21 faculty members took part in a workshop series under the title "Redesign for Learning", held this fall by the LT3 teaching and learning centre. Says Diane Salter of the LT3 staff: "This series is not a 'how to' in terms of technology use. Rather, it is a 'why to' designed to help faculty who would like to enhance a course with an online component. The focus is to help faculty determine how online tasks can be designed to suit their course objectives. The emphasis is on designing Learning Tasks and Feedback that can help students to meet course objectives." The series will be offered again in the winter term.

Students begin voting on new fee

"Students are invited to use their home computers or the campus computer labs," says Brandon Sweet, chief returning officer for the Federation of Students, which is conducting the vote on whether students support a new fee to pay for expanding recreational and social facilities.

Alternatively, said Sweet, voters can wait until tomorrow and vote at polling stations on campus. The referendum continues until 4:15 p.m. Thursday, with on-line voting possible 24 hours a day. On-campus polling stations will be open from 9:15 to 4:15 tomorrow and Thursday in the Arts Lecture Hall; Biology I room 266; the foyer of Siegfried Hall, st. Jerome's University; Carl Pollock Hall foyer; the great hall of Village I; the third floor of Math and Computer; and Davis Centre room 1301.

The ballot asks undergraduate students whether they wish to contribute an additional $13.80 per term to pay for an expansion of the Student Life Centre, construction of an additional gym at the Columbia Icefield, construction of a fitness and conditioning facility at the Icefield, and construction of a women's hockey dressing room.

Pros and cons on the Feds' web site Summary of coverage from 'uwstudent.org' Controversy over referendum wording

Total estimated cost of the projects is $4,890,450. The $13.80 per term non-refundable fee would be paid for 25 years or until the projects are paid off, whichever comes first. If it's approved, in the referendum and then by UW's board of governors, the fee would be added to undergraduate fee statements when at least three of the facilities are open for student use.

The proposal represents student involvement in UW's planned Campaign Waterloo, which will aim to raise a total of $260 million for buildings, scholarships, faculty chairs and other projects.

The Yes committee formed in support of the proposal says it "is in the best interests of all students to vote to expand the Student Life Center and the North Campus recreational facilities in order to increase the quality of student life." The No committee argues that "while the proposal may have merit, the method of proposing it has been downright shoddy. For this reason alone, students should stand up for themselves and vote NO."

The question on the ballot reads: "Do you support the construction of an expansion of the Student Life Centre and the North Campus Athletic facilities as detailed in the Waterloo Campaign: Student Projects document through the addition of a non-refundable $13.80 fee to the fee statement?"

Midnight Sun survives tornado

"The car was hit by a whirly-whirly, which is a mini-tornado. The car was partially lifted off the ground and set back down in the middle of the road. The people in the chase vehicle reported that the front right tire was off the ground by at least a foot and a half. After regaining every bodies composure, and coming along side to check out the vehicle we resumed our previous cruising speed and continued along to Tennant Creek, the 3rd media stop. Kudos go out to the mechanical and frame groups for such a robust design, as there was not a scratch on the car after being hit.

"Along the way at noon we actually passed the 2nd day camping spot for Midnight Sun V. This means that we are approximately a half-day ahead of our progress two years ago, perfect proof that we have made significant improvements to this year's car.

"After the media stop we slowed the car down because we weren't getting enough power from the array. We stopped 3 minutes early because we found a good charging spot about 10 km from Devils Marbles, about 1,082 km from Darwin." That's more than a third of the way along the WSC route to Adelaide.

Germanic and Slavic profs said overworked

Members of the German Club make pfeffernüsse for St. Nicholas Day 1999

GSS is one of five departments whose reviews were finished this year and reported to senate by Bruce Mitchell, associate vice-president (academic). Says Mitchell: "The Department today offers one of the largest undergraduate and graduate Germanic and Slavic programs in Canada, and is the only Germanic-Slavic program in Canada to offer graduate programs at both the MA and PhD levels. Students may study German, Dutch, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish and Croatian languages, literature and cultures."

In 1999-2000, the department had 11.5 full time equivalent faculty, as well as sessional appointments. " In the past seven years," the report notes, "the number of faculty has decreased from 15 to 11.5. The normal teaching load is 6 on-campus courses per academic year, plus a distance education course, plus graduate student supervision. Junior faculty also have this work load from the beginning of their appointments. This is one of the heaviest work loads for comparable programs in Canada."

Most of it is service teaching, as fewer than 10 per cent of the students in German or Slavic courses are majoring in those fields. Says Mitchell's report: "Results from course evaluations and comments from students during the site visit indicate that the students are very satisfied with the teaching. They also appreciate the small classes and high degree of personal interaction with faculty. . . . The review team noted that the graduate programs are small but healthy, and are effectively taught and well managed.

"The faculty have active research programs. The review team noted that two faculty rank among the top world-class German scholars in Canada."

A strength for the department is the German heritage in Kitchener and Waterloo. There are strong connections with local German groups, and the Slavic program has similar links -- the Chair in Croatian Studies, the only one of its kind in North America, was founded in 1988 with a $800,000 gift from the Croatian community.

