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Friday, March 11, 2005

  • Six are 'students of the year'
  • Catholic theology program goes ahead
  • Much more, on a busy campus
Editor:
Chris Redmond
credmond@uwaterloo.ca

Britain marks Red Nose Day

[Group of six, full length]

UW's 2004 Co-op Students of the Year, left to right: Kevin Law, Jessica Reid, Melissa Abercromby, Robert Vinluan, Joe Nethery, Leslie John.

Six are 'students of the year'

Six students have been named "Co-op Students of the Year" for 2004, says an announcement from the co-op education and career services department. They were chosen "based on their contributions to one or more of their 2004 work term employers, academic achievements, contributions to co-operative education and commitment to the community as demonstrated through volunteer and extracurricular activities."

Arts: Leslie John (home town: Waterloo), 4A psychology. "During her last work term in Toronto, Leslie marketed her employer's world-renowned employer's products to internal sales teams, including those from other countries. She wrote monthly reports for the CEO on behalf of her unit's team and replaced the company's outdated e-mail newsletter with a more easily navigable Web version. Drawing on her organizational skills she planned a client relationship event in Dallas, Texas by liaising with clients and her company's corporate executives."

Applied health sciences: Jessica Reid (home town: Thunder Bay), 4B health studies. "Jessica managed the day-to-day operations of a call centre, including staffing, supervision, and general administration. Since having had an earlier work term with a charitable agency in Guyana, Jessica has voluntarily continued to help by selecting and interviewing UW co-op student candidates, then providing the information about the interviewees back to the agency which is unable to come to Canada to recruit."

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    • Engineering (co-recipient): Melissa Abercromby (home town: London), 4B civil engineering. "Normally undertaken by a full-time employee, Melissa's work involved helping to design a water treatment facility and applying to the province for a Certificate for Alteration to Water Works. She also helped to organize a campaign to raise funds and awareness of the importance of water to developing nations around the world (achieving the largest 'Water for People' campaign in North America). Melissa organized an organization-wide United Way campaign, doubling the amount collected over the previous year."

    Engineering (co-recipient): Kevin Law, (home town: Guelph), 3B systems design engineering. "Multi-talented, Kevin developed for one of his employers an entirely new, consistently profitable equity trading strategy that earned as much as five figures per day. For another of his 2004 employers, he helped to project manage the inspection and repair of a damaged part on the Canadarm. In the meantime, a part of another Canadarm belonging to the Space Shuttle Endeavour was damaged on the launch pad. Because of his acquired knowledge, Kevin was able to continue to supervise the work on the first Canadarm part, allowing company engineers to work on the one belonging to the more time-critical Space Shuttle. For his efforts, Kevin received a NASA Lyndon B Johnson Space Centre Group Achievement Award. The life of a co-op student is busy enough, but Kevin is also a professional ballet dancer with the Opera Atelier and is married to a UW Arts student. Kevin has earned an honourable mention from the Canadian Association for Co-operative Education in their 2004 Student of the Year competition."

    Environmental studies: Joe Nethery (home town: Guelph), 4A planning. "Joe prepared planning evidence for Ontario Municipal Board hearings in which both clients won their cases, wrote a report for a municipal client which was adopted by Council and the executive summary of which appeared in the Ontario Planning Journal, and prepared and presented a significant report to the city's environmental and economic development committee concerning a new highway corridor connecting two municipalities. He also started a neighbourhood design initiative by preparing and administering a survey of community residents and members of the local development industry."

    Mathematics: Robert Vinluan (home town: Markham), 4B computer science/software engineering. "Although the project given to Robert was considered at one point as somewhat low-priority, its worth was elevated after he created a tool that validates and corrects street addresses. It has now been purchased by a property assessment organization. Robert also created the foundation for the development of a tool to be used by animation studios to help manage their studio pipelines and digital assets."

    CECS says it encourages students to apply for this award and for employers, faculty members and members of the public to nominate exceptional co-op education students.

    Catholic theology program goes ahead -- from St. Jerome's University

    This September, St. Jerome's University will offer its first courses in a graduate program in theology specifically designed for Catholics and non-Catholics who are exercising leadership in Roman Catholic organizations.

