Smoke-free zone at UW expands

A revised version of Policy 29 — smoking on campus — goes into effect this fall. Starting September 1, smokers must move ten metres away from any building before lighting up.

The policy change was proposed by the UW Joint Health and Safety Committee and approved by President David Johnston on August 7. In compliance with the Smoke Free Ontario Act, Policy 29 also bans smoking inside university buildings and vehicles, but allows it “for research or for traditional aboriginal cultural or spiritual purposes.”

And, effective next April 30, no tobacco products will be sold or promoted on campus. Currently the only outlet selling tobacco products is the FEDS-run Aussies, in the Student Life Centre. Del Savio Pereira, FEDS V-P administration and finance, says selling cigarettes was built into Aussie’s business model, but a new business model will be in place when the store is moved upstairs this fall and renamed Federation Express. He adds that the store will place cigarettes out of sight starting September 1 and will sell smoking cessation aids “at sub-cost.” And, until the selling ban takes effect, profits from selling tobacco will be reinvested in Leave the Pack Behind, a program based in Health Services that helps smokers quit.

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Program will enhance science teachers’ skills

UW’s biology department has developed a new degree program, with its own designation — Master of Biology (MBiol) — especially for high school science teachers.

“The objective of the program,” according to the Senate Graduate and Research Council’s report, “is to provide detailed, current background knowledge in specific aspects of biology to professionals, particularly secondary school teachers,” who will normally already have a Bachelor of Science degree.

“The program will review the basic principles of the major areas of biology (animal physiology and genetics, ecology, microbiology and plant biology) to update their skills, allowing them to apply up-to-date and state-of-the-art knowledge in the performance of jobs.”

As well as the basics, course content will include current topics and controversies – “topics of interest that high school teachers can use to excite students,” says Brian Dixon, associate chair of biology, the program’s interim director until a regular director is appointed. “For example, in immunology we will talk about the huge increase in allergies in North America and Europe in the past 30 years, in virology we will talk about bird flu and AIDS, in ecology we will talk about climate change, and so on.”

A feature of this program is the way the courses are structured and scheduled. Keeping in mind the timetables of most high school teachers, the courses will be offered in July. And, again with an eye to appealing to fully employed professionals, the program will eventually be offered through distance education as well as on campus.

Students aiming for the degree must complete six courses and a major research paper, supervised by a faculty member, and are expected to take at least three summers to finish — but could take much longer, depending on how many courses they take each year: two would be the norm. Those who choose to complete only four courses will be awarded a Graduate Diploma in Professional Biology instead of the degree.

Students will pay regular tuition fees: this is not a full cost-recovery program. However, they are expected to be self-supporting and will not receive funding from the university in the way that regular, full-time graduate students do.

Although the program is still waiting for final approval from the Ontario Council on Graduate Studies, something that is expected to happen well before the first students start next summer, potential students have already expressed interest, Dixon says. Administrators have not started advertising the program yet — “that will ramp up in September.”

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News and notes from ES and IST

Some excerpts from the latest e-newsletter of UW’s faculty of environmental studies:

A group of future Environmental Studies students will be starting classes halfway around the world this fall. Students in China will take the first two years of Waterloo's Environment and Business program at Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, located in eastern China. The students will then move to Waterloo in 2009 to complete their degree with a further two years of study at UW. Some 35 students will participate in the program every year. . . .

Environment and Resource Studies professor Jennifer Lynes was highlighted in an article about high school students who have been encouraging homeowners in the central Ontario towns of Orangeville and Shelburne to save energy. The high school environmental club provided 30 homeowners with monitors which displayed current household energy consumption and how much it was costing. Professor Lynes will guide analysis of the results. . . .

Natural disasters have caused a large number of victims and significant social and economic losses in the last few years. The risk prevention and disaster management sector needs drastic measures and improvements in order to decrease damage and save lives of inhabitants. Geomatics professor Jonathan Li has co-edited a new book that describes effective use of satellite positioning, remote sensing, and GIS in disaster monitoring and management. . . .

And this from IST:

A small sector of UW web users were advised yesterday to change their UWdir passwords. The email notice came from Reg Quinton, senior technologist for security at IST. “Users of the authentication service for four web applications (UWEvents, UW Opinion, the Math Society Exam Bank and the in-development UW Chatter) are advised that an implementation flaw may have exposed userids and passwords.

“All users of these web applications should change their password as soon as possible. To do this, visit the UWdir Password management pages: https://ego.uwaterloo.ca/~uwdir/Passwd.html

“The flaw has been corrected and steps have been taken to contain the exposure. We sincerely regret this security breach and apologize for any inconvenience that it may cause.”

Although only a relatively small number of users were affected and no damage appears to have been done, Quinton adds that the incident serves as a reminder to everyone to change their passwords on a regular basis. For more information, contact Reg Quinton at reggers@ist.uwaterloo.ca or Paul Snyder at snyder@ist.uwaterloo.ca.

CPA staff

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