![[University of Waterloo]](/images/logobars/goldbar.gif)
| Yesterday |
Thursday, October 27, 2005
|
Editor: Chris Redmond credmond@uwaterloo.ca |
![[Empty yellow chairs along the table]](/images/2005/1026emptyseats.jpg)
Room 3001
in Needles Hall was empty on Tuesday, when the university's board of
governors met in Cambridge instead of its usual location. And it'll be
empty again tomorrow, as the university secretariat sponsors a "non-event"
in support of the
United Way campaign.
You'll remember it was the secretariat that dreamed up
Wacky
Hair for the 2001 campaign.
This year's idea: pay a fee (donation bags are available in departments across
the university) and then, any time Friday that suits you, don't go
to a meeting (or a reception or a speech or a concert). Stay where
you are and enjoy the luxury of knowing that you're helping the 42 local
agencies that are part of the United Way.
As of Tuesday night, $105,819 had been received on the way to the campaign's $165,000 on-campus goal. Tomorrow is another "dress-down day" in support of the campaign, and it also brings a couple of noontime special events. In statistics and actuarial science, it's the SAS Idol competition, with performances by ten talented folks from around the math faculty, and a trio of celebrity judges (Math and Computer room 5158, tickets $5). In the faculty of arts, it's the annual pizza lunch and pumpkin-carving event, in Humanities room 373. |
![[Dixon]](/images/2005/1027gdixon.jpg)
The dean of science,
George Dixon, will serve another term, the president announced
yesterday after the board of governors approved the reappointment. Dean
since
2001, Dixon will now head the science faculty through to
June 30, 2009. "Professor Dixon's
reappointment
enjoys widespread
support within the Faculty of Science and throughout the University,"
a memo from the president noted. "I am delighted he is willing to continue." A
professor
of biology, specializing in the effects of toxins, Dixon is a
Distinguished Teacher Award winner.
|
![[Koenderman]](/images/2005/1027koenderman.jpg)
Koenderman (right), who is
a Waterloo engineering graduate and CEO of Aecon Indusrial
Group, compared the university's pace the last
couple of years to a
"moving train that has left the station" and said it's important
people don't get left behind.
He said he had spoken with both president David Johnston and provost Amit Chakma about finding ways to improve communications and consultation. Chakma noted that more effort is going to be applied to this issue, and in particular he pointed to opening more channels with the staff relations committee and student relations committee.
He said the student relations committee will be given new emphasis and noted that associate provosts Bruce Mitchell (academic and student affairs) and Catharine Scott (human resources and student services) are members of that body, which also includes two undergraduate and two graduate students. Chakma added that he intends to have more "informal meetings" across campus with other groups whenever possible.
Federation of Students president John Andersen said communication and consultation with students is a key issue because often "students don't understand how the university works" because they are not as familiar with its governance and structures. He said "where the community works well is where there are leaders who communicate the issues."
As one communications activity, "Town Hall" meeting featuring Johnston and Chakma is scheduled for Tuesday, November 1, at 4 p.m. in the Humanities Theatre. All staff and faculty members have been invited.
Wilson, based in North Bay, offers viewers a multi-media installation, Pseudoarc, in which "crookedness shines." With the assistance of "topologist collaborator" Murat Tuncali, chair of the mathematics department at Nipissing University, Wilson explores "how the infinitely crooked line (the pseudoarc) would look if it was quite a bit less than infinitely crooked."
Using video, projection, photographs and what Carol Podedworny, the UW gallery's director/curator, terms "odd constructions: string, hair, foam core and other wacky stuff," Wilson attempts to "visualize a plausible but undrawable object" -- the pseudoarc -- with results displayed both on the web and at the art gallery.
In Diary: of a River, Abrahamson uses brightly-coloured ceramics to illustrate "a metaphorical installation of an unsettled river that carries vessels of memory through the passage of time." Podedworny describes the work as "reminiscent of a child's playground filtered through the macabre vision of Alice in Wonderland, the Wizard of Oz, or Grimm's Fairy Tales."
