![[University of Waterloo]](/goldbar.gif)
| Yesterday |
Wednesday, October 9, 2002
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Editor: Chris Redmond credmond@uwaterloo.ca |
![[Crouched under tree]](/images/2002/1010urquhart.gif)
Paintings
by Tony Urquhart, retired fine arts faculty member, are on display in the
East Campus Hall gallery this month. Pictured: a detail from the 1999
self-portrait "My Garden with Trees". A review of the exhibition by Linda J.
Howe appeared in last week's issue of the Gazette.
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The RGCO piloted the program at eight campuses in early 2002 and, based on the positive response from students, has more than doubled its outreach efforts for the coming academic year. The visit to UW from October 7 to 10 is one of 18 Ontario university and college campuses Know the Score will be visiting between September 2002 and March 2003, including Wilfrid Laurier University from January 20 to 23, 2003.
"Our research has found that 18- to 24- year-olds are among the highest risk groups for developing gambling problems -- that group has almost twice the rate of the general adult population," says Lisa Couperus, the RGCO's project manager for prevention programs. Measuring Gambling and Problem Gambling in Ontario (December 2001), conducted by the RGCO and Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse, showed that more than seven percent of 18- to 24-year-olds experience moderate to severe gambling problems compared to 3.8 percent found in the general population.
"Know the Score builds awareness around the risks associated with problem gambling. We are here to give people the information they need to make good decisions," adds Couperus. Almost half of young people between the ages of 18 and 24 are in postsecondary education. The Council believes that university and college campuses provide an ideal forum for programs like Know the Score.
The Know the Score program also talks to young people about common myths regarding randomness and, if they choose to gamble, ways to keep it safer. As part of Know the Score, students are invited to participate in a contest by answering five questions designed to increase awareness. They can obtain the necessary information from the RGCO website, or from the highly visible Know the Score information booths, which are staffed by student participants. Entrants with all answers correct are eligible for one of two $1,500 scholarship awards, in addition to gift certificates for food, campus books and daily giveaways.
"Access to different types of gambling has increased and we recognize the need to ensure our students are informed about how to avoid problem gambling," said Ruth Kropf, health services supervisor at UW. "By partnering with the RGCO on Know the Score, we're able to deliver a program that engages students and promotes dialogue on campus."
(Today, the "Know the Score" booth will be in the Student Life Centre from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and in Village I from 5 to 7 p.m.)
United Way nears half wayAs the on-campus United Way campaign continues, there will be a reception for "leaders and friends" starting at 4:00 at the University, Club. As of last night, the United Way office was reporting pledges and gifts of $71,048 -- almost half way to the $150,000 target -- with a total of 245 faculty and staff and 46 retirees having been heard from so far. |
The career development seminar series continues. Today's topics are "The Work Finding Package" (10:30) and "Thinking about Graduate Studies" (3:30). The career resource centre in Needles Hall has more information and a sign-up sheet.
A drop-in information session about careers as a Certified Management Accountant runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Humanities room 177C. Then there's a more formal information session at 6:00 in Humanities room 139, starring Cathy Snyder, a UW alumnus and vice-president of the Ontario Teachers Insurance Plan.
The bookstore's sale under the title "FX 02 (Future Expo)" continues today in the Davis Centre "fishbowl" lounge. Included are computer books from more than 25 publishers. "Titles will be discounted up to 20% off the cover price," a memo says, "and with every purchase, the customer can enter their name in a draw to win a Fuji FinePix A101 digital camera."
New faculty members are invited to a lunch session today at the Centre for Learning and Teaching Through Technology, or LT3, to hear about "Funding for Innovations . . . proposing and receiving funding for research through non-federal granting council sources". The session starts at 11:45 in Dana Porter Library room 329; Liwana Bringelson at ext. 5931 has more information.
The first literary reading of the season at St. Jerome's University is scheduled for 4:00 this afternoon (in the common room). Ottawa poet Rob McLennan will read from his seventh full-length collection, Paper Hotel. Everyone's welcome.
