Nobel Prize winner Sir Anthony Leggett has been visiting UW's Institute for Quantum Computing this term, giving an informal seminar series featuring lectures that concentrated on microscopic theory of superconductivity and superconducting qubits. Leggett, based at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, received the 2003 Nobel Prize for physics, jointly with Alexei A. Abrikosov and Vitaly L. Ginzburg, for his work in the theory of superconductors and superfluids. He was knighted in 2004. While at UW, Leggett discussed his work with a group of science teachers from across Canada as part of the "Einstein Plus" teachers' workshop sponsored by the Perimeter Institute.

Back to top

Thousands benefit from vital gift

Not enough young people give the so-called “gift of life”, says Sharr Cairns, but an opportunity will be coming to the Student Life Centre next week. On behalf of Canadian Blood Services, Cairns is asking UW students (and others) to spare “an hour of your time” and 450 millilitres of blood — enough to fill one and a third beer bottles.

“Someone’s life may depend on it,” says Cairns, the regional recruitment coordinator for CBS, which last year collected 849,939 “units” of whole blood across nine provinces and three territories. “In order to meet hospital demand,” she says, “it is expected that we will need to collect approximately 870,000 units this year.” That will happen through 41 permanent sites (including one on Bridgeport Road in Waterloo) and at 19,000 scheduled clinics in the coming year, CBS says.

And get this: “While 87 per cent of young Canadians recently polled by Ipsos-Reid ranked blood donation as one of the ways to make a significant contribution to their community, only one out of every five blood donors in Canada is 17 to 25 years old.”

Cairns notes that “hospital patients can’t take a break when it comes to needing blood. Cancer treatments, surgeries, accidents all require an ongoing supply. This means the demand for blood doesn’t take a summer vacation.

“If you haven’t considered donating before, Canadian Blood Services invites you to give it a try.” A blood donor clinic is scheduled at the SLC’s Multi-Purpose Room from Monday, July 17, to Friday, July 21, from 10 a.m to 4 p.m. daily (except Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.). “Book your appointment at the Turnkey Desk, or stop by during clinic hours and we’ll accommodate you as best we can.”

The donation process takes about an hour. Each would-be donor is asked to fill out a questionnaire to determine eligibility, then to have haemoglobin and vital stats checked. The donation itself should take ten minutes at most. “All you need to do is bring identification, ensure you’ve had plenty to eat and drink before your donation, and we’ll take care of the rest.” By longstanding custom, “the rest” includes free juice and cookies.

A little technical background from CBS: “Since your donation can be divided into three blood products — red blood cells, platelets and plasma — that hour of your time will help save or improve up to three lives. The average amount of blood in an adult person is about five litres, or 10.5 pints. Your donation, or one unit of blood, is approximately 450 ml. Your body replaces the plasma portion within hours, the platelet portion within days, and red blood cells in about 56 days, which is why blood donors can give every 56 days.

“The donation is made under sterile conditions. Blood samples are taken for the purposes of testing. Needles are sterile and only used once. Each unit is then separated into three components – red blood cells, plasma, platelets or cryoprecipitates. All components are then stored at the appropriate temperature and conditions to optimize their quality and shelf life. Hospital customers place orders for blood products. Canadian Blood Services laboratory staff monitor inventory levels of all products and fill the hospital orders as they arrive.”

Different medical procedures require varying amounts of blood, CBS says. Cancer treatment may require up to 8 units per week; an automobile accident or gunshot victim, up to 50 units; a hip replacement, 2 to 5 units; a liver transplant, up to 100 units. “While only about 3.5 per cent of eligible Canadians donate blood, every minute of every day someone in Canada needs blood.” Hospital demand for blood is increasing annually by about 8 per cent because of the increase in the number of patients, the aging population, more aggressive medical procedures and an increase in complex surgeries.

CBS and UW have a long history together. Blood donor clinics are held each term, with a response that Cairns calls “overwhelming . . . on average, more than 800 units of blood are collected at UW each year, helping more than 2,000 Canadians who need blood or blood products. Each year we also welcome over 200 first-time donors to the blood program.

“This outstanding support has prompted us to increase the frequency of our blood donor clinics at UW, from once a term to once a month in 2006-07.”