The setting, says Podedworny, is a chess board on which "iconic images" move eastward, imbued with "a symbolic language developed by the artist to reveal the moments, events and emotions of life." Abrahamson lives in Kitchener and is a sessional instructor in the UW department of fine arts. She holds a BFA and MFA from the University of Calgary.
A reception for both exhibitions will be held on Tuesday, November 8, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., in East Campus Hall. Abrahamson will present a talk on Thursday, November 10, in ECH room 1219. The exhibitions continue through November 26, with the gallery open from noon to 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, from noon to 7 p.m. on Thursday, and from 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday.
![[Sanneh gestures with microphone]](/images/2005/1027sanneh.jpg)
Speaking tonight
is Lamin Sanneh of Yale Divinity School, giving the annual Pascal Lecture
udner the title "Faith and Power: Christianity and Islam in a Secular
West". He'll talk abouat how the two religions "are or should be
meeting the fact of western secularism from their respective theological
perspectives and how that affects the relationship between them." The
lecture (free admission) starts at 8:00 tonight in the Humanities
Theatre. Sanneh will giave a seminar, "Christian Mission and Western
Guilt", Friday at 3:30 in Davis Centre room 1304. (And he'll be the opening
speaker at Wilfrid Laurier University's
Faith
Forum on Friday evening.)
|
| WHEN AND WHERE |
|
Blood donor clinic last day, 9:00 to 3:00,
multipurpose room, Student Life Centre, appointments at the turnkey desk.
Apple for Research seminar sponsored by Campus TechShop, 12:00, Rod Coutts Hall room 106. Issues in Native Communities speaker series: Lorna McNaughton, "The Mohawk Institute Indian Residential School", 7:00, St. Paul's College. Information systems and technology professional development seminar: "What Are Other Universities Doing in IT, Teaching and Learning?" Friday 8:45, IST seminar room. Waterloo Symposium on Chemical Physics Friday, Davis Centre room 1351, details online. East Asian Festival at Renison College begins with business breakfast ("Corruption Across Cultures") Friday 8:30, continues with "Family and Culture Day" Saturday, gala and silent auction Saturday night, details online. Japan Video Topics and other films on Japanese culture, monthly showing, Friday 12:10, Renison College chapel lounge. Pavement engineering lab opening celebration Friday 1 p.m., Engineering III room 2142. Department of anthropology Silver Medal Lecture honouring graduate student Leslie Monteyne: Marcel Danesi, University of Toronto, "The Unconscious Power of the Pictograph in Pop Culture", Friday 4:00, Arts Lecture Hall room 105. Warrior Weekend activities in the Student Life Centre on Friday and Saturday nights, including Hallowe'en movies Friday, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" Saturday, dance lessons, crafts, details online. Annual Trivia Challenge at St. Jerome's University, Friday 7 p.m., SJU Community Centre, tickets 884-8111 ext. 8277. Science open house Saturday 10 to 4; Gem and Mineral Show Satuday 10 to 4, Sunday 10 to 5, with hourly lectures; both in Centre for Environmental and Information Technology, all welcome. |
Water started pouring into Columbia Lake yesterday, as the lake on UW's north campus is being refilled following the summer-long dredging job to deepen and reshape it, improving the aesthetics there and the water quality downstream. Filling up the lake will take a week or so, says Tom Galloway of the plant operations department. "It coincides, by design, with the draw-down of Laurel Reservoir," the artificial lake a short distance upstream, Galloway explains. "The lake will now remain filled on a year-round basis," rather than being drained in the winter as in the past. He says the heavy work of "Phase 1A" is over now, although some planting around the lakeshore may still be done this year. "Phase 1B construction that operationalizes the bypass channel will be completed when funding has been secured."
