![[University of Waterloo]](/goldbar.gif)
| Yesterday |
Friday, November 28, 2003
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Editor: Chris Redmond credmond@uwaterloo.ca |
![[PAC main gym]](/images/2003/1128bball.gif)
The basketball
Warriors host Guelph tomorrow in the PAC main gym -- women's teams
(pictured here) play at noon, men's teams at 2 p.m. Also making use of
the main gym will be the volleyball teams, hosting Windsor tomorrow night
(women at 6 p.m., men at 8 p.m.) and Queen's on Sunday (2 p.m., men only).
Otherwise, the Warriors are out of town this weekend. The men's hockey
team is at Queen's tonight and Royal Military College tomorrow; the women's
hockey team is at McGill and Concordia; the track and field squad will be
at Western for a meet.
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Hall conducted a study funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and Ontario Power Generation of two lakes in Ontario's Muskoka District. He and a team of researchers looked specifically at lake diatoms -- microscopic plants also known as algae -- and how they were affected by acid rain. This group of algae is at the bottom of the food chain in lakes, but other organisms and animals depend on them for energy and nutrients. "It affects every organism that eats it and the animals that then eat those organisms," Hall points out.
His team is the first to discover that a phenomenon known as "drought-induced acidification" can affect communities of organisms in lakes. "The acidification phenomenon was known, but its effects were only known on the water chemistry of lakes and streams," Hall said. "We addressed whether it could exert important effects on organisms at the base of the food web (namely the diatoms). This is found in lakes that are bordered by wetlands."
It was discovered that the wetlands store the sulfur deposited by acid rain and hold onto it until drought periods cause the water table to drop and the sulfur to be released as sulfate into streams. This return of sulfate causes lakes to acidify in the same way as acid rain does and this influx strongly affects the algae.
Of the two lakes studied, one was surrounded by wetlands. There was a sharp difference found in the algae and patterns of recovery of lakewater acidity between the two lakes, due largely to the presence of the wetlands and drought-induced acidification, he said.
"Lakes are not recovering as quickly as expected, despite a 60-per-cent reduction in the amount of sulfur deposited by acid rain," he said. This discovery changes the predictions of the recovery period of lakes from acid rain damage that did not consider drought-induced acidification. The original predictions were much too optimistic or even wrong as lakes are taking much longer to recover, Hall said.
Acid rain and wetlands can delay or even reverse recovery of lakes from the effects of acid rain. This phenomenon is likely to become even more common because climate modellers predict an increase in the frequency and intensity of El Niño events that tend to bring drought to Ontario, he noted.
Hall and fellow researchers, with additional funding by NSERC, are continuing the program by expanding it to include a larger range of lakes that encompass a broad range of wetland cover. "These studies will be important and should lead to better management decisions that aim to protect Ontario's lakes and to guide future targets of emissions to protect the organisms living in lakes under future climate change scenarios," Hall said.
![[Burns]](http://www.asme.org/member/fellow/images/burns,d.jpg)
Burns (left), who was a mechanical engineering professor and dean of the
engineering faculty from 1990 to 1998, left UW two years ago to become
Conestoga's vice-president (academic)
as of
January 2002,
"with a mandate to move the College forward towards its goal of
polytechnic institute status".
Burns said at that time: "I am a firm believer in a multi-layered postsecondary system, and I welcome the opportunity to assist the College in preparing for and achieving excellence in applied-degree programming, and in the transformation into a polytechnic. I know industry definitely needs an increasing number of highly skilled and educated people, and I wish to see Conestoga even more successful in filling the gap, addressing local industrial needs."
He's second in command at Conestoga behind the college's front-and-centre president, John Tibbits, who told the Record last week that "We're planning for 100 years and at the same time we're figuring out what we want to do tomorrow. . . . I think this will be a powerhouse institution."
It already takes pride in having been rated Ontario's "number one college" five years in a row. Conestoga has its main campus in the Doon neighbourhood of south Kitchener, with branch campuses in Waterloo, Guelph, Cambridge and Stratford. It was one of the first few Ontario colleges to be authorized to grant degrees, and now has degree programs in five fields, including nursing and manufacturing.
The Record article revealed some of Conestoga's current plans:
"The incoming, first-year group of 3,147 is the largest ever at Conestoga," a news release said. "By academic division, the total enrolment figures are 1,774 in the School of Business; 1,673 in the School of Health Sciences, Community Services and Biotechnology; 1,651 in the School of Engineering and Information Technology; and 765 in the School of Liberal and Media Studies."
