![[University of Waterloo]](/images/logobars/redtopbar.gif)
| Yesterday |
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
|
Editor: Chris Redmond credmond@uwaterloo.ca |
![[Loving to Learn logo]](/images/2006/0201lovingtolearn.jpg)
"In light of V-day," says one student, "even if you don't have that
significant someone to cuddle up with, I hope you take me seriously
when I say this: at least find company in your love for the greatest
pastime you'll ever know -- learning."
She was responding to an invitation by Mark Morton of the Centre for Learning and Teaching Through Technology, who organized observations of today as the first annual Loving to Learn Day. "It's intended," says Morton, "to be a day where everyone -- faculty, students, staff -- can pause and reflect on their own (and others') love of learning.
![[Morton]](/images/2006/0206morton.jpg)
"For this inaugural Loving to Learn
Day, members of the university community were invited to share
their thoughts about their own love affair with learning."
The results are on the
LT3 web site today.
"Many respondents commented that learning is simply essential to being human," says Morton (right), quoting some of them: "To live is to learn. To learn is to live. You know you're alive when you're learning. . . . I don't think there's anything more real than the decision to learn."
Parents were frequently cited as the inspiration for a love of learning, but so were teachers and professors, and one student wrote of "my boyfriend, who also goes to UW. He is so knowledgeable."
As promised when the Day was announced, one entry from each of the categories for faculty, student, and staff has been awarded a book prize. The winners, Morton says, are James Danckert (faculty), Tanya Kong (student), and Chris Henderson (staff).
Loving to Learn Day has already been adopted by another institution of higher learning: the 6&npa=10040">the University of Manitoba has arranged to use the name and idea, as well as the LtL logo, designed by Alan Kirker of LT3.
Staff invited to lunch todayText of the memo that's been issued to staff members across campus:Please come to a celebratory luncheon in your honour on Tuesday, February 14. Members of Executive Council would like to thank you for the important contributions you make to the success of the University of Waterloo. Join us for a time of socialization, fun and good food between 12:00 noon and 1:30 p.m. in Fed Hall (for the night shift, between 10:00 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. in Brubakers). Offices are expected to be closed over this period; however, departments providing essential services and thus obligated to remain open are urged to make arrangements so as many staff as possible can attend. |
From the questions posed by LT3, and the answers received from across campus and beyond:
What do you love to learn?
"I love to learn anything that someone else is willing to share
with me. I believe that every little bit of information is helpful
for us to make better and more informed decisions about our
relationships with the people that we deal with and the
environment around us."
And from a faculty member:
"I can't think of anything I wouldn't love to learn. But I feel I
get the most benefit from learning by acquiring new knowledge from
other disciplines. The interdisciplinary approach provides a
different lens through which to look at one's own area of
expertise. By bringing different perspectives to a topic one
learns so much more. I love etymology and languages; learning a
new language brings so much more than just words."
Why do you love to learn? "I detest
boredom. I can't stand the feeling of not having something
stimulating to do or worse, of having any number of options in
front of me, none of which seem appealing. To me it's an
oppressive feeling to be avoided at all costs. So I study (attempt
to learn) many different things in the knowledge that for me at
least, no single thing to learn about the world could ever come
close to satisfying me. Of late, studying the brain's role in
boredom has been one of the things I find particularly exciting to
learn about."
When did you develop your love for learning?
"My father definitely provided my earliest and strongest
inspiration to learn. He only ever received a grade 5 education
himself, being born in a rather poor (but beautiful) village in the
northern Italian Dolomites. Despite the deficiencies of his formal
education, he could recite, to the day he died, the most beautiful
verses from Dante. I remember listening eagerly to these beautiful
words as a small child,and wanting to know where they came from,
what they meant. Interestingly, I went on to study literature at
university, which is still what I love to learn best!"
Which do you love more, beginning to learn something or
finishing learning something?
"Beginning to learn is the best by far -- you get the sense that
you are venturing into the unknown. Fall is my favourite time of
year, mostly because that is when the school year starts -- as an
undergrad I loved September and starting a new school year because
it meant I'd learn more. I still get that feeling every fall."
Has learning ever been unfaithful to you?
"Never," several people wrote. But one faculty member had a
different answer:
"Yes, incessantly. Learning is incredibly promiscuous. But I have
to be understanding of her needs. If I wasn't, she would leave me.
I try not to get jealous, but when I find that she has given more
of herself to guys like Noam Chomsky or Wayne Booth, I do
sometimes get a pang. It's short lived, of course, since she comes
back to me livelier and more acrobatic than in our last encounter.
But I still wish occasionally that I was the first one she shared
a particular move with."
