August 30, 2002

Friday, August 30, 2002

Here they come! The big weekend
Orientation will include free time
Faculty call for Microsoft discussion
Copying price goes up; other notes

Editor:
Chris Redmond
credmond@uwaterloo.ca

Greek food and wine festival this weekend

[Framed by trees]
The CEIT building -- that's Centre for Environmental and Information Technology -- is starting to tower over the centre of campus. (I can see it from my window now, not just the construction crane but the steel and concrete, higher than the trees.) It's scheduled for completion in the summer of next year. Barbara Elve of information and public affairs caught this view of the new structure as it rises behind the Physics building.

Here they come! The big weekend

UW's nearly 5,000 first-year students will arrive over the weekend, ready for a week of orientation activities before classes start on Monday, September 9.

"Move-in" to the residences, where most first-year students will live, is staggered so that half the newcomers will arrive Sunday and half on Monday. Each day, students who live within a three-hour drive of Waterloo have been asked to show up in the morning, and those from further away in the afternoon.

They'll find their rooms, meet their roommates, and unload their gear. A "what-to-bring" list issued by the residences includes a telephone, an alarm clock, clothes hangers, laundry necessities, sheets and blankets, a small fridge ("or rent one upon arrival"), an umbrella, a computer, and that essential stereo.

And what not to bring: candles, incense, halogen lamps, appliances, pets, "illegal substances or materials", and furniture.

Moving in should be just about finished by Monday evening, and for most newcomers that's when the orientation program will begin. The Village Orientation Committee is promising "a celebration of our University like no one has ever seen" in the Physical Activities Complex.

Says an invitation: "Experience Waterloo's wildlife and attend the village orientation's opening ceremonies. The show starts at 8:00 p.m."

Monday, September 2, is Labour Day and a holiday. UW offices and most services, other than those involved with welcoming first-year students, will be closed. The libraries will be closed Monday -- they're open noon to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

Orientation will include free time

For the rest of next week, orientation -- all planned under the supervision of a university-wide orientation committee of administrators and student leaders -- offers a mix of academic, cultural, social and recreational events. The goal is "a balanced introduction to the social, academic and residential aspects of university life with the guidance and support of upper-year students," said Erin Moore, special events coordinator for the Federation of Students.

Tuesday evening, rock band The Watchmen with Grindig will perform at the Waterloo Recreation Complex, beginning at 9 p.m. This alcohol-free event is a closed show for only UW first-year students and orientation leaders.

"We've given them free time all day Wednesday," says Heather FitzGerald, student life coordinator in UW's student services office. In response to comments from last year's new students, the daytime hours of Wednesday have been left free for sleeping in, plus visits to the bookstore, faculty advisors, the WatCard office and anywhere else that new students find they need to make a stop. Those who have to pass the English proficiency requirement will also write the English Language Proficiency Exam that day.

As the week goes on, other highlights will be the alcohol-free, semi-formal Monte Carlo Night, Thursday evening in the Student Life Centre, and "Black and Gold Day" on Saturday, with a concert and pep rally before the Waterloo-McMaster football game. Saturday night brings the traditional toga party.

During the week, first-year students can attend performances of "Single and Sexy", a high-energy and non-judgemental play about the "scenarios and attitudes frosh are likely to witness or experience". The play will be performed from Tuesday through Thursday in the Humanities Theatre. (A preview performance will be offered at 11:30 this morning, for faculty, staff and other "interested parties"; admission is free.)

Engineers are being invited to play a special role in orientation. A "professional reception" for new engineering students is scheduled on Wednesday night, says Martha Foulds of the faculty of engineering. "This reception is intended to provide opportunities for the incoming class to meet casually with professionals in the field." She's looking for more professional engineers who would like to be there to meet with students; anyone interested should get in touch with her at ext. 3470 before Wednesday.

Season tickets for staff, faculty and others
Football fans get an early start on the season, as the Warriors face the Wilfrid Laurier University Golden Hawks at 8 p.m. Monday at University Stadium. The game is officially a WLU home game, and isn't on the orientation agenda for first-year students. But upper-year students can use their WatCards for free admission, the athletics department says.

Faculty call for Microsoft discussion

UW's faculty association says it wants "a full airing" of any academic issues involved in the recent agreement between UW and Microsoft Canada.

Announced on August 14, the $2.3 million "alliance" includes a plan for Microsoft's C# programming language to be used in Electrical and Computer Engineering 150 and in a new non-credit "pre-course" to get first-year students' programming skills up to speed. Extensive support for research on network services and other technologies is also involved.

