July 19, 2002

Friday, July 19, 2002

Taxes on insurance benefits kick in
Turnkey housing list goes online
Friday and the weekend

Editor:
Chris Redmond
credmond@uwaterloo.ca

16th International Conference on Higher Education

It may not be a tsunami, but UW dragon boats will be making waves Saturday in the Kiwanis Dragon Boat Festival of Waterloo Region at Laurel Creek Conservation Area. "To the best of my knowledge there will be somewhere between seven to 10 teams affiliated with UW racing that day," says Michael Bluhm of the registrar's office and co-captain of the UW alumni team RUCKUS. He expects the UW teams will face stiff competition from some 70 teams competing in the Ontario College and University (club division) Provincial Dragon Boat Championships.

Taxes on insurance benefits kick in

Sometime this fall, UW employees will again be required to pay taxes on the university's contribution to their life insurance premiums. That news came in the summer 2002 edition of the human resources newsletter:

"In 1997, the Pension and Benefits Committee decided that excess monies in the life insurance plan would be used to pay the University share of the life insurance premiums. This decision also benefited employees because employees were not assessed the normally required taxable benefit on the University contribution to life insurance.
"This notice is being sent because these excess monies will soon be used up, meaning that sometime this fall UW's premiums will once again become a taxable benefit to the member....
"Your pay advice will have a message indicating exactly when the life insurance taxable benefit becomes effective. At that time the monthly employer contribution to life insurance which is indicated on your pay advice will be added to your salary for tax withholding purposes."

A chart shows how the changes will affect employees, based on various salary and insurance levels.

Other HR news of note: information on annual personal pension statements, insurance coverage for high medical expenses, and feedback on "Knowing Your Workplace" information sessions.

Turnkey housing list goes online

Turnkey desk staff member Kyle Holmes checks out the new housing search site.

Ezide, a web site for posting and searching through housing listings, was launched this week to help the turnkey desk at the Student Life Centre make its housing list more organized and accessible.

In addition to the existing bulletin board, students will be able to search the listings online. Housing lists can be filtered and sorted with far more detail than previous systems. Locations can be immediately displayed on a map of Waterloo, and already-taken accommodations can be removed with ease. Landlords will be able to include photographs and floor plans and can manage their listings with a simple interface.

The software powering Ezide was developed by undergraduate computer science and engineering students who were dissatisfied with the existing resources for finding rental housing. It is being maintained by consultant and former student Shandy Brown.

Friday and the weekend

Today is the last day to give blood at the donor clinic in the Student Life Centre. The clinic will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today.

A 'raucous discussion" about men

"Continuing the discussion sparked by the release of softly spoken lies, an on-campus publication about men (self-identified persons of the male sex/gender), two events are happening this weekend," says math student Aylwin Lo, one of the founders of the journal. "Both are open to all.

"On Friday, July 19, from 7 to 9 p.m. in the upstairs board room (2134-2135) of the SLC, we'll be getting together to talk about future directions for softly spoken lies, and crystallizing some ideas about what it means to have a publication about men.

"The next day, we're having a more informal discussion between authors, readers, and anyone else interested in the ideas behind softly spoken lies. There will be free food and a cash bar. We hope to get some raucous discussion going about men and their place in modern life. As long as no fist fights break out, we'll be satisfied. Don't forget to bring all your friends. The informal discussion will be held in the ES Courtyard, ES1 250, from 5 to 7 p.m."

Appointments to donate blood can be made at the turnkey desk.

Orientation leaders will gather on campus for a leadership conference this weekend. More than 400 student orientation leaders are preparing for the arrival of first-year students in September. Orientation week will run from September 2 - 7 this year.

On Sunday, July 21 at 3 p.m. the University of Waterloo Choir presents Music of the Americas. Tickets are $8 ($5 for students/seniors/children). The concert will take place at Siegfried Hall, St. Jerome's University. Contact Julia Richards for more information at 885-0220, ext. 226 or email music@uwaterloo.ca.

Also on Sunday, a performance at the Humanities Theatre by the award-winning academic choir of Adam Mickiewicz University of Poznan, Poland. The performance is sponsored by the faculty of arts, and will begin at 6 p.m.

Looking ahead to next week, the plant operations department sends word that repair work will begin on Monday to the exterior steps on the east side of Needles Hall (facing the Dana Porter library). The steps will be closed for one week.

Also beginning Monday, extended hours at the Davis Centre and Dana Porter libraries. Until Friday, August 9, the Davis library will remain open from 8 a.m. to 3 a.m., and the Porter library will remain open from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. every day of the week.

Avvey Peters

TODAY IN UW HISTORY
July 19, 1971: A computerized circulation system is introduced in the library, with yellow punched cards in some 60,000 books.