It noted: "These figures represent only a portion of Conestoga's enrolment. In academic year 2003-2004, Conestoga expects to serve 2,500 apprenticeship program students, 400 preparatory program students, 350 students in skilled trades programs, 34,000 registrants in part-time, continuing education courses and programs, and 8,000 registrants in customized training activities for businesses, industries and organizations."
It's a Warrior weekendSpecial activities are planned tonight and tomorrow night in the Student Life Centre, for students looking for a good time that doesn't involve alcohol. It's one of the regular Warrior Weekend programs, and this one is billed as "a night of rest and relaxation", though it doesn't sound exactly restful.Tonight's plans include guitar lessons, movies in the great hall, a quiz bowl, a breakdancing demonstration, and hip-hop lessons, as well as unlimited gaming for $5 all evening in the Campus Cove. Saturday night there are more movies, and a Residence Idol competition starts at 7:00. |
Offerings include "hundreds of miniature art works by students, staff, faculty, alumni and friends of the department priced from $10 to $100." Tonight's silent auction features "selected larger works (paintings, drawings, prints and sculpture)". It's all happening in the back gallery at East Campus Hall.
The music department's performing groups have their end-of-term concerts this weekend and next week, starting with the Chamber Choir on Saturday night. Its show, "It Can't Be Christmas Yet", starts at 7 p.m. at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in downtown Kitchener. Tickets are $10 (students $5).
Sunday afternoon, the Stage Band presents "Good Fellows . . . Great Sound", at 2 p.m. in the great hall of Conrad Grebel University College. Again, admission is $10 (students $5).
The Instrumental Chamber Ensembles will give a free concert Monday at 7 p.m. in the chapel at Grebel. And Wednesday at noon-hour, there's the annual concert and carol sing in the great hall of the Davis Centre, led by the department's Triple Choirs.
The Federation of Students has announced the schedule for its annual elections -- seems as though Chris Edey and his colleagues on the Fed executive just arrived yesterday, but in fact their terms are half way through already. Nominations for the 2004-05 executive will open January 8 and close January 27, says Feds staffer Brandon Sweet. Nomination forms are available at the Federation office at the west side of the Student Life Centre. The campaign period will run January 28 through February 7, and voting is scheduled for February 10-12.
| WHEN AND WHERE |
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Staff association craft sale winds up, 9:00 to 3:00, Davis
Centre lounge -- wood crafts, Christmas ornaments, greeting cards,
ceramics, quilts; also a raffle.
"Cellular Mechanisms for Brainstem Control of Movement", seminar by Réjean Dubuc, Université du Québec à Montréal, Friday 11:30, Lyle Hallman Institute auditorium. "Globalization and the Rise of the Micro-Multinational", seminar sponsored by Centre for Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology, noon, Needles Hall room 1101. Curling Club bonspiel all day Saturday -- last-minute information uw_bonspiel@yahoo.com. Big Sugar plays Federation Hall Saturday evening, tickets $16 from Federation of Students office. CKMS 100.3 FM "Power Pledge Drive" all day Sunday -- "chance to support community radio and get great gifts". Gneiss monolith in the CEIT lobby marks its anniversary with photo showing in the museum, CEIT lobby, Monday 11:30 to 1:30. |
The biology department held a ceremony yesterday to present this year's Ram and Lekha Tumkur Memorial Graduate Scholarship, which honours the names of two children of UW biologist Nagraj Tumkur who were killed in the 1985 Air India crash over the Atlantic. The scholarship, worth $1,000, goes to a master's level student on the basis of "academic achievement, research potential, experience and financial need"; this year's winner is Suchita Nath.
A delegation from Finland's University of Oulu is visiting UW today. . . . The Touring Players present a kids' show, "More Munsch Madness", in the Humanities Theatre at 10:00, 11:45 and 1:30 today. . . .
Electrical power will be shut off in the early hours of Monday in the north campus buildings (the Icefield, two day care centres and the Brubacher House) and in a cluster of buildings on the central campus: the Tatham Centre, South Campus Hall, the Grad House, Carl Pollock Hall, Doug Wright Engineering, Engineering II and III, the Dana Porter Library and Needles Hall. People working in those buildings are warned to shut down their computers as they leave tonight, or over the weekend, to avoid damage at restart time on Monday around 7:30 a.m.
CAR