Back to top

Online source for students going abroad

by Jess Voll, co-operative education and career services

What if you could have most questions about working or studying abroad answered in one document? DepartSmart, an online resource purchased by the Office of the Vice President (Academic), is a multi-faceted series of preparatory modules designed to inform students on many of the obstacles that working or studying overseas can entail.

UW’s International Programs Office and the CECS International Team collaborated to make this valuable resource pertinent and accessible to UW students for free. Created by the University of Guelph, Queen’s University, and York University, DepartSmart is intended to help “prepare students for a safe and successful experience abroad”.

Relevant to all students getting ready to work, volunteer, or study abroad for a co-op placement, an exchange program, study abroad on a Letter of Permission or research assignment, these modules detail a variety of steps to be taken, issues to be considered, and an abundant amount of advice to overcome potential concerns prior to departure. Example of module topics include UW/CECS registration of international work/study, funding opportunities, financial planning, official documents required, host country research, health and medical insurance, cross-cultural considerations, culture shock and adaptation, and potential risks (as well as risk management plans to deal with them). The site is bursting at the seams with links to pertinent websites or documents, has sample worksheets, and is undeniably a comprehensive tool for pre-departure orientation.

Lisa ter Woort, the International Employment Advisor for CECS, commented that “Everyone who travels outside of Canada has their own particular concerns. Will my ATM card work in the USA? What visa do I need for Namibia? What’s unique about DepartSmart is that it allows students to immediately address their individual needs by linking directly to the module that pertains to their particular concern. At any time before their trip they can check back and access the information at their own leisure — from the comforts of computer access.

DepartSmart is used as an information resource in conjunction with mandatory pre-departure briefings offered by the International Programs Office and CECS for any student confirmed to participate in an international exchange, work placement, internship, research or other study abroad program affiliated with the university.

Back to top

And a few other things this morning

Waterloo city council voted last night to move ahead with the proposed branch library and YMCA on UW-owned property along Fischer-Hallman Road. It's not a final decision to build, but it commits the city to hiring an architect and paying for the necessary environmental assessments. Discussion about the proposal — which includes having the city pay for servicing 87 acres of UW's land in that area of the north campus — included some lively talk about the proposed playing fields that the city would build on another parcel of UW land beside Westmount Road at Bearinger. There's some concern that playing fields aren't entirely consistent with the previous label of that area as part of the "environmental reserve". The land is currently cornfields.

Kate Kelly of the student Engineering Society writes that EngSoc is hosting “an International Complementary Education Course” this week under the title “Automotive Technology: The Future is Now!” UW, organizers say, “is widely recognized for our innovative automotive research and education, involving many faculties and departments with strong connections to the automotive industry. . . . Various topics will be covered including fuel cells, alternative fuels, advancements in manufacturing processes, safety and crash research and new transportation technologies. The course material will be presented through lectures from UW automotive research professors; presentations by the Society of Automotive Engineers, General Motors and student vehicle teams; and trips to the Multimatic Technical Center, Toyota Automotive Plant, Canadian Motorsports Hall of Fame and Kincardine Skid Driving School. Aside from the formal learning, the students registered will be able to participate in group events, allowing them to socialize and extend their network of colleagues. The students will not only learn about automotive research, design and manufacturing, they will also gain valuable automotive knowledge that can be applied in their own research, projects and/or school work. Students from Sweden, the US and across Canada will be attending this course. Keynote presentations are open to the general student body.” A detailed schedule for the week is online.

Some 350 members of a group called the Wheelmen, "dedicated to the enjoyment and preservation of our bicycling heritage", will be on campus (based in the Ron Eydt Village conference centre) for their annual gathering today through the weekend. Their activities include a "century ride" (I do believe that means 100 miles) starting at 5:45 tomorrow morning, a "high wheel tour" to St. Jacobs and Elmira, competitive racing, a swap meet, a workshop on bicycle restoration, and a Saturday morning gathering in downtown Waterloo with "display of the history of the bicycle, formation riding and trick riding". Oh, and (I'm not sure why) there's a Dracula look-alike contest.

Newspapers across the country are running little items this week about high school graduates with breathtaking grade 12 averages, and in many cases mentioning plans that include coming to UW this fall. . . . Stefan Debicki will officially retire August 1, ending 17 years on UW's staff as a plant operations custodian. . . . This morning's USA Today has a report on a study of immigration and entrepreneurship in the United States, attributed to "researchers at Babson College near Boston and Canada's University of Waterloo". . . .

Back to top