Sociology professor Lorne Dawson talks with host Daiene Vernile on CTV's "ProvinceWide" last weekend. Dawson was interviewed to help Vernile's audience understand "Goth" culture. Photo courtesy CTV.

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Top entrepreneurs speak Saturday

More than 20 successful Canadian entrepreneurs, seven of them Waterloo alumni who have appeared on the Globe and Mail's Top 40 Under 40 list, will participate in Canada's largest student-run entrepreneurship event tomorrow. Organizers expect over 2,000 student entrepreneurs, faculty members and industry leaders will attend the UW Expo, presented by the student group Impact. The full-day program, which runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Davis Centre, is designed to spark new ideas, share user-proven success stories and establish personal contacts.

Impact — a non-profit, student-run organization dedicated to promoting entrepreneurship and leadership in Canada — is also hosting the expo to showcase innovative students and technology. "The University of Waterloo has been consistently recognized as Canada's most entrepreneurial campus," a news release points out, "and this event is expected to attract the best and brightest from UW."

"Waterloo Region is well on its way to establishing itself as a centre for entrepreneurship, so there is no better place to hold this unprecedented event," said Kunal Gupta, founder and president of Impact. "Our goal is to empower tomorrow's leaders, and what better way than by bringing together Waterloo's finest for a day of collaboration and education from some of our most successful alumni."

The program offers a full day of keynote addresses, panel discussions and workshops. Seven of the Globe's Top 40 Under 40 will make an appearance. George Roter and Parker Mitchell, founders and co-CEOs of Engineers Without Borders Canada, will deliver a talk on engineering social change at 10 a.m. James Dean, founder of dPoint Technologies Inc., will outline the challenges of marketing a new technology (11:30). Jim Estill, founder of EMJ Data Systems Ltd. and CEO of SYNNEX Canada, will share the story of starting from scratch and selling for $50 million (10 a.m.). Satish Rai, vice-president of TD Asset Management Inc., will discuss what it takes to lead in today's ever-changing economy (11:30). Lucas Skoczkowski, CEO of Redknee Inc., will participate in a panel on the differences between managers and entrepreneurs (11:30). Catherine Booth, vice-president of retail information technology at Canadian Tire, will share some practical lessons on navigating a career path (4 p.m.).

Panels, workshops and other addresses will cover topics such as the barriers to starting a small business, reasons for choosing to be an entrepreneur in Waterloo Region, ways of approaching investors for funding, and securing government support for emerging companies.

"Our students have just done a wonderful job of pulling together a program that showcases so many of the university and region's strengths in entrepreneurship," says UW president David Johnston. The expo is open to all aspiring and practicing entrepreneurs. Anyone interested in attending is encouraged to register online.

The Top-40 visitors will be guests of honour at two other gatherings on Saturday, as they're invited to both breakfast and lunch with UW VIPs. Breakfast will be at the Lyle Hallman institute, with Johnston and other university executives speaking, and lunch will be at the Accelerator Centre with Mike Lazaridis, UW's chancellor and co-CEO of Research In Motion. "This opportunity to host such prestigious guests," says a note from the office of development, "allows UW to connect leaders and to share knowledge, ideas and inspirations."

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Much to do on Homecoming day

The keynote talk for this year's Homecoming, by orator and AIDS expert Stephen Lewis, is sold out (although it should still be possible to squeeze in to watch a live video feed in a nearby lecture hall), but there are plenty of other opportunities in tomorrow's busy day of Homecoming activity. Some Homecoming events require preregistration; details about all that's going on are available on the web.

Attracting the general public to campus is a new emphasis for Homecoming, says Jason Coolman, director of alumni affairs. Plans include a scavenger hunt for children, barbecue and children's activities for the family, a Pounce de Lion colouring contest and a special appearance by Blue from the children's program "Blue's Clues".

"This year, we've put a special effort into opening up our program to more than just the thousands of alumni, students, staff and faculty who show tremendous support year after year," said Coolman. "We're excited by the opportunity to host families from the surrounding community and very much looking forward to having Stephen Lewis share some of his amazing experiences."

Lewis's talk, at 7 p.m. in the Humanities Theatre, will deal with global issues, their impact, and the role of education and human rights in changing how we deal with the world. Tickets for the live talk are sold out, but a video feed will go to Arts Lecture Hall room 113. Admission there is free for students; tickets for others, at $2 a head, may still be available.

Members of the community are encouraged to stop by Homecoming headquarters in the Student Life Centre to pick up a Homecoming "passport" with a campus map highlighting the locations of all events and information on events and food options. Participants who collect stamps from ten or more events can enter a draw to win an iPod.

