Two new buildings up for approval

Two entirely new buildings for UW, as well as a major addition to the Optometry building, are on the agenda for approval by the board of governors this afternoon.

One of the new buildings will extend the faculty of engineering into what are now being called the "East Campus Lands", between Phillip Street and the railway track, now largely occupied by parking lot B. It's proposed as a $48 million building of about 150,000 square feet, approximately the same size as Engineering III or the CEIT building, and would be linked to E3 by an overhead pedestrian link.

The building is "the first phase of Engineering's capital plan", says a briefing to the board from its building and properties committee, which discussed the proposal in early March. "The Faculty of Engineering requires the completion of the building at the earliest possible date," it adds. It says money would come partly from government grants for graduate enrolment expansion, partly from UW's own funds and partly from fund-raising.

"UW is currently pursuing a zone change for the site," says the report, which also says that consultant Joe Berridge — who headed the preparation of the campus master plan more than a decade ago — "has been retained to complete a district/development plan for the 12-acre ECH lands (lands east of the rail line)".

The second new building is a "research facility" at 475 Wes Graham Way in the north campus research and technology park. "Interim space needs are being meet through the use of portables and the 35,000-square-foot 'BFG building'," the committee reports. Putting up a 60,000-square-foot building by next spring, when the university's lease on BFG (195 Columbia Street) expires, will cost about $8.4 million, it says. "The building will be used as a research accelerator centre by providing a staging area for new research initiatives. Sufficient one-time funding is available from the Research Infrastructure Fund."

As for the Optometry expansion, it was approved by the board a year ago, with a budget of $9 million, but the committee is now recommending a bigger project, to cost $13.4 million and include almost 40,000 square feet of academic space. Tenders will be called this summer.

Other items on the agenda for today's board of governors meeting include 2007-08 tuition fee increases and the operating budget for the year ahead. The meeting will start at 2:30 p.m. in Needles Hall room 3001.

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At Friday night's banquet, Chris Best and Diane Kelly clutch their new hardware.

Football, rugby stars among winners

Top honours from UW’s athletics department, including the male and female Athletes of the Year awards, were handed out Friday night at the annual banquet held in the Columbia Icefield gym.

The Totzke Trophy as male athlete of the year went to Chris Best, 306-pound left tackle for the football Warriors last season. “Chris has been the anchor on the Warriors’ offensive line for the past two seasons,” a citation says. “He capped off his final year by participating the East-West Shrine Game in Houston on January 20.

“Chris Best has been at Waterloo for only 2 years and has been our gain and our loss! He is completing his Mechanical Engineering Masters degree this spring. Chris is a Calgary native who came to us via Duke University, where he played for three years. At Waterloo, he has twice been an OUA All Star and twice a CIS All Canadian — a first for a Waterloo player.” He was drafted 4th overall in the 2005 CFL draft by Saskatchewan (from Duke), and since the Shrine Game has been attracting NFL attention as well.

The female athlete of the year receives the Marsden Trophy, which this year went home with rugby star Diane Kelly. “Currently in her 4th year (Science and Business), Diane has played on a series of Warrior teams that have developed significantly,” a citation says. “She came into Waterloo with a large group of freshmen and this group, along the way, developed into a CIS ranked team. The teams won OUA silver and bronze medals in her 4 years and this year, went onto the CIS Championship where the team finished 5th.”

Male Rookie of the Year was Victor Ciesielski of men’s golf, a first-year recreation student from Cambridge. Coming off a spectacular showing at the Canadian Open, he led the Warriors to their second straight OUA Gold medal. Individually, he won four gold medals, two silver and two bronze, in the short OUA season. He also tied the Warrior all-time scoring record with a 6-under 66 at the Windsor Invitational, and set a course record, 4-under 68, at the McMaster Invitational.

Female Rookie of the Year was Kelly-Lynne Spettigue of Cross Country, a first-year systems design engineering student from Richmond Hill. At the 2006 championships in Laval, Québec, she finished 14th overall and earned 2nd team All-Canadian with her time of 18:56 for the 5km course.

Coach of the Year honours go to hockey’s Brian Bourque, who has been with the team for the past four seasons and head coach for two seasons. The year prior to Bourque joining the Warriors, the team had a record of 1-22-1, the worst record of any CIS hockey team in Canada. Since then the team has made steady improvements, and the 2006-07 team finished the regular season tied for first in the OUA (2nd in CIS) with 45 points (21-4-2-1). This season saw the best record, winning percentage, and play-off success that a Waterloo hockey team has had in more than ten years. Since Bourque took over as head coach his team has a record of 36-11-5. Bourque is known for his tireless work ethic towards game preparation and creative use of video for teaching and motivating.