    [Soaring over the net]

    Airborne is Gaby Lesniak of the Warriors, who was named to the national rookie all-star team by Canadian Interuniversity Sport as the women's volleyball season reached its end. Other recent awards include a near-sweep of OUA west division hockey honours for the men's hockey Warriors. Goaltender Curtis Darling was rookie of the year; coach Karl Taylor was coach of the year; Shawn Germain took the "most sportsmanlike" honour; Chris Hopiavuori received the Randy Gregg Award for excellence in "hockey, academics and community involvement".

    The Ontario Council on Graduate Studies approved the new program at its regular meeting on March 4 following an extensive review and appraisal process. The degree conferred will be a Master in Catholic Thought (MCT), the first of its kind in Canada.

    The program is a response to the perceived need for an accredited program in theological education for lay leaders of Roman Catholic school boards, hospitals and social service agencies. St. Jerome's president Michael W. Higgins noted that "following lengthy consultations, it became clear that leadership of these Catholic institutions was devolving to lay people who, however capable as board members and administrators, felt less certain of their qualifications in the area of theological understanding. As the only Roman Catholic university in the Diocese of Hamilton, it was incumbent upon us to address this growing need."

    The program will also be open to Catholics and non-Catholics who, for personal reasons, wish to pursue a deeper knowledge and appreciation of the Catholic tradition.

    Cristina Vanin, director of the MCT program, highlighted those aspects of the program intended to appeal to lay leaders in mid-career: "We purposely designed this as a part-time program, to be offered at times convenient to those who work for or serve as trustees for Catholic organizations. This is a course-based degree that can be completed within four to seven years, depending upon the student's needs and personal circumstances."

    Core courses focus on Roman Catholic theology, history, morality and spirituality, while electives explore issues of social justice, education, ethics and feminism within the Roman Catholic tradition. The launching of the Master in Catholic Thought will mean that St. Jerome's will, for the first time, confer its own degree. "This is an exciting prospect for us," Higgins observed, "both in terms of our service to the Roman Catholic community and in terms of the evolution of our own academic aspirations."

    Much more, on a busy campus

    The newsletter of the department of French studies reports that the department "is currently renovating its Pierre-Dubé study room and its graduate student office in the Modern Languages Building. To compensate for the absence of windows, these two rooms have been repainted with brighter colours. New furniture and carpeting have been installed in the Pierre-Dubé room, used mainly by undergraduate students. The red and black decorative quilt, donated by the 2005 French Teaching Specialization class, serves as a reminder of Dr. Dubé's accomplishments as a teacher in our Department. The graduate student office will see new study carrels, lockers, and upgraded computer equipment. . . . The Pierre-Dubé study room will be officially inaugurated at a reception on March 23."

    WHEN AND WHERE
    Biomedical imaging workshop organized by Medical Instrument Analysis and Machine Intelligence group, electrical and computer engineering, all day, Davis Centre room 1304.

    Sandford Fleming Foundation Debates finals outside POETS Pub, Carl Pollock Hall, noon.

    'Should Abortion Be Legal?' debate sponsored by UW Debating Society, Students for Life, and Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform, 1 p.m., Math and Computer room 2066.

    Faculty of arts reception for dean's honours list students, 4 to 6 p.m., Festival Room, South Campus Hall.

    Graduate House entertainment tonight: "N-Stro-Man'X instrumental" surf music of the 1960s, with dancing. Cover charge $5 non-members.

    Persian New Year celebration Saturday 7:30 p.m., Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex, $20 at the door, details online.

    Warrior track and field team in Winnipeg for the national championships, all weekend.

    Campus Day open house for future students and parents, Tuesday, details online.

