Professor has 'much more to teach'

by Barbara Elve

Absolutely inspirational,” are the words one student uses to describe biology professor Owen Ward. Others say his lectures are animated and enjoyable — even at 8:30 in the morning. Many remember him as the prof whose course review is sung to the tune of “Blowing in the Wind,” complete with guitar accompaniment.

First in a series about Distinguished Teacher Award winners to be honoured at convocation

Ward (right) is director of the Science and Business Program and has a reputation of being “grounded in reality.” Besides making his classes memorable experiences (“He was truly excited about the subject and was very animated during the lectures”), he is available to students outside of the classroom, “and would always make time for you if you stopped by his office.”

Rather than asking students to “memorize reams of formulas, biochemical pathways and enzyme interactions,” Ward encourages them to develop a real understanding of the subject and to apply that understanding.

“I remember stopping a moment after a class to thank Dr. Ward for an interesting lecture,” recalls one student. “He replied with his own thanks, saying everyone needs words of encouragement now and again. It was this moment when I decided that Dr. Ward had much more to teach me.”

Ward’s talk on career planning, “life after university,” is what one alumnus remembers most. “Many students said that no one at the university had talked to them about it before. He had such good feedback from this lecture that it inspired him to start the fourth-year mentoring program in which interested students are assigned a mentor from among the participating staff.”

Reminiscing about the university experience, one student sums up the influence Ward had on many young lives. “When I look back on my years at UW, it is Dr. Ward who is most memorable, and the one professor who left me with a thirst for more information, who inspired me to learn beyond academics, who taught me the value of effort.”

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Coach leads UW golfers into nationals

from an Ontario University Athletics news release

The par-five 16th hole at Cambridge Golf Club proves to be little challenge for Dave Hollinger. As the end of his round on a sweltering Saturday afternoon approaches, Hollinger (left), the head coach of the Waterloo Warriors men’s golf team, works a bit of magic. He begins the 16th in fine fashion, manufacturing a towering drive that goes out a long ways before his ball comes to a stop on the left hand portion of the fairway. From there, Hollinger takes one of his trusty Nike hybrid clubs -- which he claims have reinvented his game -- and hits a textbook high draw from 200 yards out onto the green. Putting from a virtually pin-high location about 20 feet right of the hole, he jars the eagle attempt.

“Pound for pound, inch for inch, I’m one of the bigger hitters around,” the slight-framed coach, decked out in his gold-striped UW shirt with black shorts and flashy white belt, says with a laugh.

The hole is microcosm of the entire Waterloo men’s golf program -- fun and successful at the same time. When Hollinger took over the full-time coaching duties this past season, one that culminated in the Warriors winning the OUA championship for the second time in three years, he wanted to continue to build on the great tradition the team has enjoyed dating back to the days when he was a captain in the late 1960s. In winning three provincial titles in his four years there, Hollinger realized the importance of a tight group. While he is a tremendous teacher of the game and its fundamentals, his philosophy has arguably had a bigger impact on Waterloo's success than anything technical he has brought to the table.

“We’ve taken the team concept to great heights,” says the retired elementary and secondary school Phys Ed teacher, who holds a master's in education. “Everything we do is as a team. There are no individuals on this team. And the kids have bought into that.”

The camaraderie is a year-round affair for the Warriors, who have high hopes to medal at this week’s Canadian University/College Championships at the Thornhill Country Club. Following a busy winter training season and April exams, the team set out for an annual pilgrimage to North Carolina, where they met up with the powerful Duke University Blue Devils squad for a competition at historic Pinehurst.

“We have proven ourselves as one of the best teams in Ontario after winning OUAs twice in three years and coming second once,” says one team member. “I think that all of us see a great opportunity this week to win this national championship, I think that we will build off our success at the OUAs and our play at last year's nationals and use it to our advantage this week.” The players would love to win one not only for their program but also for Hollinger.

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The talk of the campus

I got a couple of details wrong in Wednesday’s Daily Bulletin when I wrote about the end of mandatory retirement and the benefits available to staff and faculty members who work past age 65. First, I woefully misrepresented the rule that has been in effect (until it was removed on Tuesday) about the compulsory retirement date for faculty members. It didn’t have anything to do with the end of an academic term, as I said; rather, a professor could postpone retirement after his or her 65th birthday until “the end of the Contract Year”, the anniversary of when he or she was originally appointed at UW. Now, of course, there’s no compulsory retirement date at all. Second, I wrote that under the new rules, an employee over age 65 would have a maximum of 120 days of sick leave. In fact, such employees continue with the same sick leave provisions they had before turning 65; the 120-day limit kicks in only when an employee reaches the age (69) at which he or she is required, by law, to start receiving a pension.

