Back to '57 with anniversary launch

Celebrations of UW’s 50th Anniversary year will start with a noontime party on Thursday, January 11, the organizers have announced. Everybody is invited.

Anniversary activities are being planned by a steering committee and an interlocking group of committees with members drawn from across campus. The key people putting together the January 11 launch are Bonnie Oberle of the development and alumni affairs office — no stranger to parties, what with many Campaign Waterloo festivities and alumni gatherings — and Bill Chesney of the drama and speech communication department, whose specialties include creating eye-catching scenes to beguile audiences.

This time his stage will be the main gym of the Physical Activities Complex, where the anniversary party will feature music, special entertainment, audience activities and food. The daytime event will be echoed by a 10 p.m. party for staff who work the night shift.

January 11 kicks off a year of 50th anniversary celebration, remembering the university’s past and looking to its future, with some more serious events as well as the let's-have-fun ones. The official birth date of UW is July 1, 1957, when 74 students began engineering classes in what was then called Waterloo College Associate Faculties. Fifty years to the day after that humble beginning, Canada Day celebrations on UW’s north campus will be turned into a community-wide golden anniversary for UW.

But the January 11 launch is for UW’s own people. “Faculty, staff, retirees and students will soon be officially invited,” says Nancy Heide of communications and public affairs, who’s helping to publicize the event. She adds that a webcast will be available for those who can’t be there in person — but “we’re expecting a huge crowd,” and about 100 volunteers are helping make the event a reality.

Heide says the program will focus heavily on a 1950s theme, recalling the university’s beginnings. The Whitewalls, a student band, will perform 50s music. Celebrity impersonators from the 50s will be mingling with the audience and performing an onstage skit — UW drama students who have been working diligently with Chesney to make the act convincing, or at least side-splitting.

“A UW event wouldn’t be the same without performances by UW Warrior Band and the UW Cheerleaders,” says Heide. “Students will be interested to watch residence dons in a retro fashion show, modelling fashions through the decades.” And more: “Do you think you know a lot about UW? If you do, then you should enter a team in the new and exciting Reach for the Top contest. Games will be held throughout the year, starting on January 11. The contest will feature special guest quizmaster David Johnston. Teams of four staff, faculty, students (or any combination) are welcome.” There’s more information online.

Free food will be served at the event, featuring 1950s pizza, chili dogs, “and more special 50s surprises. The 50s theme continues with activities such as hula hooping. An anniversary quilt will be displayed for the first time at this event. It’s your opportunity to sign the quilt, which will eventually be displayed at a special location on campus.”

Also planned is a historical slide show with early photos and video footage, put together by history professor Ken McLaughlin and Susan (Bellingham) Mavor of the UW library’s special collections department. “All guests will receive a commemorative gift to wear proudly throughout the year.”

And the party will host the first draw in a 50th Anniversary raffle that’s being held across campus for most of the coming year. The prize in this draw — the first of four big prizes to be awarded in the course of 2007 — is “50 fabulous wines, including at least two bottles of expensive champagne, ice wine and some Niagara winery special offerings".

The prizes in later draws: a collection of $50 gift certificates from local merchants, "50 gift certificates to gourmet restaurants", and a collection of gift certificates to the Stratford Festival, Centre in the Square, Roy Thomson Hall, the Four Seasons Opera House and the Air Canada Centre. Each of the four prizes is calculated to be worth $2,500.

Tickets — priced at $5 apiece, or three for $10 — will be on sale at various outlets across campus, and from committee members, with distribution being organized by Tami Everding of the provost’s office. Proceeds (from a maximum of 3,750 tickets sold for each draw) will go to support a planned 50th Anniversary Scholarship fund.

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Scores of small artworks are for sale tonight in the Modern Languages gallery. A student checks them out during yesterday's preview; the actual sale and silent auction run from 5:00 to 9:00 this evening. It's the first time the event has been in UW's original art gallery in ML, rather than in the funky East Campus Hall galleries of the fine arts department. It's also the first time the traditional "miniature art" protocol has been relaxed, bringing a variation in the sizes of the works on sale, which are by faculty, students, alumni and friends of the department. Proceeds go to the fine arts endowment fund. Photo by Neil Gregg.

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Science advisor speaks about the web

from the UW media relations office

The author of the most comprehensive study ever undertaken on Canada's strengths in science and technology will speak at UW next week to explain how the web has impacted what people know versus what they think they know.

Peter J. Nicholson, first head of the newly formed Council of Canadian Academies and author of the recently released report The State of Science and Technology in Canada, will deliver a talk in the Accelerator Centre at 4 p.m. on Wednesday. His talk is entitled "The Expert vs. the Crowd: Networked Knowledge and the Evolution of Intellectual Authority".

"The web has democratized access to information and led to such innovations as social networking and massive collaborations," says David Fransen, executive director of the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC), which is hosting the talk. "Just think of Wikipedia and rating systems on sites like Amazon or Google. The nature of what counts as knowledge, truth and expert opinion is changing. Dr. Nicholson will ask: 'What are the consequences?' "

Nicholson was appointed as inaugural president and chief executive officer of the CCA in February. He is a Member of the Order of Canada, an honour that recognizes his contribution to business through both the public and private sectors.

Nicholson has held numerous private and public sector positions, including senior vice-president of the Bank of Nova Scotia, Clifford Clark Visiting Economist in the federal Department of Finance, chief strategy officer of Bell Canada Enterprises Inc., special adviser to the secretary-general of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, and deputy chief of staff for policy in the office of the Prime Minister.

The mission of the CCA is to provide independent, expert assessments of the science underlying important matters of public interest and provide a voice for Canada on behalf of the sciences, both nationally and internationally. The State of Science and Technology in Canada was prepared at the request of the federal government. It explores Canada's strengths in order to set the context for the government's consideration of policy. Findings from the report, which was released in September, are available online.

"Dr. Nicholson has a broad understanding of the positive and negative impacts of emerging technologies," says Iain Klugman, CEO of Communitech, the local association of high-tech companies. "Communitech is pleased to help bring him to Waterloo Region and we look forwarded to hearing the insights he has to offer on the web and the creation of knowledge."

Anyone planning to attend should preregister by e-mail (ljhowe@uwaterloo.ca) no later than Monday.

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Students create UW Shop videos

from Kathryn King, UW retail services

According to the course description, in the Digital Audio and Video Design class (DAC 202) “students will analyze, design, and produce sound and video for use in a variety of digital platforms, including e-learning, promotional, creative, and business applications.”

Retail Services’ UW Shop worked with Professor Glenn Stillar to provide a unique learning experience for the 21 students enrolled in the class this term. As part of a special assignment, students were marked on their efforts to create material for a real client. Assuming the role as a professional client, the shop asked groups of students to create an original promotional video advertising an enjoyable UW Shop experience, and what it means to UW students. The videos give Retail Services advertising content for their digital plasma display screens. Although students would also receive a mark on the project, the group with the best video would be awarded Retail Services gift cards.

Students were given technical requirements to comply with, similar to a real life situation between a film company and their client. Since the videos are designed for use on the digital plasma display screens found in the Bookstore and Campus TechShop windows, sound was not required and length could be no longer than 40 seconds.

Seven videos were submitted to the UW Shop for evaluation. “We were very impressed with the quality of the videos. We saw a lot of creativity and technical ability; it was difficult to choose a winner,” says Don McKenzie, co-op marketing project co-ordinator for Retail Services, who was also part of the judging panel.

All videos will be broadcast over the digital plasma display screens in the Bookstore and Campus TechShop, beginning today, and can also be viewed online.

CAR

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