The fall issue of News to You, published by the faculty of applied health sciences for its alumni, is on hand, with its front-page introduction of 12 new faculty membes, back-page reminiscence by a 1986 kinesiology graduate, and much in between. A recognized feature of NTY is the "Ask a Prof" column; this time Susan Shaw of recreation and leisure studies is asked about work-life balance, while Jay Thomson of kinesiology is asked something really important: "Is chocolate good for you?" There's also a note about the creation last year of the Centre of Research Expertise for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders -- wow, I wouldn't want the job of answering the telephone there.
The student Mathematics Society holds a semi-formal dinner and dance each year, not just for fun but as a fund-raiser for a local charity. "In the past," writes MathSoc vice-president Elaine Wong, "the ball included dinner, a silent and live auction with prizes donated from the local community and a dance lesson with a professional instructor. This year is no different. The event will be held November 12 at the Waterloo Inn. Transportation will be provided to and from campus, and prizes are better than ever, including items donated from Bill Gates, Apple Computers and the Math Dean's Office. All proceeds will be benefit Ray of Hope, a local charity in Kitchener. Doors will be opening at 6:30 and dinner will be served starting at 7:00. Tickets will be on sale until November 1 on the 3rd floor of the Math and Computer building. Prices are $35 for one, $65 per couple, and $260 for a table of 8." More information: mathsoc@mathsoc.uwaterloo.ca.
The classical studies department provides a list of scholarships and prizes it's awarded for the fall term. Many of the awards, which all bring cheques in various amounts, are named for former faculty members. Jessica Higgins is winner of both the Phyllis Young Forsyth Senior Scholarship and the Classical Studies Essay Prize; Stephen Brown likewise takes both a Forsyth Scholarship and an Essay Prize; Tyler Flatt receives the Classical Studies Scholarship for New Majors and the D.C. Mackenzie Prize in Latin; Kathleen Weidmark receives the Elwin N. Neuru MD Senior Latin Award; Stephen Kring, the Sally Haag Prize in Distance Education; Thomas Butcher, the Robert L. Fowler Greek Language Prize; William Deacon, the Classical Studies Prize in Roman History.
Critical Mass, the UW-based Christian rock band that was nominated for rock song of the year and rock album of the year by the Canadian Gospel Music Association, did pick up the album of the year award at last weekend's presentation. "This is an incredible honour," says electrical and computer engineering professor David Wang, a member of the gorup. The album is "Grasping for Hope in the Darkness", described as "a modern rock concept album tracing a man's journey from darkness back to redemption . . . ground-breaking in the manner in which it combines a storyline along with its lyrical content."
It being Thursday, the Campus TechShop in the Student Life Centre is holding its "Apple Power Hour" from 11:00 to 12:30 today. . . . "Laurier students can sign themselves in," says the sign outside Federation Hall, reflecting a change in bar rules at both UW and Wilfrid Laurier University. . . . And parking signs at the University Avenue entrance to campus indicate that the planning school's advisory group, the Pragma Council, is meeting today. . . .
Tomorrow's Daily Bulletin will say much more, of course, about Homecoming weekend, which squeezes a lot into one Saturday: the AHS fun run 9:30 a.m. from Matthews Hall; alumni reunions; the children's show "Where the Wild Things Are" 2:00, Theatre of the Arts; a campus tour 2:30 departing from Student Life Centre; barbecue 4:30, SLC; Engineers Without Borders co-founder George Roter speaking at 6:00, Humanities Theatre; "Homefest" at the Bombshelter pub, from 8 p.m. Information and tickets are online.
As usual, Homecoming weekend also brings the Naismith Tournament, and both men's and women's basketball are part of the Naismith now. Women's play starts at 1:00 tomorrow (Brock vs. Humber), with the Warriors taking on York at 3:00. Men's play is in the evening -- PEI vs. Royal Military College at 6:00, the Warriors vs. Ottawa at 8:00, with a performance by the award-winning Waterloo cheerleaders. Naismith play continues on Saturday and Sunday -- the schedule is complicated but at least it's online, and all the Warrior games will be carried live on CKMS radio.
CAR