![[University of Waterloo]](/greenbar.gif)
| Yesterday |
Friday, December 19, 2003
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Editor: Chris Redmond credmond@uwaterloo.ca |
![[---- green bow ----]](/images/greenbow.gif)
As students head home after their exams, they can spend a weekend in suspense, but at least it's only a weekend this year and not a month. Starting on Monday, unofficial fall term grades will be available through Quest, showing up there as fast as professors submit them and the registrar's office can process them. The best way to view one term's grades on Quest, I'm told, is to select "Your Portfolio", then "Academic Summary", then "Course/Grade History". The registrar's office notes that undergraduate grades for this term will become official on January 21.
This morning at 11:00, the LT3 technology centre sponsors a session on "Libraries and Instructional Technology": "How should digital libraries facilitate the use of their content and services in the development of digital learning materials? . . . The California Digital Library (CDL) and the Berkeley Interactive University Project (IU) have been working to test and develop ways for educational technologies to make the library's resources more accessible to all its audiences. In this talk, Raymond Yee, Technology Architect of the IU, will discuss how the problem of interoperability between information and learning environments looks from their respective institutions and their end-users, both theoretically and practically, functionally and technologically." The session will be held in the Flex Lab on the third floor of the Dana Porter Library.
There will be an electrical power shutdown Monday morning, between 6 and 7 a.m., in the buildings on the north campus, including the Columbia Icefield but not Optometry, the plant operations department warns.
And speaking of electrical shutdowns, there's still no power in the Tatham Centre, which means that the co-op and career services department is working from scattered locations in its last-minute effort to find co-op jobs by the time the winter term begins. I'm told that a replacement part for the transformer that fried itself as a result of Monday's flood in the basement of Tatham is expected to show up late today. If all goes well over the weekend, "the hope is that we'll have restored power in time for Monday," says Olaf Naese of co-op education and career services. "We hope to be back to normal operation."
UW's telephone system will be switching to new voicemail software on Monday night. "No voicemail service will be available after 4:30 p.m. on Monday," says Bruce Uttley of information systems and technology. He also warns that password and greeting changes put in place today are likely to get lost in the changeover. "The migration from old to new," he adds, "will go faster if people will clean up their voicemail and delete any messages that are not needed." I'll say more about this changeover on Monday.
Edgar Wambaa, who was a biology student at the time he was arrested following a knifepoint robbery at a cash machine in Waterloo this summer, was sentenced Wednesday to 17 months in jail. He pleaded guilty to charges of robbery and, in the course of a chase that followed, assaulting a police officer. The officer, in turn, shot him in the abdomen and arm before he was arrested. The court was told that Wambaa, who is from Kenya, had run out of funds and was under exam stress in the first week of August. "He was at his wits' end," his lawyer told the court, noting that Wambaa had visited the food bank, "but was unaware the university could have helped him" in other ways.
A seminar about counterfeit bills and how to identify them, organized by the UW police the other day, drew more than 60 participants from retail services and other departments that handle cash. . . . The per-term fee paid by each graduate student to the Graduate Student Association will go up from $12.40 to $12.71, effective January 1. . . . The staff association is selling lift tickets for Chicopee Ski Club at a discounted price again this winter -- call ext. 3566. . . .
Finally, I should mention that Tuesday's Daily Bulletin will be mostly a summary of holiday arrangements for the campus: what's open and when, emergency services, a reminder of laboratory safety precautions, special plans for the beginning of the winter term, and so on. Any department that has information I should consider including on Tuesday should send it to me -- pronto.
![[Smiling parents at centre of group]](/images/2003/1210odonovan.gif)
Two of the projects -- faculty chairs in engineering and
arts -- get their first public mention in the annual
donor report, which spotlights gifts to the university in the 2002-03
year. The donor report also notes that the O'Donovans have become
major donors to the reconstruction of a Cambridge factory as the
new home of UW's school of architecture.
Cambridge has been home for the O'Donovan family (right) since 1979, where they "have been enthusiastic supporters of numerous organizations, including the University", the report says. "They founded Lisaard House, a residential hospice that opened in Cambridge in July 2000, which has received high praise from patients, their families, and visitors for its beautiful setting and supportive care."
Val O'Donovan is the founder and former chief executive officer of COM DEV, which has become a global leader in satellite and wireless communications technology. He was awarded an honorary degree in engineering from UW, and in 2003 was named a Member of the Order of Canada. He served as UW's chancellor from 1997 to early this year.
Rare books gift to libraryThe O'Donovans have also given the UW library "three precious volumes which describe early North America", the donor report says. The books, written by Pierre Charlevoix and entitled Histoire et Description Générale de la Nouvelle France, make up the first general history of the French discoveries and settlements in North America, covering the period from 1500 to 1736. Charlevoix was a Jesuit missionary to New France from 1705 to 1709. About 10 years later, he was told to investigate the rumours about the existence of a western sea between the New World and the Orient.Volume III of his history provides a detailed and precise account of his observations, made during the course of a canoe journey up the St. Lawrence River, through the Great Lakes, and down the Mississippi to New Orleans, with stops at missions and fur-trading posts along the way. The work contains important information about Indian tribes and settlements, and a valuable early account of Louisiana. |
As for the two faculty positions, the donor report says this: "The O'Donovans have also helped the University to establish the O'Donovan Chair in Engineering to advance teaching and research in innovative and emerging areas in engineering. Initially located in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the chair provides a focal point for research and teaching in the field of wireless communications.
"The couple is also providing major funding for a new teaching and research chair in the Faculty of Arts."
They're one of just two listings under "Gifts of $1,000,000 or more" in the 2002-03 donor report.
![[Macdonald]](http://cape.uwaterloo.ca/images/macdonal.jpg)
Ian F. Macdonald,
a faculty member in the chemical engineering department since
1970, officially retires January 1. A specialist in such fields as
oil recovery and porous media, Macdonald was also active in the
university's internal affairs, serving in many roles with the faculty
association, including president 1995-97. His wife, Joan Macdonald,
retired a year ago from a senior post in the UW library. They're now
living in Victoria.
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The memo from residence manager Patty Koebel reminds UW departments about the visitors' apartment, on the second floor of the Health and Safety building, intended for "visiting Professors, Researchers, etc. . . . It consists of a small kitchenette, living room, laundry room and 3-piece bathroom. This apartment is available for short stays, 1 night to three weeks, and can be reserved by a Department by providing a 31-digit account number. . . .
"If the visitors' apartment is not available, we will book a room for your visitor at the Comfort Inn. . . .
"Presently, the nightly cost at the visitors' apartment is $40. Effective January 1, 2004, the cost per night will be increase to $75. The cost of a room at the Comfort Inn is currently $72.80 per night including taxes.
"To make a reservation, please call the Village 1 Office at ext. 4086.
"If your visitor is here for an extended period of time, please contact Roni Oestreich, Off Campus Housing Office, extension 5725. Roni manages apartments that can be rented by the month. As well, she can provide you with other off campus options."
CAR