December 23, 2003

Tuesday, December 23, 2003

Last day before the holidays
Closed buildings bring savings
Holiday shutdown for UW labs
On campus over the holidays

Editor:
Chris Redmond
credmond@uwaterloo.ca

Last day before the holidays

'Tis not exactly the night before Christmas, but we're getting close. After the end of business today, the university will be officially closed for the holiday and right into the early days of 2004.

Notes for students
The Quest student information system will be in operation as usual over the holidays, says the registrar's office, "subject to unexpected system outages." However, support for Quest, for anybody who runs into difficulties, won't be available until January 5.
Winter term fees are due December 30 through bank transfer (the deadline for payment by cheque is already past).
Winter term classes will begin Monday, January 5 -- except for a good-sized group of brand-new first-year students in math, who will experience two days of orientation activities and start their classes January 7.
Fall term marks are appearing on Quest day by day, and become official on January 21.
And unlike last year, when exams continued up to the evening of the last working day, things have grown very quiet already. Not a creature was stirring, probably for lack of coffee -- the only food services outlets open today are Tim Horton's in the Davis Centre and Bookends in South Campus Hall, both closing at 1:30 p.m. Many offices have only skeleton staffs, and others will likely close early -- not to return until the winter term begins on January 5.

Payday is today for faculty and monthly-paid staff. Biweekly-paid staff will have their pay (normally due December 26) deposited tomorrow, December 24. Cheques for casual employees, with an issue date of December 24, are available now at the human resources office. Full payroll information is available on the HR web site.

In general, services on campus (if they haven't close already) will close today and reopen in the new year. The audio-visual centre will be closing at 12 noon. The last central stores mail run is at 1 p.m. Copy centres will close at 2 p.m. today, with main graphics staying open until 4:30. The Computer Help and Information Place closes at 3 p.m.

The telephone switchboard will close at 4:30 tonight for the season. While it's closed, as always, it's possible to direct-dial to UW extensions through the "automated attendant" at 888-4567.

The Dana Porter and Davis Centre libraries will be open until 6 p.m. tonight, with the University Map and Design Library closing at 4:30. Then the libraries are entirely closed December 24 through January 4, reopening January 5. The Trellis public catalogue, and other electronic services, will be available throughout the holiday period.

During the break, recreational facilities will be closed, from 4 p.m. today until 7:30 a.m. on January 5. And when they reopen, there will be something new, as the fitness centre at the Columbia Icefield gym is ready at last.

The health services clinic will also be closed. (A source of emergency health information, over the holidays and any other time, is the Telehealth Ontario line, 1-866-797-0000.)

The first working day in the new year is Monday, January 5, and winter term classes also begin that day. Students living in residence, including to campus about 800 returning from co-op work terms, will move into the Villages on Sunday, January 4, and cafeterias in both Villages will open that day. And the bookstore, the UW Shop and TechWorx in South Campus Hall will be open for business that Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. to give students a head start on buying texts and supplies before classes start.

The Daily Bulletin will return Monday, January 5. Any emergency announcements before that date will be made through a headline on the UW home page.

Advice about security
A note from the UW police: "Do not leave any personal valuables or smaller 'attractive' items, such as laptop computers, radios and cameras, in the office or workplaces. These items should be secured in a cabinet or removed to home for safekeeping over the holidays.
"The local police services will be out in full force with the RIDE program over the holidays, so if you drink, do not drive."

Closed buildings bring savings

And so we leave the campus to the few people who live here 365 days a year, several dozen international students who are staying over Christmas and New Year's, and the essential staff who will be on duty over the break.

Heat and ventilation in most buildings will be turned down to night settings from tonight through January 4. Rick Zalagenas, director of maintenance and utilities, invites everybody's help with conservation: "We could potentially avoid in the area of $70,000 in utility costs."

He particularly urges people to turn off computers if they won't be needed for the next couple of weeks. "Many people," says Zalagenas, "have the mistaken impression they have to be left on." Plant operations also calls on staff and faculty to turn off coffee-makers, office equipment and unused fumehoods. "And please make very sure all windows are closed before you leave."

He said there's no one temperature that will be reached in all buildings -- it depends on their size, the heating system, the difficulty of raising the temperature back to normal levels in January, and so on -- but in general, anyone coming to campus during the holiday can expect to find a cool environment, and it might be worth bringing a sweater along.

During the break, staff will be on duty in the central plant as always, and emergency maintenance requests can be called in to ext. 3793. Snow removal from today through January 4 will be limited. "Grounds staff will respond to serious snow issues," says plant ops, especially to clear priority areas such as the ring road.

Construction work continues at Matthews Hall and Engineering III -- those projects are being done by outside contractors, not UW staff, and won't shut down for long. There are also "little jobs here and there" by way of maintenance and repairs, says Zalagenas.

