January 9, 2003

Thursday, January 9, 2003

One prime minister speaks about another
Gallery shows work of Toronto artist
Gearing up for student conference
Job information session, and more

Editor:
Chris Redmond
credmond@uwaterloo.ca

Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas

Math student is mourned
Friends will hold an informal memorial for Jocelyne Stevens on Saturday evening at the house where she lived last year and would have returned in the spring term.
Stevens, a fourth-year math student, was killed December 21 in a highway accident as she was heading home from Queen's University -- where she had been doing the professional part of her teaching option -- to Richards Landing, near Sault Ste. Marie.
Daughter of Calvin and Julie Stevens, and sister of Christopher and Caylen, she is also mourned by special friend Jon Orr as well as many others who knew her at UW.
One of her intended roommates, Nicole Fredette, says Saturday's event will be "a short informal memorial service . . . an opportunity to remember what kind of person she was". It will start at 6 p.m. at 590A Mount Anne Drive, in the Lakeshore area.

Sir John A. Macdonald, prime minister 1867-1873 and 1878-1891. It's his 188th birthday on Saturday.

One prime minister speaks about another

John Turner, Canada's 17th prime minister, will speak this afternoon in the Theatre of the Arts.

The topic of the lecture is "Sir John A. Macdonald: Reflections on Canada's First Prime Minister by One of His Successors." The event, sponsored by the Toronto law firm of Miller Thomson, where Turner is now a partner, begins at 4 p.m. Admission is free.

Earlier, he will be meeting graduate students and UW's dean of arts, Bob Kerton.

John Turner became prime minister, succeeding Pierre Trudeau, after he was chosen leader of the Liberal Party of Canada at a national convention in 1984. He was sworn in as the 17th Prime Minister of Canada on June 30, 1984. His party was defeated in the general election of September 4 that year, but Turner was elected as the Member of Parliament for the riding of Vancouver Quadra (British Columbia), and became as Leader of the Opposition. He left national office in February 1990 and left Parliament in 1993.

Turner was first elected to the House of Commons in June 1962 as MP for Montréal-St. Lawrence-St. George, and later represented Ottawa-Carleton. He joined the cabinet as a minister without portfolio in 1965 and later served as registrar-general, minister of consumer and corporate affairs, solicitor-general, minister of justice, attorney-general of Canada, and eventually minister of finance (1972-75). He resigned as an MP in 1976, returning eight years later as national Liberal leader.

On May 3, 1995, Turner was appointed a Companion of the Order of Canada.

He was born in Richmond, Surrey, England, on June 7, 1929. He graduated from the University of British Columbia with an honours bachelor of arts in political science in 1949. Turner attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, receiving three degrees from Oxford, and also did graduate studies in law at the Sorbonne in Paris.

He has received honorary degrees from the University of New Brunswick, York University, University of British Columbia and Mount Allison University. Turner was named a member of the English Bar, Gray's Inn, London, in 1953. The following year, he was called to the Bar of Québec, and he became a lawyer and Queen's Counsel in Ontario in 1968.

[Stormfront]
"Stormfront Approaching", a 1988 painting by Rae Johnson

Gallery shows work of Toronto artist

UW's art gallery opens a new exhibition of paintings today with a talk by their creator, Toronto artist Rae Johnson, who is a faculty member at the Ontario College of Art and Design.

The exhibition consists of two bodies of work, says the gallery's curator, Carol Podedworny. One is a series of 42 images from the Flesherton Pond series produced between 1988 and 1991. These paintings were given to St. Jerome's University in 2001 by alumnus Peter Warrian and his partner Margret Hovanec. The second body of work dates from 2001 and 2002 and is entitled "The Ghost Plane Series".

UW's main gallery is in East Campus Hall, and is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, noon to 4 p.m., Thursday noon to 7 p.m. and Saturday 1 to 4 p.m. Admission is free.

The exhibition opens today with a public lecture by Johnson, starting at 1:30 p.m. in room 1219 of East Campus Hall. A reception with the artist and the donors is scheduled for February 3 (7 to 9 p.m.) in the gallery, and the show continues through February 13.

Says a statement from the gallery explaining the show: "In both the Flesherton Pond and the Ghost series, artist Rae Johnson presents the viewer with an emotional appeal. How does this plea differ from earlier expressions of the land in Canadian art, and from the nature of landscape painting in this country?

"These series indicate a view that is synonymous with that which is close at hand and curiously that which is anonymous as well, straying from a more 'typical' view which has often been panoramic and possessive. As culture watcher Donna Lypchuk has noted, 'these paintings are not about imitating nature but about being one with it, and to some extent mastering the divinity of its formality (1988).' They are representations of that which is transitory and fleeting: a relevant perspective given the meaning of land and territory in 2002.

