![[University of Waterloo]](/images/logobars/goldbar.gif)
| Yesterday |
Thursday, January 26, 2006
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Editor: Chris Redmond credmond@uwaterloo.ca |
![[Pointing at Tatham Centre]](/images/2006/0126accounting.jpg)
Jim Barnett of accountancy, Judi Carter of applied health sciences and Donna Sutherland of accountancy join architect Laird Robertson, second from right, in checking out the future site of their building from the Hagey Hall balcony. |
"There's a new sense of excitement," says a front-page article in the new issue of the school's twice-a-year newsletter, "and it's centred on the space between Hagey Hall, the Tatham Centre and the Arts Lecture Hall. That's where the sounds of construction will soon be heard as the School starts work on a $12 million building."
Approval to go ahead with an addition to Hagey Hall of the Humanities was given by UW's board of governors in October, as it appointed RHL Architects to do the design.
Says the newsletter: "The 40,000-square-foot structure, slated to open in 2008, will be attached to Hagey's northeast corner. The layout will . . . include several 75-seat classrooms, two 50-seat classrooms, three seminar rooms, a lecture theatre seating 200, and offices for 16 faculty and 8 staff members.
"Project manager is Jim Barnett, longtime director of the MTax program. Providing coordination assistance is Judi Carter of UW's Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, who has handled similar major projects on campus.
"Approximately 50 percent of the project's $12 million budget will come from donations, pledges and University funds. The balance will come from incremental grant and tuition revenue from expanding undergraduate enrolment over the next decade."
Elsewhere in the newsletter, Alister Mason, director of the school, writes that the new wing "will represent significant improvements over what we've been using in various parts of the campus. Both our students and our faculty will benefit from these better teaching facilities within our own building. But just as important is the space students will have for informal activities, including personal study and conversation between classes -- a major need at present. Also, faculty, staff and students will have space that encourages interaction, a key aspect of truly effective education."
Mason adds: "In due course we will publicly recognize those donors who are making our plans possible. In the meantime, I should stress that further contributions will be most appreciated, in that they will make it possible for us to include features that might otherwise have to be left out. Appropriate naming opportunities are available."
They're members of UW's Model United Nations Club -- WatMUN -- and will be taking part in the McGill University Model UN Assembly, being held today through Sunday at a downtown hotel. In its 15th year, the McGill event is expected to attract about 1,400 participants.
Renjie Butalid, an economics student and president of WatMUN, says the Waterloo group "have been diligently preparing" for the past several months. "These students have shown a keen interest in some of the issues affecting the world today."
During reading week, another 18 students will be representing the university at the Harvard University National Model UN Conference in Boston. Butalid will lead the delegation to Harvard, while the UW group going to McGill will be led by WatMUN vice-president Marco Di Lorenzo, a political science student.
"During both conferences," Butalid writes, "the students will be subjected to a simulation of the United Nations General Assembly, Security Council and other UN bodies. Each student has been assigned a country to represent and topics to research. It is the task of the student to represent his/her country's foreign policy for that particular topic. Delegates engage in topics ranging from political corruption to counter-terrorism to nuclear medicine. Hundreds of students from some of the most reputable schools in the world will be in attendance. The tense level of competition is sure to produce some sobering debates," as well as "a rewarding experience in public speaking, negotiating and cooperation, and social networking".
The Waterloo delegates come from various faculties "and are by no means limited to political science or economics majors, as it would seem. Students from environmental and health science to software engineering have also taken interest in the conferences."
Butalid gave credit for "most generous financial support" from UW and the political science department, the Federation of Students, and the nearby Centre for International Governance Innovation. More information about the group is available by e-mail: uw.modelun@gmail.com.
| WHEN AND WHERE |
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Staff safety training: general safety orientation,
10 a.m.; WHMIS training with safety orientation,
2 p.m.; both sessions in Davis Centre room 1304. Information ext. 5613.