And he notes that electrical power will be shut off in the Math and Computer building all day (8 a.m. to 8 p.m.) on Saturday, January 3 -- another strong reason for turning computers off. The IST department advises that it "does have an alternate power source to provide power" for the central servers and campus network devices that are in Math and Computer. "If all goes well, we expect no service interruption," an IST announcement says. "This includes the external Internet connection."

Holiday shutdown for UW labs

The safety office has told managers of UW labs that there are precautions they should take before they lock the doors and head out for a holiday break.

A web page dealing with the Christmas and New Year's shutdown warns that, among other things, labs have to be prepared for the power going off during the holidays: "Due to winter weather conditions utilities, especially electricity, may be affected. It is a general rule that all laboratory processes be designed to safely survive a service failure. During the holiday shutdown this is particularly important."

Among the recommended preparations:

Shut down all processes vulnerable to failure of utilities.

Store hazardous materials properly and in containment areas and ensure that containers are closed or sealed.

Shut off compressed gases and gas supply lines to equipment.

Turn off and unplug, where possible, electrical devices such as hot plates, computers and, if not containing hazardous materials, fumehoods and environmental chambers. This prevents damage to equipment due to power surges while reducing energy waste and pollution.

Ensure lab contact information is updated with names, phone numbers and addresses in a location accessible to emergency response personnel (suggest on inside of door). Include documentation on contents of freezers and refrigerators.

If you have any questions about preparing your lab for the shutdown contact Safety Office at ext. 6268.

The web page also has a brief checklist of "What to do if you have a lab incident":

Report failures of equipment or physical plant to Plant Operations at ext. 3793.
If lab or building has been without power, allow the lab exhaust systems to operate for at least 2 hours before entry to lab or building.
Contact Safety Office or UW Spill Team through UW Police at ext. 4911 if you have concerns relating to hazardous materials spills.

No New Year's Eve parties
No celebrations are scheduled on New Year's Eve at Federation Hall or the Bombshelter pub. "The Federation of Students regrets being unable to hold the event this year, but we look forward to holding the event in the future," says an announcement from David Capper, vice-president (administration and finance) of the Federation, who said the decision was "informed by due diligence" and came from the holder of UW's liquor licence, Bud Walker, director of business operations.
There also won't be a New Year's Eve party at the University Club this year.

On campus over the holidays

While the university will be "closed", there are still some staff whose duties must continue during the break, on campus or off. In addition, of course, a good many faculty will be busy marking papers and exams. And the research work never stops for some graduate students.

UW police will be on duty 24 hours a day throughout the Christmas and New Year's period. The emergency phone number is 888-4911 (on campus, that's ext. 4911).

The Student Life Centre (phone 888-4434) will be open 24 hours a day as usual throughout the holiday. The turnkey desk can provide not just coffee but bus tickets, stamps, "some food", lots of information and even sometimes an emergency pillow.

All parking lots, except lot D under Needles Hall and the ECEC lot at the PAS building, will be open and free throughout the holiday period. Gates to service roads will be kept closed during the holiday break.

If you notice an outage of the campus network or any major IST-maintained computing facility, you can leave a voice message with the Information Systems and Technology help desk at 888-4357 or submit a request on the web. Both will be checked daily.

Warrior sports: The men's basketball team plays in a tournament at Ryerson, December 28-30, and the men's volleyball team is at York for a tournament, January 2-4. A pair of exhibition hockey games will be played at the Columbia Icefield on Sunday, January 4: the women's team vs. Durham College at 2 p.m., the men's team vs. Conestoga College at 7 p.m. Also during the holidays, a Team Canada Youth Identification Camp is scheduled for December 28 and 29. The women's volleyball Warriors are co-sponsoring this event along with Team Canada, as its head coach will run a tryout and training camp for young players in the Physical Activities Complex.

Mass is scheduled at St. Jerome's University (Siegfried Hall) at the following times: Christmas Eve at 5:00; Christmas Day at 10:30; December 27 at 5 p.m.; December 28 at 9:30; New Year's Day at 10:30; January 3 at 5 p.m.; and January 4 at 9:30. Anglican services at the Renison College chapel will be held Christmas Eve at 11:00; December 28 at 10:30; and January 4 at 10:30.

[Evergreen by CPH] So some of us go now to church,
and some to feast, and some to skis,
and some to bed -- and most of us
to loving friends and families --
though some must study or must work:
a dozen faiths, a thousand ways
to live in harmony with truth
through cold and dark December days.
We pause from labours, when we can,
and hear the season's whispered call
to burn the candles of our lives
for Peace on earth, good will to all.

CAR