The traditional centre of Homecoming is reunions of Waterloo alumni, and many groups of those will be gathering, including the BMath classes of 2005, 2001 and 1996, geography graduates, Conrad Grebel University College alumni of the 1975-80 era, grads from chemistry, biochemistry and biology and chemistry, and engineering alumni of 2005, 2001, 1996, 1991, 1986, 1981, 1976, 1971 and 1966. ("All faculty who have taught Waterloo engineers are welcome to attend," adds Carol Truemner of the engineering alumni and communications office.)

Applied health sciences will sponsor its 21st annual Homecoming fun run, starting at 9:30 a.m. at Matthews Hall. Says Betty Bax of AHS: “The run attracts both the hard-core runners (who else could go twice around the ring road that fast without stopping!) and the fun-and-fitness joggers and walkers. Participants will be running in the inside lane of Ring Road, travelling in a clockwise direction. In addition to our annual event, the varsity swim team will also be using Ring Road for their triathlon for the run and bike components. Cars will be using the outside lane, traveling in a counter-clockwise direction. Bus stops will have signs instructing individuals to board the bus on the opposite side of Ring Road. We've ordered sunshine for Saturday morning along with prizes, drinks and food for all.”

A barbecue (again with children's activities) runs from 11:30 to 1:30 at the Student Life Centre, and the "Blue's Clues" celebrity appearance and sing-along is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Modern Languages building. Sports events are also part of Homecoming, as the football Warriors meet the Laurier Golden Hawks at 2 p.m. at University Stadium and the women's volleyball squad hosts an invitational tournament.

At Renison College, the East Asian Festival — which begins today with a "silent storytelling" event at 12 noon — continues tomorrow with a "family and culture day" from 11:00 to 2:00 featuring art, music, flavours and festivities from that part of the world, and a cocktail reception and silent auction in the evening.

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A few other notes for a Friday

Today is payday for faculty members (and most staff), and Dave DeVidi, treasurer of the faculty association, sends a note to explain why many professors will see a dip in their take-home pay: “Association fees have been reduced for the past few years as the Association has been following the advice of its auditor by reducing its reserves to about 6 to 9 months of operating expenses. As agreed by members at the 2005 AGM, fees are to be collected at the normal mil rate of 4.75 beginning July 1, 2006, rather than the reduced rate of 3.5 that was approved for 2005-06. This is still among the very lowest of mil rates among faculty associations at Canadian universities. Since the Association does not know the salaries of individual members, the fees actually deducted from pay cheques are calculated by applying the mil rate to the average salary for each rank. The change in mil rate means that the monthly deduction for a full professor will increase by about $15, while an Assistant Professor will see a change of about $10. For the first time this year, the fees for Clinical Lecturers will be different from the fees for other Lecturers to reflect the different salary structure of the two groups. Unfortunately, there was a delay in the Association getting access to the average salary information, and so it has not been possible to implement the change in deductions for either the July or August pay cheque. The September cheque will therefore include not only the increase in the amount deducted per month, but also arrears collected for July and August.”

Four Waterloo students are in Ottawa this week taking part in "Impact Apprentice", a competition modelled on the "reality" television series "The Apprentice", featuring tycoon Donald Trump. Eighteen universities and colleges are represented as the 32 competitors, organized into four teams, face a series of challenges. They're competing for interviews with sponsor companies, "exclusive dinners with high-profiled executives", and some $10,000 in prizes. It's all sponsored by Impact, the same student-based organization that's sponsoring the Expo entrepreneurship event on campus tomorrow. Apprentice competitors from UW are Natalie MacNeil (political science), Jeyakumar Nadarajah (electrical engineering), Jennifer Parker (arts), and Shane Chagpar (business, entrepreneurship and technology).

A memo this week announces that “The Department of Psychology at the University of Waterloo is currently seeking volunteers for a study of sexual attitudes. We are looking for adults 25 years of age and older to participate, completing questionnaires about your personality, mood, and your attitudes towards different aspects of human sexuality. The study takes about 30 minutes. The questionnaires are completed online, at a computer wherever you choose. The survey is password protected to ensure confidentiality. All participants may enter a draw for one of five $50 cash prizes. For more information or to volunteer, e-mail purdlab@watarts.uwaterloo.ca This study has been reviewed by and received ethics clearance from the University of Waterloo Office of Research Ethics.”

UW's Midnight Sun solar car will be on display this weekend at the Kitchener-Waterloo Home and Energy Savings Show at Bingeman Park. . . . Werner Leuthold retires October 1 from his job as storeskeeper in the plant operations department, where he's been working since 1981. . . . A group from the UW Recreation Committee is off to visit the Hammond Museum of Radio in Guelph tomorrow. . . .

And finally . . . I don't wish to alarm anybody, but today's special at the Festival Fare cafeteria in South Campus Hall is "Laurel Creek Catch of the Day". Actually, I'm told, it's "oven-baked coconut-crusted tilapia", which probably has never seen this county's limpid waters. Special Waterloo-themed names have been offered on the menu all this week at various food services outlets, as a build-up to Homecoming.

CAR

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