Association Office, DC 3603."

On the opposite page, association vice-president Chris Henderson writes a little more about abuse, and ways of dealing with it at UW. "Abuse exists in several forms," says Henderson. "It can be obvious, as in the case of physical or sexual abuse. It can also be much more subtle, and thus, harder to identify. Many people experience the more subtle form of abuse -- emotional abuse -- without ever realizing that they are being abused. This type of abuse may come from a supervisor or co-worker and may be displayed in a verbal or written form."

Referring to UW policies and some departments that may help -- especially the office of ethical behaviour and human rights -- she notes that "It is every employee's right to work in a healthy environment."

CAR