"If you are interested in any of the following," writes engineering student Jeff DeLoyde, you should drop in at an information session today. "The following" includes "environment, sustainable living, eco-villages, intentional communities, rainforest trekking, Pacific ocean surf". He promises information about trips to Costa Rica "for students to do international humanitarian and environmental work". The session starts at 5:30 today in the multipurpose room of the Student Life Centre.
The Waterloo Public Interest Research Group, along with the K-W Multicultural Centre, is hosting a symposium on "systemic racism" on October 19 "to bring people in our community together to participate in and generate an action plan that will help build a fair, equal and inclusive society. A society that draws on the talents, abilities and potential of all its residents. We believe that you are an important piece of the solution." An advance workshop will be held today (6:30 to 9:30 p.m. in Student Life Centre room 2139), with a similar session scheduled for next week: "Please join us and tell us how systemic racism affects students, faculty and staff on campus and in the surrounding community and share your ideas on what can and should be done to eliminate systemic racism in our community." More information: 888-4882.
The Federation of Students and the UW safety office are planning a "campus personal safety audit" tonight, with teams visiting Optometry, church college walkways, Hagey Hall, Psychology, East Campus Hall and UW Place, says safety director Kevin Stewart. "A Personal Safety Audit is an evaluation," he explains, "mainly of the physical environment; it also reviews personal safety services. A goal of the audit is to assist in making our campus a more equitable environment." the Student Life Centre, with "a light supper" at 6:30, and things winding up by 9:00. Last-minute information about participating: call Mike Kerrigan of the Feds, ext. 3780.
The weekly gay and lesbian discussion group takes place tonight at 7:00 in Humanities room 373. Topic for the week: "Body Image and Self-Esteem".
The women's basketball Warriors host York tonight at 7:00 in the Physical Activities Complex main gym, and the field hockey team hosts Western at 7:30 at University Stadium.
Look for UW's school of architecture on television tonight. The TVOntario series "Studio 2" is doing a week-long series on what it calls "key art colleges across Ontario", having done Canadore College on Monday and Algoma University College last night. Tonight: Waterloo. (Thursday it'll be White Mountain Academy of the Arts; Friday, the Royal Conservatory of Music.) The show airs at 8 p.m.
![[Book cover]](/images/2002/1008larrysmith.gif)
Although he's well known for teaching macro classes in macroeconomics,
Larry Smith is meticulous when it comes to detail. He has an index card
for every student he has ever taught, a number he estimates at about
12,000, or 10 percent of all Waterloo degree holders from all faculties.
This spring he assigned his 20,000th grade.
A UW grad (BA '68, MA '75) and an adjunct faculty member in economics at Waterloo, where he has taught since 1983, Smith says he wrote his latest book to encourage his students and grads to take a broader look at the promise and impact of information technology. The new book, Beyond the Internet: How Expert Systems Will Truly Transform Business (Stoddart, 2001) explores why, in his opinion, expert systems -- decision-making computer-based support systems meant to increase the efficiency of routine work and free humans for more creative work -- are the true future of computing, and the Internet is not.
He gives much of the credit for the book to people at Waterloo, especially to his students. "In conversations after class that extended late into the night, they both made me feel useful and humbled me by what they already knew," he writes. "For the past twenty years, my students have briefed me on every major advance in information technology, before my colleagues in business were discussing it, before it was reported in the press. And after years of discussion and debate with these students, present and former, the main argument of this book came into view, and then they helped to refine it."
This week's staff positionsHere's the regular Wednesday list of "positions available", as issued by UW's human resources department:
More information about each job is available on the HR web site. |
And how's UW doing in the campaign, which is aimed at raising $4.5 million for the university from faculty, staff and retirees? "An impressive $1.8 million has been raised since the campaign started in May 2000," says Bonnie Oberle in UW's development office. "That's 40% of our million goal. Currently, there are nearly 800 donors supporting the campaign that qualify for the monthly draws."
Draw prizes include restaurant gift certificates, books, travel voucher, personal service, car rental, and theatre tickets. October winners will be mailed a letter and their prize voucher, Oberle says.
And the winners are . . .
CAR
TODAY IN UW HISTORYOctober 9, 1971: Folksinger Melanie appears in concert in the Physical Activities building. |