Engineering exchange programs to the United Kingdom, information session 4:00, Rod Coutts Hall room 302. Career workshops: "Interview Skills: Preparing for Questions" 4:30, Tatham Centre room 2218; "Getting a US Work Permit" 4:30, Tatham room 1208; details online. Chinese new year luncheon Friday at the University Club, $17 per person, reservations ext. 3801. Winterfest snowman competition, outdoor skating and other activities, Friday noon to 8 p.m., Student Life Centre and Biology II green. Perimeter Institute art talk: Anishinabekwe performance and mixed-media artist Rebecca Belmore, Friday 8 p.m., details online. Chinese new year party sponsored by UW Chinese Students and Scholars Association and other groups, with Chinese opera and other entertainment, Saturday 7:30, Federation Hall, tickets $10 (Student Life Centre room 2139 or at the door). New Directions festival of short plays, February 1-11, Studio 180, Humanities building, details on drama department web site. FASS 2006, "A Midwinter Night's FASS", February 2 and 4 at 8:00, February 3 at 7:00 and 10:00, Humanities Theatre, tickets at Humanities box office, 888-4908. |
Faculty and staff members got a long e-mail message from the human resources department this week, reminding them that it's RRSP season. "March 1,2006 is the latest date a contribution can be made for the 2005 taxation year," the memo noted, going through the formula for Registered Retirement Savings Plan contribution limits. A key factor is the value of other pension investments, such as the UW pension plan, which can cancel most of the $16,500 that was last year's maximum RRSP contribution. Says the memo: "Employees with earnings between $40,500 and $91,666 in 2004 and participating in the UW pension plan for the full year of 2004 are entitled to 2005 RRSP room of approximately $2,787." For this year, most people in that broad range will have RRSP room of about $2,819.
A special fund-raiser will be under way when the men's hockey Warriors host the York Yeomen tonight. A memo from the athletics department explains: "Sébastien Savage is the University of Moncton player who sustained a hockey career-ending injury when he collided with the boards during a game on October 2. Sébastien never lost consciousness and was immediately brought to the Dr. Georges L. Dumont Hospital emergency department where it was confirmed that his upper and lower extremities were paralysed. The diagnosis of a major fracture of the fifth cervical vertebra with displacement was also confirmed. Sébastien was then transferred to the Moncton City Hospital where surgery was performed to remove all the fragments of the vertebra, install a bone graft and a plate with screws to stabilize the spine. Savage, a native of St. Albert, Ontario, has since been transferred to Ottawa and is undergoing rehabilitation. Waterloo Warriors have decided to raise funds in support of Sébastien's rehabilitation, and initiated a bracelet campaign in their first home game for 2006, raising $300 which will go directly to Sébastien. For the remaining home games this year the team will continue to sell bracelets. The bracelets are $5 each and 100% of the money will go directly to Sébastien to assist with his medical expenses." Tonight's game starts at 7:30 at the Columbia Icefield (and will also be webcast on CKMS).
Says the new issue of the UW library's electronic newsletter: "The Library, the UW School of Accountancy, and Deloitte Canada have worked together to provide faculty and students with access to some of the best research resources available. Since 1995, Deloitte has helped fund the purchase of a number of electronic resources for the Library and the School of Accountancy. In addition, these resources are beneficial for a number of other subject disciplines. 'All accounting students benefit from Deloitte's generosity,' states Alan Macnaughton of UW's School of Accountancy. 'Purchases made with the Deloitte funds provide students with the same electronic research resources at UW as at a well-equipped accounting firm or business enterprise. This provides our students a competitive edge in the job market.' Over the years, Deloitte has helped the Library introduce a number of electronic resources that are beneficial to those studying accountancy. The resources initiated through Deloitte's donations are continuously updated, allowing students and faculty access to the most current information for their research. It also allows faculty member to assign independent research projects rather than relying solely on information from course textbooks. For example, the recent purchase of the online version of the CICA Accounting Standards & Guidance Collection provides access to a searchable series of handbooks and guides relevant to the fields of accounting and assurance. Other resources provided through funding from Deloitte are useful to the fields of accountancy and other subject areas. LexisNexis is useful for co-op students researching information about their potential employers. More recent purchases, such as the LegalTrac and Hein Online databases, are prominent resources for researching legal information and will be beneficial for students and faculty in UW's new Legal Studies and Criminology program. Deloitte Canada's donations for the purchase of library resources is one component of their overall support to UW. Deloitte annually sponsors a number of student scholarships, in addition to funding the Deloitte Centre for Tax Education and Research."
Yesterday's Daily Bulletin implied that the annual FASS show in the Humanities Theatre was taking place this week, but in fact it's next week, February 2 to 4. . . . A workshop on "Thinking About Medical School", originally announced for this Saturday in the Tatham Centre, has been postponed to February 14 in the evening. . . . As repair work continues in Rod Coutts Engineering Lecture Hall, a second-floor corridor (outside room 204) will be closed today while concrete is poured. . . .
A non-credit course on "The Art and Science of Project Management" gets going today in UW's continuing education program. . . . Science-and-business student Jamal Amin figures in the new film "Kids Care", a documentary about young people coping with cancer in their families, and will lead a discussion following a showing of the film tonight at the Princess Twin Theatre. . . . The human resources department is holding a staff development session first thing tomorrow morning, and won't be open for regular business until 9:30 a.m. . . .
CAR