February 27, 2003

Thursday, February 27, 2003

Aboriginal conference involves UW
Nominating committee for dean of arts
UW gallery hosts pottery show
Computing courses, and other notes

Editor:
Chris Redmond
credmond@uwaterloo.ca

[Aboriginal conference poster]

Aboriginal conference involves UW

UW's recently-appointed "Aboriginal counsellor", Jean Becker, will participate in a conference on Canada's First Nations to be held at Wilfrid Laurier University tomorrow. Becker, based at St. Paul's United College, will give the traditional opening prayer at the conference, which is titled "In the Spirit of Understanding: A Conference to Promote Aboriginal Awareness".

As Aboriginal counsellor, Becker says, her main objectives are to enhance the learning experience of native students on campus as well as foster ties with the local Aboriginal community.

The conference, which seeks to heighten awareness of Aboriginal people, is being organized by the Shared Universities Native Development and Navigation Committee (SUNDANCe), an initiative involving WLU, the University of Guelph and UW. Money raised from ticket sales at the conference will be deposited into an Aboriginal scholarship fund shared by the three institutions. A traditional feast will be served at 6 p.m. Friday.

Residential schools play
"One Voice, Many Stories", a play about Native students' experiences in residential schools, will be performed Friday at 8 p.m. at Conrad Grebel University College. The show is put on by the Six Nations Community Youth Outreach group. Tickets are $5 and $10.
Organizers say the purpose of the conference is to educate and create awareness about Aboriginal people, their history, culture and current issues in order "to dispel myths, reduce stereotypes and eliminate racism and discrimination that exists today."

James Bartleman, lieutenant-governor of Ontario, will deliver the keynote address at the conference, shortly after 2 p.m. in the Maureen Forrester Recital Hall, following the traditional opening prayer by Becker and welcoming remarks by WLU president Robert Rosehart.

Bartleman will speak from his own experience about identity issues facing young Aboriginal Canadians and about the importance of education in enabling them to reach their potential. "I welcome this opportunity to share my stories and to encourage young Aboriginal Canadians, who are making a place for themselves at this university and in the wider community," said Bartleman. "By understanding the realities they face, we can help create conditions which will allow them to participate fully in Canadian society."

His address will be followed by sessions on topics that range from decolonization to the cultural foundations of the Haudenosaune (which means "people of the longhouse" and refers to the Iroquois).

[Kerton]

Nominating committee for dean of arts

Appointed in 1999 to five years as UW's dean of arts, Robert Kerton (left) is coming to the end of his term, a notice from the university secretariat reminds the campus.

"Accordingly," it says, "a Dean of Arts Nominating Committee is being constituted."

UW's Policy 45 defines nominating committees for a dean's position, with representation from faculty, students and staff, and always with the provost as the committee chair.

The secretariat's memo says nominations are being requested for a staff seat on the committee: "one staff member elected by and from the regular staff of the Faculty of Arts".

At least three nominators are required in each case. Completed nominations should be sent to the Chief Returning Officer, University Secretariat, Needles Hall, room 3060, no later than 3:00 p.m., Wednesday, March 12. An election will follow if necessary. Nomination forms "are available from the Secretariat at ext. 6125 or online."

UW gallery hosts pottery show

The UW art gallery will host "Earthborn 2003", the 28th annual juried exhibition of the Waterloo Potters' Workshop, today through March 13 in East Campus Hall.

[Blue-green clay]
Bowl and saucer by potter Stephen Hawes, winner of a 2002 design award.
This is the first time the annual show will be hosted by the UW Gallery. Previously, the potters have displayed their wares at the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery, the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, Harbinger Gallery, Homer Watson House and Gallery, and the Robert Langen Gallery at Wilfrid Laurier University.

With the fine arts department at UW one of only four in Canada offering ceramics as part of its program, the exhibition presents an opportunity for students to see the work of local potters. They could also attend a workshop offered by the juror for the exhibition, Steven Hill of Kansas City, last weekend.

For gallery director Carol Podedworny, hosting the show also presents an opportunity to highlight regional artists and to bring a new audience to the campus.

Featured in the exhibition will be a variety of ceramic works selected by the juror from submissions by members of the Waterloo Potters' Workshop.

