Flu shots will be available

"Enjoy a flu-free winter!" is the come-on. "Again this year Health Services is co-ordinating and sponsoring the on-campus flu immunization campaign, in partnership with the Waterloo Region Community Health Dept. All Ontario residents are eligible for free flu vaccine. (Injection fee may apply for patients with Quebec or Out of Country health coverage.) Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health recommends immunization of all persons in Ontario over 6 months of age."

The immunization program starts with an effort to reach "high-risk" people, including those with existing medical problems. Vaccine is available now for students in the "high-risk" category says health services. "This immunization is available through a nurse visit. Employees are encouraged to visit their family doctor's office for the vaccine."

People at "high risk" include those with chronic heart or lung disorders, diabetes or other metabolic diseases, cancer, kidney disease, anemia, immunodeficiency (including HIV infection), immunosuppression (that includes transplant recipients) and hemoglobinopathy.

Also at high risk are people over 65 (but there won't be too many students in that category) and people who live, work or volunteer in nursing homes, hospitals and similar places. Also included are "children and adolescents (aged 6 months to 18 years) treated for long periods with acetylsalicylic acid", as well as health care workers and emergency service workers.

Once the "high-risk" folks are taken care of, "vaccine for the healthy population will be arriving by the last week of October," says nurse Linda Grant (pictured above) at health services.

"Immunization of all healthy adults on campus, students and employees, will be provided by UW Health Services." Clinics will be held in the Student Life Centre on October 30 and 31 and November 1, 5 and 6.

"Why should healthy people get the vaccine?" an information sheet asks. Answer: "An annual flu shot is the best protection against the flu. The vaccine is 70 to 90% effective in preventing flu in healthy adults. Healthy people should get vaccinated to protect themselves and their families from influenza; to avoid missing quality time (including holidays) with their family; to avoid losing time from work and school; and to avoid spreading the virus to others.

"Even healthy young people can become quite ill and bring the influenza virus home to a baby, an older relative, or someone with a medical condition, who is at risk for serious complications from influenza."

And the sheet stresses: "The vaccine does not give you the flu and it does not contain live viruses."

There are some people who shouldn't get flu shots: anyone with a serious allergy (anaphylaxis) to egg or egg products or to any component of the vaccine; thimerosal, neomycin, gelatin, or who has had a serious allergic reaction to a previous dose of the vaccine. "People with Guillain-Barre syndrome should consult their physician."

New Quest help desk The registrar's office has opened a new customer service area to help people face-to-face when they have difficulties with Quest, the online student information system. "We can problem-solve with the student and give step-by-step assistance," explains Debbie Knepper of the admissions and records section in the registrar's office. The new service desk is on the second floor of Needles Hall, at the wickets across from the main entrance to the registrar's office. Quest help will be available there from 9 to 12 and 1 to 4, Monday to Friday. Other ways of getting help with Quest: e-mail quest@uwaterloo.ca, or phone ext. 6644 (undergraduates) or ext. 6035 (graduate students).

How the pension fund is doing

The "actuarial value", calculated in a different way to reduce the effect of short-term swings in stock prices, was $667 million, the report also says. Either way, there was a comfortable surplus above the pension fund's liabilities, calculated at $593 million.

Yes, January 1 was a long time ago and there have been downs (and also some ups) in the stock market since then. At the beginning of this year, the TSE 300 index was at about 8700; this week, it's hovering around 7000. Catharine Scott, associate provost (human resources and student services), said yesterday that the P&B committee will be "vigilant" about the possibility that the amount of money going into the pension fund will need to be increased soon to keep the fund in good shape.

Contributions to the fund -- from UW and from individual employees -- have been at reduced levels since the spring of 1997. At one point they were as low as 25 per cent of normal, and since last spring they've been at 40 per cent of the normal level, with a tentative plan to raise that to 60 per cent in the spring of 2002. Scott said the P&B committee will look at whether contributions need to go up to 60 per cent of normal sooner than that.

The pension fund is solid and people's pensions are guaranteed, Scott stressed, but the committee wants to act quickly if necessary, rather than waiting until big transfusions of money are needed, which could hurt the university's budget badly.

She noted that while the majority of the fund is invested in stocks, both Canadian and foreign, it does include $140 million in "real return bonds", which aren't affected by the volatile stock market.

During 2000, the pension fund's investments yielded 8.04 per cent in interest, the report to the board says.