    [Andy Stochansky tonight at the Bombshelter] And another, this one from student Becky Jackson, who's spending two terms on an exchange program in Nantes, France: "Voilà cinq mois déjà que nous (24 Canadiennes et un seul Canadien) sommes à Nantes. Notre année à l'étranger est chargée depuis fin septembre. Nous découvrons la ville, nous voyageons à l'intérieur et à l'extérieur de la France. Nous passons du temps avec nos familles d'accueil, nous rencontrons de nouveaux amis et nous mangeons de la bonne bouffe, en plus de suivre 4 cours par semestre. En décembre, notre cher professeur Robert Ryan nous a quittés et la prof Anne Marie Miraglia nous a accueillis après les vacances de Noël. . . . Dans les quelques mois qui restent, nous continuerons à améliorer notre français, à découvrir Nantes et nous franchirons un nouvel obstacle: quitter tout ce qui est devenu familier au cours de notre séjour."  [English]

    The UW Campus Response Team "is running an event called Operation Campus Wide, a campus wide team training exercise," writes Steve Fryers, communications coordinator for the group. He says the event is scheduled for noon to 2 p.m. on Monday. "We need volunteers to help out by acting as casualties or assist the team trainers with running the scenarios. If you have free time between 11 and 3, please e-mail the team at crt@feds.uwaterloo.ca and let us know when you are available. Food will be provided for all volunteers who help out."

    And now a word from the Student Ambassador program, as represented by Heather Godelie of the UW visitors centre: "We're currently in the process of hiring our 2005/06 Student Ambassador team. The application deadline is March 18. We're looking for enthusiastic, outgoing students who have a love for UW. Student Ambassadors process information requests from prospective students, give campus tours, work at special events such as Campus Day and may participate in special recruitment initiatives such as online blogging and Ask The Warrior. If students are interested in picking up an application form or learning more about this position, they can drop by the Visitors Centre or give us a call at ext. 3614."

    The "Thirty Hour Famine" fund-raiser event for world hunger starts at 6:00 tonight. "This will be the second campus wide 30 hour fast," writes one of the organizers, Tim Szeto. "Anna Galati, a grad from UW, organized the first famine. It was very well received. This year we expect even more participants for this great cause. We welcome staff and faculty to participate. While people are fasting there will be activities for students to enjoy. The concert on Saturday night promises to be another great success. Bands from Warrior Nation (CD made up of UW people) will be performing. If people want to participate, then can contact us at uwfamine@gmail.com. Currently, we have about 200 people involved." The idea is to keep busy with events from Friday evening to Saturday midnight -- and of course it's all based in the Student Life Centre. Funds raised will be spent through World Vision for programs in Malawi, Tanzania, India, Nicaragua, Peru and elsewhere.

    Tomorrow brings the long-awaited conference on "Keys for Success: From Science to Business", organized by SCRUBS, the society for students in the science-and-business program. It focuses on the commercialization of science and technology ideas, with such topics as "company niche determination", research and development, and marketing. "There will be 11 speakers," writes Michael Hsieh of the organizing committee, "representing various renowned companies exploring a variety of engaging topics. There will be networking opportunities throughout the day as well as an exhibition style lunch where all of the involved companies will station displays allowing personal interaction. In the afternoon, a case study competition will take place where students will be teamed up to tackle and solve a real world corporate problem allowing delegates to get first hand, corporate decision making information." The conference will run from 9 to 4 tomorrow in the Davis Centre lounge.

    Online "appointments" for enrolment in spring term courses begin Monday on Quest and run through April 2. . . . The bonfire that had been tentatively announced for today, as a wrap-up to International Women's Week, will not be held, on account of snowy weather. . . . Extended hours for UW's libraries (including 24-hour-a-day operation in the Davis Centre) will begin March 27 and run through the end of winter term exams. . . .

    It's "Frenzy Friday" at Brubakers cafeteria in the Student Life Centre, according to the weekly menu from food services, and Mudie's in Village I has Madras tofu curry for lunch. . . . The HopeSpring Cancer Centre fund-raiser held last Sunday raised more than $10,500, organizers report, and a team from UW's earth sciences department dubbed "Prairie Dogs" won the bonspiel. . . . A gang from the UW Recreation Committee have reached E in their eat-your-way-through-the-alphabet program, and will be out at Ellison's restaurant on Saturday evening. . . .

    CAR

    Communications and Public Affairs, University of Waterloo
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