Wacky hair day All kinds of crinal outrage will be endured today, but it's in a good cause. It's been declared "Wacky Hair Day" for the sake of the United Way campaign. Some 30 prominent people from across campus -- including the provost, several deans, and co-op director Bruce Lumsden -- have agreed to "get hairified in the Secretariat's Wacky Hair Salon" on the third floor of Needles Hall. Spectators are welcome, at hairdressing appointments that run every 15 minutes from 11:30 to 1:15. "Then donate to United Way," explains organizer Trenny Canning. "Or pop in to administrators' offices, view the hairror, and donate." With just a few days to run, the United Way campaign stands at $129,680 -- some $20,000 short of its $150,000 goal for this year.

Future students explore campus

Several places to eat will be open, as future students by the hundreds are expected to check out Waterloo, attend information sessions and see what residences and libraries look like, as well as trying the food. It's the annual "You@Waterloo Day", organized by the student recruitment office to complement the traditional spring Campus Day.

Last year the day drew about 3,000 people, roughly half students and half parents and siblings, says Heather MacKenzie of the visitors' centre. She's predicting a similar turnout for this year. Visitors are encouraged to register in advance, but it's not required. As of midafternoon yesterday, about 1,400 people had clicked on the web site to say they're coming.

They may well be greeted by snow, and the Student Life Centre will be the place to warm up. Information booths from the faculties and colleges will be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. tomorrow in the SLC, and campus tours will leave from there every hour.

Briefings about the specific faculties are scheduled at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.. Locations: AHS, the Clarica Auditorium in Matthews Hall; arts, Arts Lecture room 116; engineering, the Humanities Theatre; architecture, ES II room 286; the rest of environmental studies, ES I room 132; science, Biology I room 271; and math, Davis Centre 1351.

In addition there will be sessions about the co-op program, starting at 11:30 and 1:00 in the Humanities Theatre.

Guides will take visitors from the SLC to all these sessions, or they can get their on their own, exploring the campus along the way. Residence tours are also planned, and the church colleges, the libraries and the bookstore and computer store are welcoming visitors. A leaflet being distributed to visitors as they arrive has all the details.

Senator highlights weekend's war talk

Jointly sponsored by the Waterloo Public Interest Research Group, St. Jerome's Centre for Catholic Experience, Muslim Students Association, Project Ploughshares, and others, the free, public event has been organized in response the September 11 attacks on the United States.

Canadian Senator Douglas Roche (right) will lead off the teach-in with a forum on the role Canadians can play in urging responsible reactions by the Canadian government to the events of September 11. Roche at one time chaired the United Nations disarmament committee, and has also worked for the Vatican on this issue. "His Catholic credentials are impeccable," says David Seljak of St. Jerome's. "It is a privilege to have him at St. Jerome's."

Seljak notes that Roche had been invited "months in advance" to speak at the college this weekend. "His topic, Bread Not Bombs, has unfortunately become all the more timely since September 11. In response to that tragedy, the St. Jerome's Centre for Catholic Experience has joined with the Waterloo Public Interest Research Group to sponsor a forum on justice, peace, and revenge."

Activities begin with a "forum" at 4:30 today, in the Sweeney Hall cafeteria, in which Roche will discuss "the role Canadian citizens can play in urging for responsible reactions by the Canadian government to current events".

Then at 7:30, in Siegfried Hall, the senator will give the 2001 John Wintermeyer Lecture, "Bread Not Bombs", in which he argues that the challenge of globalization is to spend new wealth to fight poverty, not to stockpile weapons. "While 30,000 children die each day from easily preventable diseases, the world spends $781 billion a year on weapons. To spend on bread, not bombs, Roche writes, a transformation of human consciousness, as great as the transformative power of globalization itself must occur."

If people really want international security, Roche says, "we must convince governments to reject the idea that more guns, missiles, and bombs are the only answer, and to divert some of the enormous sums of money spent on armaments into promoting a global ethic of non-violence, dialogue, and tolerance." Roche, chairman of Canadian Pugwash and a member of Canada's Senate since 1998, was elected to Parliament four times (1972-84), served as Canada's ambassador for disarmament to the United Nations (1984-89) and as chairman of the United Nations Disarmament Committee, and was the special advisor on disarmament and security to the Vatican Delegation to the UN (1989-98). He is the author of 15 books, most recently Bread Not Bombs: A Political Agenda for Social Justice (1999).

This year the Wintermeyer Lecture has been coordinated with the Right Livelihood/Right Living series of lectures and workshops on faith, ecology, and simple living sponsored by the Diocese of Hamilton Social Awareness Office and Justice and Peace Commission as well as other social organizations.

Daryl Novak of WPIRG writes that "September 11th represents the greatest threat to our democracy in recent times. Governments, including our own, are using the tragedy to justify implementing measures that dangerously limit the rights of people in a manner that runs contrary to our democratic ideals. Whether they are the Afghanis that are being bombed, refugees, immigrants, or Canadians being targeted because of their appearance or religion, people of colour communities are under attack and we have a responsibility as a country to not succumb to terrorism hysteria."