The review team observed that GSS "is playing a unique and important role within the university, within the province and with Canada as a whole", and "has done particularly well in adapting to the rapid transformation of its two disciplines on the one hand to the University of Waterloo's particular mission of linking the transfer of knowledge and cultural enrichment to the 'real world' on the other."

But the reviewers expressed concern that the diversity or breadth in programs "are stretching human and financial resources to the limit". They suggested collapsing some courses, or offering some courses in alternate years. They also expressed concern about the poor state of instructional equipment, particularly the language laboratories, and noted that one of the labs has equipment which is two decades old.

Some opportunities to volunteer

"These are also great opportunities for high school students, individuals or families." Here are some needs the VAC suggests that people could help meet:

• Gift wrapping help is needed by Anselma House at Fairview Park mall December 1-15 and Market Square December 21-23; Epilepsy Waterloo-Wellington at Conestoga Mall during the day December 1-24 and Waterloo Town Square on December 24; Family and Children's Services at Conestoga Mall December 1-24.
• Anselma House Christmas Bureau at Market Square needs volunteers to accept and sort gifts for women and children from December 1st-23rd.
• Family and Children's Services are looking for courier volunteers to pick up donations, as well as administrative volunteers to stuff envelopes and collate information packages. Volunteers are also invited to get involved with the annual CHYM Tree of Hope Radio-thon taking calls on the pledge line and accepting donations.
• House of Friendship Christmas Hamper Project welcomes volunteers to pack hampers and/or deliveries. Packing help is needed December 10-21 and deliveries will take place December 14-21. Great for families, couples or groups; flexible shifts are available.
• K-W Christmas Bureau is looking for clerical volunteers to answer the telephone and help process applications for Christmas Assistance.
• Food Bank of Waterloo Region needs truck drivers and driver assistants to help one morning a week with pick up and deliveries.

In this land of sun and snow

• Admission requirements for 2003 (two sets of them, since UW will be getting new students from both the existing Ontario high school program and the new one, in the notorious "double cohort").
• Calendar dates for 2002-03 -- looks as though fall classes will begin on Monday, September 9, and winter classes on Monday, January 6.
• Policies and procedures for "changes to class marks submitted by instructors" -- an issue the provost has asked academic bodies across campus to consider.

Meanwhile, the meeting of the senate graduate council that was scheduled for today has been cancelled, the university secretariat advises.

Christina Cella, president of the Chemistry Club, sends word of a lively day today, featuring an auction: "On the block are the Chem Club Executive, as well as Prof. Carey Bissonnette. The auction will be held from 1 to 2 p.m. at the egg (otherwise known as Break) between the Math building and Chemistry II, if weather permits. If not, the auction will be held in the Chem Lounge, C2-172. The auctioneer is Dr. Terry McMahon, chair of the chemistry department. The minimum starting bid is $2, with all proceeds going to the UW Student Food Bank. Spectators can also bring food donations which we will pass on to the food bank. In addition, there will be a barbecue. Those auctioned off will be slaves, or personal assistants, for a day. They will carry books, take notes, wash cars, whatever their 'owner' feels like getting them to do, within reason, of course."

"Taciturnity", an exhibition of landscape works by fourth-year fine arts students Oonagh Fitzpatrick, Marian Davies and Rojia Dadashzedeh, will officially open today with a reception from 7 to 9 p.m. in the East Campus Hall front gallery. The exhibition runs through November 24.

Coming tonight at Conrad Grebel University College is a lecture that's so big it seems to have three titles: "The Imagery of Frankenfoods: In the Chamber of Risks: Understanding Risk Controversies". The speaker is William Leiss (left), president of the Royal Society of Canada and a professor of policy studies at Queen's University, and the event is the inaugural event in the Gudrun and Hari Sharma Lecture Series. The philosophy department is helping to sponsor the talk, in which Leiss will talk about risk and how the public (and decision-makers) understand it. "The main examples to be used," he reports, "are the long-running battle over genetically modified foods, the coming battles over manipulations of human genetics, and the failure to achieve a balanced appraisal of global climate change risks." The lecture starts at 7:30 p.m. in Grebel's great hall.

Looking ahead: Don Morrison, chief executive of Research in Motion, is speaking tomorrow night at Kitchener's Bingeman Park, under the auspices of the Canadian Management Association and others, and students are offered half-price tickets -- that makes the price $20. The school of accountancy office in the Humanities building has the tickets for sale and also has information about rides from campus to Bingemans and back.

And Thursday night brings a major UW event in Ottawa, a reception for alumni at the West Block of the Parliament buildings, hosted by cabinet minister Don Boudria, who earned his degree from UW two years ago. The reception was originally to be held in September, but was cancelled after the terrorism crisis hit. It's now scheduled for Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m. Jeff Newell in UW's alumni affairs office (phone ext. 5310) should have last-minute information.

Finally . . . I've been asked to make it clear that it was the Sai Baba Group, and not the South Asian Students Association, that sponsored last week's Diwali celebrations in the Student Life Centre. "It is sad to see others assuming that all 'Indian' groups come under the same wing," says Amit Bakshi of Sai Baba. "Not all South Asians are Hindu. There are no tensions -- there are just different groups."

CAR