New students' marks rise, and more

On the official count date of November 1, UW had 5,354 full-time first-year students, or 98 per cent of the university-wide target, says a memo issued by Mary Soulis of the institutional analysis and planning office and UW admissions director Nancy Weiner. It breaks down the totals by the students' origin ("Canadian fee-paying" and "international fee-paying") and indicates that targets were surpassed in applied health sciences, software engineering, and engineering, just about reached in science and arts, but missed in environmental studies, mathematics, and the new computing and financial management program. The total includes 3,902 students who came to UW from Ontario secondary schools, 1,045 who came from other sources in Canada or elsewhere, and 407 students who are continuing in first year after being at UW in previous terms.

Another memo from the admissions director summarizes the entering marks of the students with Ontario school backgrounds. Averages aren't provided, just groupings, and the base number is somewhat different, but the trends are clear enough: higher marks, with most UW entrants earning in the high 80s, or better, in high school. "There is an increase in the number of students with 80% or higher," Weiner says, finding 3,469 students in that category this year compared with 2,950 in 2005. "There are 212 more students with 90% or higher in 2006 compared to 2005." Just 5 students, presumably special cases of some kind, entered UW with high school marks below 70, and just 73 with marks between 70 and 75. On the other hand, 196 students (including 74 in engineering and 62 in math) presented high school marks above 95.

Today's the first day for the annual flu shot clinic in the Student Life Centre, although students in UW's southern branch got some advance attention, as a special clinic was held at the Architecture building in Cambridge earlier this week. Despite the listings that have been appearing in this space, there will in fact be four days of flu shots this year, with nurses on hand from 10:00 to 5:00 today, Friday, Monday, and also next Tuesday. Says supervising nurse Ruth Kropf: "Students, staff, faculty, families and friends from the community including children are welcome provided they are an Ontario resident. Students are considered residents regardless of what province or country they are from." There's no charge.

Voting is to begin Monday as UW graduate students elect a representative to fill one of the four graduate student seats on the UW senate. Brief campaign statements are available online for the two candidates: Jonathan Fishbein (Systems Design Engineering) and Rashid Rehan (Civil and Environmental Engineering). From 8:00 a.m. Monday to 4:00 p.m. Wednesday, full- and part-time graduate students will be able to cast their vote electronically, the university secretariat says.

Extended exam-time hours will begin Sunday in UW's libraries, with the Davis Centre library open 24 hours a day (except Sundays 2 to 8 a.m.) and the Dana Porter Library open 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily. . . . More than 50 people attended a "memorial service" beside Laurel Creek at noontime yesterday to mourn the death of four beavers that were eliminated last week. . . . The annual music department concert in the Davis Centre great hall has been set for Thursday, December 7. . . .

The federal minister of finance, Jim Flaherty, is presenting an "economic and fiscal update" to a House of Commons committee today. Media attention will be on whatever he says (or doesn't say) about "income splitting", but university leaders will be listening for hints on a different topic: the government's interest in spending money on research and technology. Flaherty's opportunity to say something about funds for the research granting councils, for instance, comes in the context of the recent study of "Canada's science and technology strengths" from the Canadian Academies of Science. Flaherty's presentation, at 3:30 today, is to be webcast live.

Back to top

Drama professor profiled for Keystone

“To be or not to be," Bill Chesney (pictured) must have asked himself back in 1973 when, on a whim, he applied to the brand-new Ryerson Theatre School. Today, as an associate professor of stagecraft in UW’s Drama and Speech Communication department, he spends his time inspiring students through teaching courses in set and costume design, costume history, scenic painting, and technical production.

He boasts more than 200 professional and university or college production designs to his credit, and spends his research time in the studio as a professional set and costume designer, and master scenic artist. He is currently a guest artist with Kitchener’s Theatre & Co., and has been associated with the company for the last four years.

He's also playing a key role in planning the launch party for UW's 50th anniversary early in 2007. And he's the November featured profile for the on-campus Keystone Campaign, which spotlights a staff or faculty donor each month. (Keystone will be getting a publicity boost today or tomorrow with the arrival of a year-end reminder and pledge package for each faculty and staff member.)

The online profile asks: What do you like best about your job at UW? "Working with the students and being a part of their developing skill and confidence as young theatre artists. I value and am very proud of the drama productions we put on each year, the high standards our students maintain, and the opportunity for practical experiences these productions give our students. It is also rewarding to see the excellent response and support that our productions receive from the wider UW community."

What motivates you personally to give to Waterloo? "I designate my gift to the Theatre of the Arts/Modern Languages Building Expansion fund. Our faculty members, students, and alumni are making a significant and impressive impact on the theatre world! I am passionate about supporting and promoting our excellent practice-based programs in Drama, Fine Arts, and Music and ensuring that these disciplines are recognized and continue to evolve and improve to benefit our current and future students."

Why do you feel the University needs funds today? "I give to support the increasingly old-fashioned notion of the value of a humanities education in producing thinking and engaged future citizens of the world."

Do you have a production that you are especially proud of? "Comet in Moominland, based on the children’s classic by renowned author/illustrator Tove Jansson. In 1986, I conceived and initiated this unique table-top environmental puppet show in conjunction with Graham Whitehead and Leslee Silverman at the Manitoba Theatre for Young People in Winnipeg. It has since toured all over Canada and the U.S., and in Hong Kong, and will be presented for the third time in Toronto at the Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People, during their 2006-2007 theatre season."

Where does your creative gift come from? "My artistic leaning comes from my mom’s side of the family. My grandfather was Gluyas Williams, an acclaimed (in his day) New Yorker cartoonist and illustrator, and Robert Benchley’s illustrator of choice for books like Father of the Bride."

Back to top

Prof reports on police eyesight

UW optometry researchers have helped to answer a question that's been a major concern in the law enforcement world: yes, police officers and recruits who have undergone eye surgery can on average see adequately enough to do the work that's expected of them.

The study, published in the November issue of American Journal of Industrial Medicine, is reported in a release from UW's media relations office. It looks at whether the visual performance of police officers and candidates who have undergone refractive surgery was actually worse than the non-surgical control officers and candidates.

"Refractive surgery remains a controversial topic for law enforcement agencies because the vision of officers who have had refractive surgery may be impaired in low-light levels," says Jeff Hovis, a UW optometry professor who led the study. Such surgery seeks to improve the refractive state of the eye and decrease dependency on glasses or contact lenses. The most common methods use lasers to reshape the cornea. Successful refractive eye surgery can help to reduce such common vision disorders as myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism.

In the study, visual performance was assessed using high- and low-contrast letters and numbers in both bright- and dim-light conditions. Sensitivity to glare in low-light levels was also assessed. The study's general findings were that the refractive surgery group had slightly lower acuity scores for the low-contrast targets in both room- and dim-light levels, together with an increased sensitivity to glare.

"Although refractive surgery police recruits and officers had reduced performance on some vision tests, these reductions were small, and it is unlikely that their performance on vision-related tasks would be compromised on average," Hovis said. He said the major concern was the small number of refractive surgery officers whose results were well outside the range of the non-surgical candidates.

The study also raised the issue of whether standards should be established to ensure that all refractive surgery candidates have adequate vision in low-light levels. The control group consisted of 76 officers and recruits who did not have refractive surgery, while the refractive surgery group consisted of 22 officers and recruits.

In his research in general, Hovis studies the area of occupational vision. His interests cover the effects that congenital color vision deficiencies have on job-related performance, as well as the functional impact of protective eyewear for the military. He also explores the basic mechanisms of normal and abnormal human colour perception and evaluating various clinical colour vision tests.

CAR

Back to top