After the announcement, there were immediate protests that the university seemed to have "sold" Microsoft access to the first-year curriculum.

Student forum is planned
Engineering students will hold a "forum" about the Microsoft "alliance" on September 12. Says a notice on the Engineering Society web site:
"Do you have questions or concerns about the recent UW-Microsoft Partnership? On Thursday, 12 September, 2002, The Engineering Society (EngSoc) will be hosting an Open Forum with UW President David Johnston, Dean of Engineering Sujeet Chaudhuri, Chair of Electrical and Computer Engineering Tony Vannelli, and Institute for Computer Research Director Vic DiCiccio.
"The Forum will be located in RCH (EL) 101, and will officially run between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m."
Says a memo from faculty association president Catherine Schryer, addressed to UW president David Johnston and published on the association's web site: "The Board of the FAUW recognizes the need for external funding for University projects due to continued restricted levels of government funding. However, the FAUW has concerns regarding the recent announcement that Microsoft will be funding curriculum development in University of Waterloo courses."

The memo says there is a "possibility" that "the established procedure for ensuring effective curriculum might have been circumvented; that the academic freedom of the faculty members involved in teaching these courses could be compromised; that the curriculum in specific courses could be perceived as deriving from an external source; and that the University could be perceived as endorsing an external organization's products".

"Consequently," it says, "we are requesting that the issues involved in this funding announcement be placed early on the next Senate agenda. In our view, a full airing of these issues and clarification of the role of Microsoft would be in everyone's best interests." UW's senate -- the senior academic governing body of the university -- is scheduled to have its next monthly meeting on September 16.

A fact sheet about the Microsoft alliance, posted by UW officials, makes these points:

"We have a long and robust history of accepting funds and other resources from the corporate world and making good use of them, while continuing to assert our intellectual independence. We will continue to do so."
"Waterloo has chosen to add C# to C, C++, and Java -- three languages that E&CE students learn throughout their tenure at UW, and through their co-op work placements. UW has a responsibility to expose the students to all state-of-the art programming languages."

Copying price goes up; other notes

Starting today, it'll cost 9 cents a page to photocopy things on campus copiers, if the payment is with a WatCard. That's an increase from 7 cents a page, says Susan Schaefer, marketing manager for UW Graphics. The cash price remains the same: 10 cents a page.

People have been asking about the mess in the engineering quadrangle. "There's a lot of bulldozers and dump trucks," one rather plaintive message said yesterday. Well, yes. "We are replacing the walks in the area," Daniel Parent of the plant operations department explains. "The work should be completed in a few weeks. This was planned to be done after Rod Coutts Hall was completed and during the summer break. While doing this, we repaired the waterproofing on the tunnel under the walks."

An item of possible interest from the news site UWstudent.org: "The Feds are planning to have go-go dancers, now being called spotlight dancers, at Federation Hall this fall. In July, the marquee, or light sign, outside Fed Hall advertised go-go dancer auditions. The sign was later changed to read spotlight dancers. 'The sign was changed because we didn't want to upset anyone. Though most of the reaction was positive, or just that of being surprised we were hiring people to dance, there were a select few that were closed to that point,' said Feds Vice President Administration and Finance Chris Di Lullo. 'By changing the name to spotlight dancers, we aren't altering the original idea, we're just using a more descriptive term of what these people really will be.' One male and one female dancer will dance on platforms. They are intended to complement the name Boys 'n' Girls Night. The bouncers that the dancers will replace will be relocated."

The fall brochure for the Skills for the Electronic Workplace program is out, and offers courses that range from database management to the use of Microsoft Word. Of, perhaps, particular interest is the course on "Using Your Home Computer for Work": "The following topics will be covered: connecting to UW from home, accessing UW network drives from home, alternatives for accessing your email from home, virus protection, the 'Home CD', and site licensed software issues." The course occupies part of the morning on Thursday, September 12.

[McVicar] A funeral service will be held today for David McVicar (left), long-time instructor in UW's department of physics, who died Monday. The service will begin at 1 p.m. at the Edward R. Good Funeral Home on King Street in Waterloo. McVicar is survived by his wife, Maureen, and their three sons. Memorial donations may be made to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario or to St. Mary's Hospital Cardiac Care Centre were suggested. Offices in the department of physics will be closed this afternoon so that McVicar's colleagues can attend the funeral.

CAR

TODAY IN UW HISTORY
August 30, 1961: An agreement is signed to transfer 23 acres of UW's land to St. Jerome's, Renison, Conrad Grebel and St. Paul's United Colleges.