![[University of Waterloo]](/goldbar.gif)
| Friday |
Monday July 14, 2003
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Editor: Chris Redmond credmond@uwaterloo.ca |
Midnight Sun leads after day one"The sun is shining and we are flying!" reports Calli Citron of UW's Midnight Sun VII solar race car team. "We started in the sixth positon and within the first three hours we passed five cars and we were in the lead." Waterloo's solar car team maintained its lead through the remainder of the day -- the first of the 10-day 2003 American Solar Challenge. Today the team will travel from St. Louis to Rolla, Missouri to complete the first leg of the race. |
![[Bluhm and Lingard]](/images/2003/bluhm-lingard.gif)
Human
resources pension coordinator Linda Bluhm (standing, at right) has little patience
with people who complain about life in Canada. After spending a month last
fall working in an orphanage in Romania, she has returned much more grateful
for the opportunities we have here. "We're very blessed."
Bluhm chose to spend four weeks of her holidays as a volunteer with World Vision after her daughter, Melanie -- who graduated from UW with a kinesiology degree in 1999 -- came back from working at the same orphanage in 2000. "I was inspired by her and her touching stories; I thought I could make a difference, too."
After fundraising some $4,000 to cover her travel and accommodations, Bluhm headed to Craiova -- a university city in southern Romania -- with a team of people from across Canada assembled by World Vision.
There, she helped care for some 100 toddlers in an orphanage, feeding, bathing and playing with children who don't always get the attention they need from overworked staff. The orphanages, called "placement centres" by the Romanians, are gradually being phased out and replaced by a system of foster parents and group homes similar to that used in Canada.
The emotional deprivation of institutional life left scars on many of the youngsters, and Bluhm found it difficult to say goodbye. "They really tug at you; you think about them a lot. We're such lucky people and our children are so lucky here," she adds.
Returning to UW, she was conducting a retirement interview this winter with Linda Lingard (seated, above), a graduate secretary in the statistical and actuarial science department, and learned that Lingard was planning a trip to the same orphanage. Lingard, who had worked at UW off and on since high school, decided to take an early retirement and "pursue my dreams." She spent the month of May in Craiova -- and has a photo album full of smiling faces as a souvenir of her experience.
While the people of Romania live with what most Canadians would consider hardships -- some rural schools without running water, for example -- Lingard was surprised to find so much joie de vivre in Craiova. "I found a lot of pride, eagerness to work together -- a real sense of community."
Her only regret: "I should never have waited so long to follow my dream. Whether you're retired or not, don't wait," she advises. Now that she's home, Lingard hopes to find a balance between spending more time with her family and making a contribution to the larger community.
Bluhm, too, sees herself as part of a larger community, and is pleased the human resources department is doing its part to help by supporting a six-year old Romanian child through World Vision.
"The world is as small as you want to make it," she says.
That's the major change in an overhaul of the English language requirements for admission to UW, approved by the university senate this spring to go into effect in the fall of 2004.
Until now, the requirements have applied to "applicants who have studied in Canada for a period of less than five years." The revised rules are for "applicants whose five most recent years of full-time education have not been in an English language school system."
"In an English language school system," the text explains, "the majority of classes are taught entirely in the English medium." If you've studied in English for five years -- in Canada or elsewhere, it doesn't matter -- then you don't have to provide evidence of English proficiency, such as a TOEFL score, to be considered for admission to UW. (The fine print also notes that "bilingual francophone Canadians educated in Canada" don't have to submit scores.)
The reason for the change is "the increasing number of English language school systems that exist globally," says Peter Burroughs, UW's director of admissions. "The university is interested in the number of years of English languge instruction applicants have received within an academic setting regardless of geographic location."
There are now three tests that applicants can take to meet the requirement if it applies to them: the familiar Test of English as a Foreign Language, or TOEFL; the International English Language Testing System; or the Michigan English Language Assessment Battery.
Minimum scores on the tests vary somewhat from one faculty to another. On the "paper-based" TOEFL, for example, the minimum score is 580 in applied health sciences, math and science, 600 in arts, engineering, independent studies, environmental studies and software engineering.
"Students who do not meet these requirements may still be eligible for admission," the rules note, especially in math, which offers a preliminary English Language for Academic Studies program.
Also: "In very exceptional cases the University is willing to consider an exemption for those who have studied in an English language school system for less than five consecutive years . . . and who can demonstrate clearly that they have acquired the necessary language skills."
![[pixel planet logo]](/images/2003/pixel.gif){kind=tracking}
Graphics'
new centre -- Pixel Planet -- opens today in MC 2018. Says a flyer making
its way across campus this morning, "Pixel pub and graphics' math copy centre
have merged into one spectacular centre that's bigger and better. . . it's
practically out of this world!"
A blood donor clinic starts today in the Student Life Centre, multipurpose room. It will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for the remainder of the week, and will continue on Monday and Tuesday next week. According to organizers, "donations take about one hour and each one can help save up to four lives." Donors should sign up in advance at the Turnkey Desk.
The UW Business and Investment Club is holding a seminar today, aimed at those wanting to start their own business. Kathi Smith, manager of the Business Enterprise Centre and chair of the marketing and recruitment committee of Leadership Waterloo will speak on the topic "Capital Venture Companies." Her talk begins at 5:30 p.m. in MC 4061. Admission is free.
"To meet critical deadlines," the student awards office will be closed tomorrow and Wednesday. The office will open again on Thursday at 10 a.m.
Looking ahead, volunteer patient actors are needed for Operation Campus Wide, a large-scale training event, in which mock emergencies are set up across campus. UW's campus response team is then called to respond. The event will be held on Thursday from 4:30 to 9 p.m. For details or to volunteer contact crt@feds.uwaterloo.ca or call ext. 3296.
Also on Thursday there will be an information session about the new master of business, entrepreneurship and technology program. It will take place from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in DC 1304. For details contact Karen Gallant, ext. 7071.
And finally, a correction: Friday's bulletin gave incorrect contact information for one of the organizers of Student Life 101. Those interested in volunteering should contact Beatrice Wong at bhwong@scimail.uwaterloo.ca.
C&PA