The Brian Farrance Therapy Award went to Mary Eng. This award is presented to a student therapist who has demonstrated commitment to athletic therapy throughout their career at Waterloo. The Hemphill Award and the Director’s Award are given annually to two individuals that did organizational things on behalf of all the athletes and the program. “They made your year and season better and more coordinated,” athletes at the banquet were told. “They made a commitment to all of us.” Winner of the Hemphill Award was Trevor Black, men’s hockey; the Director’s Award went to Katlin Martin, women’s hockey.

Earlier, the athletics department announced a list of winners of various departmental awards and bursaries. A reception to honour these student-athletes and to meet some of the donors was cancelled on March 1 on account of weather. “Friends of Athletics, corporations, fundraising, athletic alumni and donors, and the Ontario government have financially contributed to the creation of these endowments and awards,” an announcement explains.

Those honours include the Athletic Council Student Athlete Award, given to Lisa Seto (badminton); the Dixon Athletic Excellence Award, given to Michelle John (field hockey) and Julia Callaghan (soccer); the Dixon Student Athlete Award, given to Adam Rauf (squash).

Also, the Roger and Mary Moser Award, to Curtis Darling and Alexis Huber, both of hockey; the Swimming Team Excellence Award, to Angela McIsaac and Alex Watson; Warrior Excellence Awards, to Sue Murray (volleyball), Amanda Verhoeve (volleyball), Kevin Hurley (hockey), and Matt Kieswetter (basketball); the Don Hayes Award, to Trevor Black (hockey); the Don McCrae Award, to Olivier Quesnel (basketball) and Nicole Tisdale (basketball).

Also, the Don Mills Cross Country Award, to Wes George; the Linda Kieswetter Award, to Oleg Churnukhin (swimming), Michael Davis (basketball), Melanie Belore (basketball), Gillian Maxwell (basketball), Daniela Cotesta (figure skating), and Sean Cowie (football); the Mark Forester Award, to Sarah Norris (figure skating); the Mike Moser Award, to Diane Kelly (rugby), Lisa Kelly (rugby), and Stephen Campbell (football); and the Norman McClean Hockey Excellence Award, to Mike Della Mora.

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And more on the last day of classes

Waterloo students have continued the tradition of placing high among teams from 508 North American colleges and universities in the William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition. The UW team for this year's Putnam, the 67th annual, included Ralph Furmaniak, Elyot Grant and David Rhee, and placed 12th overall. They were coached by Stephen New of the department of pure mathematics. The highest-ranking student at a Canadian institution was UW's Furmaniak, who finished 11th overall. Tor Gunnar Myklebust and Xiao Heng Wang, two UW students who weren't team members, received honourable mention for their high scores. According to Edward Barbeau, chair of the Canadian Mathematical Society’s Mathematical Competitions Committee, “four Canadian universities, McGill, Toronto, Waterloo and British Columbia, had among them fourteen students who placed among the top 200; half of these came from Waterloo.”

A new benefit is available under the faculty and staff dental insurance plan. Glenda Rutledge of the human resources department explains: "Historically, implants were not covered by dental plans because they were still new and experimental. Times have evolved and implants are more reliable, durable and cost effective over the longer term. Now, many dental insurance plans are moving towards providing consideration for implants under the allowance that would be paid for a bridge. Effective March 16, 2007, the Pension and Benefits Committee approved coverage for dental implants under the major restorative category based on the cost that would have been considered for a bridge. Major restorative services are covered at 50% to a annual maximum of $2,806 per covered person, based on the 2005 Ontario dental fee guide. As with all major restorative work, eligibility for coverage is determined by Manulife. A predetermination is highly recommended for all major dental expenses."

The earth-moving machinery is busy north of Hagey Hall, where the new Accountancy wing will soon rise, and today there's a power shovel on the south (ring road) side as well. "On Tuesday and Wednesday," says Don Haffner of plant operations, "access to Hagey Hall loading dock, parking spaces and main theatre entrance will be restricted during regular working hours. Tie-in of the storm sewer line and water main will be ongoing. Please arrange alternative delivery access and parking — we will try to have the roadway open ASAP each day."

Stephen Harper is looking a little green on the latest cover of Alternatives Journal. The Canadian environmental magazine, published at UW, tackles "The Greening of Politics" as its theme in the newest edition. From the editorial, titled "Green Grow the Politicos", to the lengthy research article "Building the Environmental State", the issue demonstrates how Canada’s past will inevitably determine its environmental future. "Living Classics", a new review column, makes its initial appearance in the issue, focusing on Al Gore’s documentary "An Inconvenient Truth".

Nearly 100 women gathered at the Festival Room for a dinner and "story-sharing festivities" on International Women's Day last month, and a report and photos have now been posted online. • Applications will close tomorrow for positions as graduate dons in Columbia Lake Village (forms are available on the housing web site). • A course on "Database Management" is running this morning and tomorrow morning as part of the Skills for the Electronic Workplace program.

CAR

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