"Earthborn 2003" opens with a reception and awards ceremony tonight from 7 to 9 p.m. Among the awards being presented are the Best Novice Award, the Best Handbuilt Award, the Best Primitive Firing Award, the People's Choice Award, and the prestigious Ontario Crafts Council Design Award.

Gallery hours are noon to 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday; noon to 7 p.m. on Thursday; and 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday.

Aerial photograph of UW's north campus, looking from above Columbia Street. An open house for discussion of plans for the north campus environmental reserve -- as Tuesday's Daily Bulletin explained -- will be held today in two sessions: noon to 2 p.m. in the Davis Centre, 6 to 8 p.m. at the Waterloo Recreation Centre on Father David Bauer Drive.

Computing courses, and other notes

The Information Systems and Technology department (IST) is offering computing courses in March to UW faculty, staff and students. The following courses are being offered for students: Learning more Unix, Creating Web Pages Using HTML and Unix. The following courses are part of the Skills for the Academic e-Workplace program, and are offered to faculty, grad students, and staff with instructional responsibilities: Bibliographic Databases with Reference Manager, Finite Element Analysis with FEMLAB, Parallel Programming, Creating Theses with Word, Creating Theses with Scientific Workplace and LaTeX, Lecturing with PowerPoint. Information about the courses, along with a registration form, can be found on the web.

Tours of the new Co-op and Career Services building are offered today at 12:00 and 12:30 (meet in the main lobby). . . . The co-directors of the UW-based South Western Ontario Research Data Centre, John Goyder and Keith Warriner, will present "an intuitively oriented overview of some approaches to handling longitudinal data", at 3;30 in PAS building room 2030. . . . The career services workshop series has sessions today on "Job Search Strategies", "Letter Writing" and "Resumé Writing" (register online. . . .

The Computer Science Club presents a session today about "The GNU General Public Licence" (6:30 p.m., Math and Computer room 1085). . . An "industry-student networking evening" sponsored by the Canadian Water Resources Association begins at 7 p.m. in South Campus Hall (information, ext. 6408). . . . A talk on "The Legal Status of Stocks in Islam" starts at 7 p.m. in Rod Coutts Engineering Lecture Hall room 305. . . . People from the faculty of arts will be in London, Ontario, tonight to meet with potential students and their parents (7 p.m. at RLDS Woodfield Church on Colborne Street). . . .

A number of graduate students in the Certificate in University Teaching program will present their research tomorrow morning. Speakers are Elise Ho ("Multicultural Group Work, Advantages and Challenges"); Christine Buzinde ("Internationalization and the Classroom"); Cara DeHaan ("The Revision Process: Helping Student Writers Learn to Help Themselves"); Yasser Ebrahim ("Collaborative Intelligent Tutoring Systems"); Dorothy Kucar ("Using Lego to Enhance Learning in Mechanical Design Classes"); and Jennifer McArthur ("Effective Techniques for Facilitating Group Projects: International Perspectives"). The session starts at 9:30 a.m. in Math and Computer room 5158.

"A Kalahari Family," an historic series of five films covering a 50-year period in South Africa by noted filmmaker-anthropologist John Marshall, will have its Canadian premiere at UW this weekend. Showings are Friday night at 7:30, Saturday at 2 p.m. and Saturday at 7:30, all in Arts Lecture Hall room 113. Marshall will be present to introduce the films and answer questions, says Anne Zeller, chair of UW's anthropology department. There will also be a short talk after each set of films. Admission is $10 (free with WatCard).

An open house for discussion of the Waterloo Region "growth management strategy" happens Friday from 12:30 to 2:30 in the Environmental Studies I courtyard.

Advance note: a staff orientation session has been scheduled for March 5, starting at 3 p.m., says Neil Murray in the human resources department. Staff members who joined UW within the past year have received invitation letters, and others are welcome as space allows -- call ext. 2078 for reservations.

And I've been asked to mention a deadline for the position of associate provost (academic and student affairs), one of the top jobs at UW, which is about to be filled, as I said in yesterday's Daily Bulletin. Nominations and applications for the position should be received no later than March 12.

CAR