![[University of Waterloo]](/goldbar.gif)
| Yesterday |
Thursday, October 3, 2002
|
Editor: Chris Redmond credmond@uwaterloo.ca |
![[Design of coin]](/images/2002/1001hagey.gif)
![[Proscenium stage]](http://www.graphics.uwaterloo.ca/content/imagebank/images/20010408.jpg)
750-seat theatre in the Hagey Hall of the Humanities. The theatre lobby includes a display of Gerald Hagey memorabilia. Other Hagey links |
The $2 coins "are legal tender in the Kitchener-Waterloo area until the end of October", the Oktoberfest organization likes to say. "You can purchase a coin free from one of the many Coin Committee Volunteers at Oktoberfest events or at local financial institutions," a news release adds.
On campus, the coins will be accepted at retail services, food services and graphics outlets -- though not in vending machines or photocopiers.
Announcing the coin design for 2002, Oktoberfest describes Hagey as "one of Ontario's educational visionaries". Born in Hamilton in 1904, Hagey was educated in Hamilton, at Waterloo College (predecessor of both UW and Wilfrid Laurier University), and at the University of Western Ontario. After receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree from Western in 1928, he joined the sales staff of B.F. Goodrich in Kitchener, and later became Goodrich's advertising and public relations manager.
His interest in Waterloo College and higher education in general led him to become president of the college in 1953. He began to develop an idea for an advanced post-secondary school that would specialize in scientific and technological education. He was also fascinated by the idea of co-operative education, where students alternate academic terms with work placements. After gaining enough support, Hagey and several other Kitchener-Waterloo citizens organized the Waterloo College Associate Faculties -- which would later become the University of Waterloo.
Says the Oktoberfest announcement: "Dr. Hagey played a key role in the success of both of Waterloo's post-secondary institutions."
![[Diamond in Porter Library]](http://www.information.uwaterloo.ca/Gazette/2002/oct02/diamond.gif)
Making that lofty claim is the project's director, James
Diamond (right), who
holds the Joseph and Wolf Lebovic Chair of Jewish Studies at UW.
He talks about the project in
a
front-page story -- written by Barbara
Elve -- in this week's Gazette.
With funding from his friend, Toronto commodities broker Albert Friedberg with whom he shares a passion for medieval Jewish thought, Diamond will be heading more than a dozen teams of researchers around the world, including groups at Cambridge University, Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania, and at a number of institutions in Israel, including Hebrew and Tel Aviv Universities.
The focus of their attention: the cataloguing, transcribing, translation, and digitization of some 250,000 manuscripts, fragments of documents, and a handful of books comprising the Cairo Genizah.
Recovered from the attic of a Cairo synagogue in the 1890s, the Genizah is "a treasure trove of documents relating to the history of Jews and Judaism", dating from about 1000 to 1250, considered a golden age of cultural and intellectual productivity.
"There is not a more important find in terms of the evolution of Judaism," says Diamond, whose academic background includes degrees in philosophy, law, and religious studies. "From an historic point of view, the Genizah is more important for the social, intellectual and religious history of Judaism than the Dead Sea Scrolls."
Diamond hopes experts at Waterloo will be able to assist with work to develop a flexible search engine for collation of all the scattered fragments and searches in all the languages of the Genizah.
The formal launch of the Friedberg Genizah Project at UW will be held on Monday, November 4, at 7:30 p.m. at Siegfried Hall, St. Jerome's University. Stefan Reif, director of the Taylor-Schechter Genizah Research Unit at Cambridge University Library, will present a public lecture on the history of the Genizah project, followed by a reception.
Renee Rahamut, writing from the human resources department, lists the new offerings:
This highly interactive and participative program provides the necessary information and skills required to set day-to-day priorities, work in cross-functional and team situations, set and meet performance objectives, demonstrate personal initiative and self-reliance, adapt to change constructively, and help clarify each person's role in supporting the organization. Leadership for Results provides the skills required to foster a collaborative environment -- where employees and managers share decision-making, and where every person needs to take initiative.The "modules" are titled The Leader in Each of Us, The Basic Principles for a Collaborative Workplace, Proactive Listening, Handling Emotions Under Pressure, Giving and Receiving Constructive Feedback, and Giving Recognition.Staff who already have attended Leadership 2000, Frontline Leadership or Working may also want to consider Leadership for Results as a refresher and a way to brush-up their leadership skills. We welcome and encourage your participation, and you may select any of the modules that interest you. For staff who have not completed the Basic Principles module in either Leadership 2000, Frontline or Working, you must register for all six modules of the program. Each session is one half day in length.
Staff interested in registering for "Get Up and Grow" courses should send their registration form to Renee Rahamut in the HR department or call her at ext. 2078 for more information.
Jason Coolman of UW's alumni office sends a note about the UW Alumni @ Microsoft campaign that got rolling this summer: "On September 5, Laura Talbot-Allan (vice-president, university relations) and I were in Redmond, Washington, for the wrap-up event. Although we are still working on closing up the actual campaign, it has been a big success thus far. To date this campaign has raised $968,160 (US) pledges over the next five years. That figure includes the Microsoft matching funds. In total this will have a $1.5 million impact on Campaign Waterloo. The average gift is $14,000. Funds will be designated primarily to grad scholarships, undergrad scholarships and Enterprise Co-op."
UW Graphics has issued an update on the shift to a new brand of photocopiers (Ricoh) for locations across campus. Through September and October, it says, "we will be removing older Ikon equipment and installing new, state-of-the-art digital copiers for public use and new state of the art digital copier/printer/scanner/fax machines for offices. . . . Areas with no changes in electrical power, fax lines or network connections will normally be handled first." The update gives an explanation of how the same machine can be a photocopier, printer, scanner and fax machine all in one, and provides information about the training that's available.
![[Construction fence borders ring road]](/images/2002/1003e3.gif)
Going up: Work is moving along on the $8.2 million, three-storey addition to the Engineering III building, which will provide 44,000 square feet of new space for offices and labs. Photo by Barbara Elve. |
Happening today:
CAR
TODAY IN UW HISTORYOctober 3, 1963: UW's first traffic and parking regulations are issued. |