This news arrives from Barbara Schumacher, director of UW’s health services department: “Health Services is pleased to announce the opening of the Psychiatric practice of Dr. Arif Syed to students, graduates and employees of the University of Waterloo and any of their direct family members. Services available are Psychiatric consultation and initial follow-up to stabilize treatment. Patients referred by their family physician will attend Dr. Syed's office within the Health Services' building on the University of Waterloo main campus.”

The You @ Waterloo Day open house last Saturday "was a huge success", says Kim McKee of the UW visitors' centre. "Over 3,000 visitors attended," she writes, "compared to 1,500 visitors in 2005, and it was an incredible day! President David Johnston provided visitors with an outstanding address at the first-ever Welcome Session in the PAC. Staff and volunteers from all over campus did an outstanding job, providing visitors with important information and a fantastic UW experience." I was on campus briefly while the open house was in progress, and heard one staff member commenting that next fall's first-year students look to be like "the whole population of Toronto" -- whether in diversity, or in sheer numbers, I'm not quite sure.

“We saw a cold snap in the middle of May,” Frank Seglenieks of the UW weather station reminds us, “bottoming out, as it always seems to do, during the Victoria Day long weekend.” The result: “The average of the daily high temperatures for May was a miniscule 0.06 Celsius above the long-term value, and the average of daily low temperatures was 1.4 Celsius higher. This averages to 0.7 C, making it a slightly above average month for temperatures overall.” High temperature for the month was 32.7, and “the last day when the temperature went below zero was May 7 (assuming it doesn’t happen again till the fall). As it turns out, May 7 is also the historical average for the last frost day. It was all set to be an average month for precipitation, but then 33.8 mm fell on May 31 and it became an above-average month.”

Here's a note from the UW library's electronic newsletter: "With partial funding from the Student Life Endowment Fund, several areas at the Dana Porter and Davis Centre Libraries will receive accessibility upgrades. The funds received from this endowment will provide upgraded control panels inside the elevators at the Dana Porter Library, making them more accessible for wheelchair access; create new large-print, range-end signs for Dana Porter Library's 5th floor, making materials easier to locate; enable the purchase of approximately 75 new ergonomic study chairs for the Davis Centre Library. Since 2003, the Library has actively been working towards rejuvenating its facilities through a series of renovations.... The assistance from the Student Life Endowment Fund helps the Library in its quest to secure a $750,000 Challenge Grant from the Kresge Foundation. Under the terms of this grant, the Library must raise the balance of funds ($2.8 million) needed by December 2006 in order to complete renovations at the Dana Porter and Davis Centre Libraries. The Library is now over half way to meeting its goal."

Longstanding members of the university community may remember John Bonesteel, who was associate registrar (graduate studies) in the early 1970s. He left UW for similar work at the University of Guelph, then later served in the Presbyterian ministry in Guelph and Kitchener-Waterloo. He died March 5, aged 60, after a brief and fierce battle with cancer, and is survived by his wife, Brenda.

English as a Second Language classes are being held at the community centre in Columbia Lake Village each Monday evening (6:00) from now through mid-August.… From June 8 until after Labour Day, the Inter-University Transit Service (which carries library books and other mail and parcels among Ontario campuses) will be operating on a reduced schedule.… Elaine Schaefer retired June 1, ending a career in UW’s food services department that began in September 1975.…

Finally, I want to thank the many people who have sent comments -- mostly positive -- about the new design that was introduced for the Daily Bulletin last week. Inevitably there were a few problems at first, and we have been trying to deal with them as they’re reported. I’d like to remind readers -- especially any who are finding the type difficult to read, as it looks smaller than before in many browsers -- that you may well be able to control how you view the Daily Bulletin, either by adjusting the size of your desktop window or by changing type size and style in a Preferences dialogue in your browser.

And with that cheerful note, I am taking a few days’ vacation time, starting Monday. In my absence, my colleague Patricia Bow will see that the Daily Bulletin appears, as the name says, daily. E-mail can be addressed to bulletin@uwaterloo.ca.

CAR

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