Finally, this romantic Valentine narrative from a faculty member: "I met Learning 5 years ago on a sepia autumn evening while reading on the steps of Dana Porter Library. I a young miscreant, she a coquettish haberdasher, we soon fell desperately and helplessly in love. Several years passed and one morning I awoke to the contented sighs of Learning breathing in the metallic early morning light. The sound of velvet on autumn leaves. With languid fingers I swept the hair from the nape of Learning's neck and, catching her scent, the mystery of all of time shimmered and flexed as a wash of static across my mind. I realized that Learning was the cleansing rain to my vagabond, parched and blistering in the desert sun. 'You bring truth, you bring beautiful reason,' I murmured and fell fast asleep, sure that we would always be together."
| WHEN AND WHERE |
|
'Electoral Dysfunction: Why Canada's Voting System Is Killing
Democracy,' Larry Gordon of Fair Vote Canada, 12 noon, multipurpose
room, Student Life Centre, sponsored by Waterloo Public Interest
Research Group.
Career workshop: "Successfully Negotiating Job Offers" 3:30, Tatham Centre room 1208. Arts faculty council 3:30, Humanities room 373. Waterloo Centre for German Studies presents author Lena Gorelik, "Mine weißen Nächte", 4:00, Humanities room 334. Biomedical engineering lecture: Eric Jervis, chemical engineering, first in a series of talks sponsored by IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Student Group, 5:00, Engineering II room 1303. 'Thinking about Medical School' workshop, 6:00, Tatham Centre room 1208, $40 at the door. Arriscraft architecture lecture: Fernando Menis, Tenerife, "Magma Art and Congress Centre and Recent Works", 7:00, Architecture lecture hall. Impaired driving simulator available to try Wednesday 11:00 to 2:00, Student Life Centre, sponsored by Waterloo Regional Police Services and UW health services. Stress relaxation session, second in the weekly series, Wednesday 12:00, Math and Computer room 5158, sponsored by Employee Assistance Program. 'Personal Tax Strategies' workshop sponsored by Education Credit Union, Wednesday 12:15, Davis Centre room 1302. Free noon concert: jazz trio (Michael Wood, Don Englert, Kevin Muir), Wednesday 12:30, Conrad Grebel University College chapel. Trip to China with East Asian Studies 250R this summer, information session Wednesday 6 p.m., chapel lounge, Renison College. Centre for International Governance Innovation presents Douglas Roche, chairman, Middle Powers Initiative, "Beyond Hiroshima: The Role of Canada in Nuclear Disarmament", Wednesday 7 p.m., 57 Erb Street West, free tickets 885-2444 ext. 246. Spiritual Health Education Network and Waterloo-India Linkage present Shiv Talwar, "Movie Review: What the Bleep Do We Know?" Wednesday 7:30, CEIT room 1015. Solidarity Association for International Liberation and Young Communist League present two internationally known activists -- Ward Churchill, University of Colorado, and Uri Davis, University of Durham, speaking on Israel and Palestinians, Thursday 6:30, Biology I room 271. |
Other loving things will be happening across campus -- including, I notice from flyers on bulletin boards, a "Share the Love" bake sale in the Environmental Studies building. If there are any really good romantic stories emerging from today that it might be fun to have noted in the Daily Bulletin, I hope someone will drop me a note.
Oh, and there's food. Brubaker's cafeteria in the Student Life Centre is promising a Valentine's buffet at lunchtime. And the University Club has special menus for both lunch and dinner in honour of the day. I wondered about the Village cafeterias, but one of the evening entrees at Mudie's today is listed as "perrogies with onions", which somehow doesn't seem that romantic.
On to other matters, such as the Winter Olympics, currently under way in Turin, Italy. As far as I can tell there are no active UW athletes involved in the games, but Beckie Scott, who placed sixth over the weekend in the "pursuit" cross-country event, continues to be a Waterloo distance education student. And there's at least one alumnus on the Canadian Olympic roster: Heather Moyse, who played several sports for the Warriors in the 1990s and is now a graduate student at the University of Toronto. She's a member of the Canadian bobsled team.
In sports at another level, here's how the athletics department weekly sports summary reports the weekend's activities in women's hockey: "The Warriors' last home game would be one of celebration and disappointment. On Sunday afternoon in a pre-game ceremony the women's hockey team recognized Julie Schmalz, Stacey Grygiel, Kaleena Yueng and Kelly Costa as their graduating players. This would be the last home game for these young women after playing on the team since its inception back in 2002. They will always hold a special place in Warrior women's hockey history. After the presentation of the awards the team prepared to take on the Queen's Golden Gaels. With the Warriors now out of the playoff picture, their role would switch to spoilers. The Gaels are battling for playoff position and came out strong against the Warriors. The first period would see Queen's score four times to take a solid lead into the first intermission. The second would see the Warriors' play improve, but they were still unable to solve the Queen's goaltender. Queen's would add one more goal in the second. The third period would see both teams unable to score and give Queen's a 5-0 win."
The Computing Help and Information Place will be closed from noon to 1:00 today so staff can attend the campus-wide luncheon. . . . Members of the UW Recreation Committee alphabetical-dining group have reached P and will sup at Philthy McNasty's tonight. . . . Polls open today at 8 a.m. (electronic) and 9 a.m. (face-to-face) for the annual Federation of Students election. . . .
CAR