Such issues will continue to be explored Saturday, in this series of events:

• Peace ceremony, 10:30 a.m. -- outdoor candle-lighting and a reading from the Qur'an on the subject of tolerance and understanding.
• Introduction to the day's panels, 10:50, by Seljak, an assistant professor of religious studies, and Hangama Ahmadzai of the Afghan Canadian Youth Organization.
• Forum, 11 a.m., with Seddiq Weera, physician and refugee, now project leader of the Media and Peace Education in Afghanistan Project.
• Panel, 11:45, on "Terror, Justice and War", with Andrew Hunt (UW department of history), Ken Epps of Project Ploughshares, Peter Eglin (sociology, Wilfrid Laurier University), Rudhramoorthy Cheran (York University Centre for Refugee Studies), and Rose Simone of The Record.
• Lunch and "breakout discussion with panelists", 1:00.
• Panel, 2:15, on "Facing Racism", including Matthew Lauder, graduate student who infiltrated white power movements in Canada; Gada Faez of the Community Coalition On Refugee and Immigrant Concerns; Phyllis Peprah (social work student at Renison College who comes from Ghana); Mohamed Elmasry, UW electrical and computer engineering professor and president of the Canadian Islamic Congress.
• Discussion groups, 3:45.
• Closing plenary with reports from groups, 4:30.

Cryptography centre is rolling on

"Mr. Martin's desire to apply the best research information security to the practical challenges of the postal payment systems worldwide," said UW president David Johnston, "led to a most productive partnership", the creation of the NSERC/Pitney Bowes Industrial Chair at UW, held by professor Scott Vanstone, which eventually led to the formation of the CACR in 1998.

Since then, says a news release from the CACR, it has recruited "a number of productive, young cryptographers" to complement the activities of the NSERC Industrial Research Chairholders, Scott Vanstone and Doug Stinson; organized seven conferences and nine workshops for research scholars and practitioners of applied and theoretical cryptography; recruited 19 post-doctoral fellows to participate in the research activities of the Centre; established an extensive technical report series describing the research accomplishments of CACR members; and "provided significant leadership for the master's program in cryptography".

Cryptography, the enciphering and deciphering of messages in code or cipher, is perhaps best known for its military applications. The science is currently finding wide applications for electronic and digital payment transfers, for ensuring the privacy of electronic and digital communication, and for securing electronic data.

"Cryptography . . . is at the heart of our business," said Martin in accepting the Distinguished Fellow Award. "A postage device 'prints money' and therefore its security and the secure electronic transfer of postal funds . . . is vital to our future."

Martin studied at UW for a time but left to join Monroe Systems for Business, a division of Litton Industries. He progressed from trainee to president by age 29 and later moved to become president of Pitney Bowes and CEO of Dictaphone Canada.

East Asian festival continues Today at Renison College, the East Asian Festival continues with the annual Business Day Seminar. Topic is "Doing Business in and with East Asia." Panel discussions will deal with "forging alliances and keys to success". At noon, there's a luncheon with keynote speaker David Crane, economics editor of the Toronto Star. Tickets for the day are $99. Tomorrow brings the final, and popular, event of the festival, "Cultural Day", with demonstrations of bonsai, traditional dances, martial arts, music, costumes and crafts. It'll be held at Cameron Heights Secondary School, Charles Street, Kitchener, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. In the evening there's a "gala dinner and silent auction" in the Festival Room; tickets might still be available from the development office at Renison, 884-4404.

Math contests, other weekend events

Reminder: today winds up "Buddy Week" for the campus recreation program, which has provided free opportunities for committed exercisers to let unconverted friends try out fitness classes with them.

The University Club is advertising a "beef & suds buffet" from 4:30 to 7:30 tonight. Besides beef, they promise, the buffet includes chicken wings, "assortment of fall scented salads", warm apple crisp and some other good things. Price: $22.95 per person. Reservations: ext. 3801.

Meanwhile, on what appears to be the first day of winter, it's an early Hallowe'en party at Federation Hall tonight (tickets $5 at the Federation of Students office). There will be "cash prizes" for the three best costumes.

The Big E and Special K math contests are scheduled for tomorrow, 9 a.m. to noon in the Arts Lecture Hall. The Special K contest is for first-year students and the Big E for those in upper years. "We don't require registration," notes Ian VanderBurgh of the math faculty, "but it would be helpful if you would send me an e-mail [iwtvande@math] if you intend to write either contest so that we have a vague sense of numbers." Some problems from previous years' contests are available on the web for those who might wonder what they'd be getting into.

Wilfrid Laurier University will hold its fall convocation ceremonies on Sunday afternoon (1:15 p.m. at the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex). Among those receiving honorary degrees will be Electrohome president John Pollock, a former member of UW's board of governors and son of Carl Pollock, whose early contributions to UW are commemorated in a building name. (WLU's other honorary degree on Sunday will go to Frank Turner, a dean of social work and acting vice-president at Laurier in the 1970s and now an internationally known leader in social work.

Sports this weekend: badminton "crossover" tournament starting at 10 a.m. Saturday in the PAC gym; men's rugby, UW hosting Western in a semi-final game Saturday at 1 p.m., Columbia Field. Otherwise it's all playoff action and all away from Waterloo: Cross-country championships at Guelph, today and Saturday; field hockey championships at Ottawa, all weekend; football, Warriors at Western tomorrow afternoon in the league quarter-final game; women's rugby, league finals at Guelph Saturday afternoon; men's soccer, quarter-finals at Brock tomorrow; both men's and women's tennis, league championships at Western tomorrow.

On Monday, members and guests of the President's Circle (top donors to UW) will have lunch in South Campus Hall and hear two presentations about "Water Issues in Canada". The speakers are George Dixon, dean of science and noted environmental toxicologist, and Grahame Farquhar, professor emeritus of civil engineering. Last-minute information about invitations to the lunch might be available from the development office, phone ext. 4973.

And I might just mention that a blood donor clinic runs Monday through Friday in the Student Life Centre (appointments at the turnkey desk) and flu shot clinics in the SLC will begin on Tuesday.

CAR