The board is also being told that as of July 1, 2001, retired staff and faculty saw their pensions increased by 2.68 per cent. Unlike many pension plans, UW's plan offers annual indexing to increases in the Consumer Price Index.

Preparations for technology conference

This year's CUTC will be held January 17 to 19, says accountancy student Elaine Lee, one of the organizers:

Despite all the headlines revolving around terrorism and hints of an oncoming economic recession, it is always nice to hear that UW spirit is able to continue to thrive.

Begun by visionary UW students two years ago, CUTC is about technology, but it's also about ideas, communities, and people who make technology matter. In the past two years, the CUTC has continually raised student interest in the cutting edge of research technology. A tradition begun by University of Waterloo students, CUTC has grown to bring together over 500 conference delegates from across the country.

To accommodate its growing numbers, this year's conference is moving to the International Plaza Hotel and Conference Centre in Toronto.

This year's conference promises to focus on five key streams: Entrepreneurship and Leadership, Digital Media, Next-Generation Technology, Intelligent Systems, and Technology in Society.

It's clear and cold (it's cold, that's clear)

As the United Way campaign continues, raising a six-figure sum from UW staff and faculty to support local charities, somebody on campus is also winning. The first draw prize for United Way donors goes to . . . drum roll . . . Michael Ross, of the department of psychology, who collects a $100 gift certificate from the University Club. The on-campus campaign continues through the end of October.

Note from St. Paul's United College: Lee Maracle, "a member of the Sto:loh nation, mother of four and grandmother of four", is on campus this fall to teach and lecture. "She is currently the Traditional Cultural Director for the Centre for Indigenous Theatre and the Aboriginal Mentor at Transitional Year Program at the University of Toronto." Maracle is teaching Canadian Studies 365K on Tuesday nights this term, under the title "Discovering Indigenous People", and she'll give the Stanley Knowles Lecture next Tuesday night in the Humanities Theatre, under the title "Sharing Space and Time: Aboriginal People in Canada".

"Mad scientists" from UW's faculty of science will be visiting Empire Public School in Waterloo this afternoon, to show kids some eye-catching demonstrations (including "turbo-pumpkins") and draw attention to a faculty of science open house on Saturday. The open house, held each year on the day of fall convocation, will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is aimed at primary school children and their families.

The survey research centre presents a talk this afternoon by David Northrup of York University, under the title "To Tell the Truth: The Problem of the Self-Report in Survey Research". His talk begins at 3:30 in PAS (Psychology) room 2030.

The architecture school's Thursday night series continues tonight, with words from adjunct professor Andrew Levitt: "Architecture at Night: The Role of the Unconscious". He'll speak at 7:00 in the "green room", Environmental Studies II room 280.

Tomorrow and Saturday will bring the "11th Midwest and 1st Central Canada Relativity Meeting", to be held in the Davis Centre, hosted by UW's department of physics. "This," says physics chair Robert Mann, "is an all-day meeting in which researchers working in gravitation, general relativity, cosmology and astrophysics gather together to present the latest results of their research."

Also tomorrow: Rudy Wiebe, two-time recipient of the Governor General's Award for fiction, will read from and discus his new novel Sweeter Than All the World at 12:30 in the boardroom at Conrad Grebel College. "The novel," reports somebody who has read it, "meshes the history of the Russian Mennonites with a modern love story." Everyone is welcome to attend.

And tomorrow brings a major lecture by ozone scientist Sherwood Rowland, who's at UW to receive an honorary degree on Saturday. He'll speak on "Stratospheric Ozone Depletion and Global Climate Change", at 2 p.m. in the Humanities Theatre.

Saturday night, the Federation of Students presents a night of folk music to benefit the Judy Cardiff Memorial Foundation -- a concert by Craig Cardiff, starting at 8:00 in the Humanities Theatre. Tickets are $6 in advance from the Humanities box office.

St. Jerome's University has announced the date for its second annual trivia challenge: Friday, November 2. "You and a table of seven fellow trivialities," a news release explains, "pool your collective intelligence to answer one hundred brain teasers in a range of categories." Harry Froklage at St. Jerome's, 884-8111 ext. 255, has tickets at $12 per person, $75 for a table of eight.

Finally . . . I'm going to be off at a conference for the next couple of days; Avvey Peters here in information and public affairs will see to posting the Bulletin Friday and Monday.

CAR