Residences seek front desk assistants

Attention all campus night owls – here's your chance to serve and earn some extra money.

Front Desk Assistants (FDAs) are needed around the clock for the first time in several University of Waterloo residences to staff the main offices.

Starting this September, Ron Eydt Village, Village 1 and Mackenzie King Village will have the main offices open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

"With this change in hours, we are looking to hire students to work the 12 midnight to 8 a.m. shifts Monday through Sunday," said Pamela Charbonneau, Manager, Marketing and Residence Life Development. "This is a great opportunity for students living in residence to work where they live."

The duties of the FDAs include providing customer service and acting as a resource for students and visitors. They also sign out equipment, movies and games, along with generally monitoring the community centre. FDAs are paid $8.50 an hour, with a bonus increase for night shifts.

If you're interested in applying for an FDA position, please forward a resume and cover letter to the residence(s) in which you are interested in working, or contact the following residence managers for more information:

• Ron Eydt Village: Dave Reynolds (dreynold@uwaterloo.ca)
• Village 1: Patty Koebel (pkoebel@uwaterloo.ca)
• Mackenzie King Village: Jenny MacIntyre (jmmacint@uwaterloo.ca)

Chair of the department of psychology, as of July 1, is Michael Dixon, who had been heading the department's behavioural neuroscience division. A UW faculty member since 1997, Dixon takes over the chair from Allan Cheyne, who is retiring.

Iraqi scientists visit UW

"Reversing Iraq's ecological disaster," read the dramatic headline in yesterday's Record and staff writer Dave Pink outlined the assistance provided by Canadian scientists, including experts at the University of Waterloo.

"A group of Iraqi scientists is in Waterloo, discussing strategies to reverse an ecological disaster and, maybe, help stabilize the war-torn country's economy," Pink wrote. "The massive Mesopotamian Marshes, in southern Iraq between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, were drained and allowed to bake into desert during Saddam Hussein's regime."

In The Record story, UW Prof. Barry Warner, a wetlands ecologist, says: "This was an ecological disaster of major proportions. Imagine something the size of Lake Ontario disappearing."

The story continues: "Now, Iraqi and Canadian scientists say it's vital the marshes be restored, and they're working together to make it happen. The Iraqis arrived Aug. 6 for a five-day conference of international wetlands specialists in Montreal, then were in Ottawa, and visited a restored wetland area near Midland. They arrived in Waterloo two days ago, for seminars and scientific discussions."

"It gives the Iraqis a chance to talk with other scientists from around the world," says Warner. "They were cut off from the rest of the scientific world all the time Saddam was in power, so part of this effort is helping them reconnect with the wider world again."

"But for now, as long as Iraq remains politically unstable, the Canadians will not be able to visit the marshes and can help out only from a distance," the story notes.

Warner heads UW's Wetlands Research Centre, the only university-based research centre focusing on wetlands in Canada. In announcing the Iraqi project last year, a UW news release says the centre will contribute scientific expertise in the marsh restoration efforts.

The release adds that the centre will also support the building of wetland science and restoration expertise in Iraqi institutions, and facilitate the development of a National Wetland Program and Strategy in coordination with existing programs in the Middle East and internationally.

The marshes in Iraq, particularly the Mesopotamian marshes, have long been recognized to be the largest in the Middle East and to have regional and global significance both for biodiversity and human culture.

During the 1990s, the wetlands were reduced to seven per cent of their original size owing to numerous dam projects upstream in Turkey, Syria and Iraq. The population of the marshes has dropped to 50,000 people from 500,000 – the majority of whom were displaced.

Turn off your computers

Most buildings within the University of Waterloo's Ring Road area will be affected by a power outage this coming Sunday. So remember to turn your computers before leaving for the weekend.

It is all part of a general utility shutdown starting from Sunday at 8:30 a.m. to Monday at 1 a.m. The services to be affected are electrical power, heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, chilled water, hot water and steam.

The Dana Porter and Davis Libraries will be closed all day Sunday as a result of the shutdown. As well, the libraries Web and electronic services will be unavailable between 6 p.m. Saturday to 8 a.m. Monday. Both libraries will be open on Saturday, from noon to 6 p.m.

 

C&PA