"Johnson has reflected upon the Nation's and the artist's roles amidst the shifting boundaries and affiliations of a global world: 'I believe in the power of the visual arts to reflect our unique national identity within the global village. I persist in being fascinated and engaged with the practice of painting in particular as a forum to expose and challenge aesthetic and social values of the cultural canon. I embrace the practice of painting as a visual harbinger and future record of the state of our culture, as we embark on the beginning of this new era of globalization.'"

Gearing up for student conference

An information session today will give interested students the word on this year's Canadian Undergraduate Technology Conference, which starts a week from today. The CUTC meeting is scheduled for 5 to 7 p.m. in Davis Centre room 1301.

The CUTC is one of Waterloo's claims to fame: an annual student-run conference for Canadian undergraduate students to discuss technology with academic and industry leaders.

Last year's conference, its web site notes, brought together approximately 500 students from 20 universities across Canada with nearly 70 speakers from both industry and academia. The three-day conference featured keynotes, speaker seminars, hands-on workshops and events such as the ThinkTank, TechPanel, TechExpo, TechShop, and TechTours. "I learned more during my three days here than I normally do in an entire month at school," one UW student is quoted as saying after last year's CUTC.

"This year," organizers promise, "we included new seminars of Technology for the Senses, Mind, Body, and Technology, Leading Technology, and Next-Generation Technology. CUTC is all about the future of technology, where technology is going, and how one can be a part of it. By attending CUTC 2003, one will have the opportunity to interact with the brightest minds across Canada along with the world leaders in technology."

The conference will run January 16 to 18 at Toronto's Regal Constellation Hotel. Originally put together by UW students and held on campus, the conference now involves organizers from a number of universities across the country.

This year's keynote speakers include Don Tapscott, president of New Paradigm Learning Corporation; IBM vice-president Helene Armitage; and Michael Neuman, president of Bell Mobility. Also on the program is Raymond Laflamme, UW physics professor and director of the new Institute for Quantum Computing.

Job information session, and more

Students who will graduate this spring can attend an information session about careers this afternoon in the Humanities Theatre. It's a repeat of a session that was held Tuesday. The co-op and career services department will be briefing students about the graduating interview process, "developing a personal career goal", and the services the department can provide, for students in both co-op and regular programs. Today's session runs from 1 to 3 p.m.

[Strong hands and a smile]
Four martial arts -- tae-kwon-do, karate, aiki jujutsu, and kendo -- are taught in campus recreation clubs, and all will be shown off in a demonstration that runs from 7:00 to 8:00 tonight in the "blue activity area" of the Physical Activities Complex. "Anna", pictured, was a participant last term, and organizer Alex Frakking took the photo.
Clubs Days continue today, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., in the Student Life Centre. Says the Federation of Students web site: "Because we recognize that no one organization can represent the beliefs of all students at UW, we support the diversity of views that our clubs present. As a full-time undergraduate student, you're entitled to join any club you wish, or to create a new one to serve a new interest. David Romanyk, the Clubs Director, will be happy to help you out if you have any questions."

Three special sessions in the "Knowing Your Workplace" series, dealing with the pension and benefits programs at UW, have been announced by the human resources department. "These sessions," says David Dietrich of HR, "were arranged at times suitable to Food Services and Plant Operations employees who have work schedules different than the standard 8:30 to 4:30. Interested faculty and staff who were unable to attend the sessions on these same topics in the late fall are also invited to attend." The session on pensions is today, 4:00 to 5:00 p.m., and the session on benefits will be given twice -- Monday at 1:30 and next Thursday, January 16, at 4 p.m. All sessions are in Davis Centre room 1302.

A "new student welcome reception" is scheduled for today, says Erin Moore, special events coordinator for the Federation. The event will take place in Ground Zero restaurant in the Student Life Centre, she said: "If you are new to UW this term, stop by any time between 4 and 6 p.m. to meet your Federation of Students executive and the student life coordinator. You can ask questions, have something to eat, or pick up information from across campus." Need more information? Call Moore at ext. 3426.

Or if you want to meet somebody in a whole different sense, take note that the first Boys 'n' Girls Night of the term is scheduled for tonight in Federation Hall.

Auditions are under way for FASS. "We need actors, singers, dancers, musicians, and techies," writes producer Heather MacDonald, stressing that no experience is necessary. "Auditions are totally pain-free -- just show up in comfy clothes ready to have fun!" Auditions run from 7 to 9 p.m. tonight, and again tomorrow, in Humanities room 378.

It's trivia night at the Graduate House, 7 to 9 p.m., as "welcome" activities for new graduate students continue. After 9 p.m. the music starts -- "DJ, prizes, food" -- at a "Grad Mixer".

CAR