Everybody ready for a reading week

To begin with: no, the university is not going to be closed next week — that's not what "reading week" means. Yes, classes are cancelled across campus, but offices and services will be in operation (including the libraries, for those who take "reading" literally); staff will be at work as usual; many faculty aren't taking the week off; there will even continue to be employer interviews in the Tatham Centre as students and employers court one another for the spring work term.

The registrar's office and IST are, however, seizing the opportunity to take down the Quest system for an upgrade. Quest will be unavailable to students from 12:01 a.m. on Sunday until 8 a.m. on Wednesday. "During this time students will not be able to log in to Quest," the registrar's office says. "Faculty and staff will continue with the same inquiry access, on a copy of the database current as of Saturday, February 17, at 11:59 p.m. We will change the link to the Quest login page, the one listed under Faculty and Staff, to the temporary login page. Please use this login page until the system is back up and running. Once the upgrade has been completed, the link to the Quest login page will point to the new URL. Use the links that appear on the left-side of the Quest home page to navigate to the login page. Bookmarks should be updated at that time. Should the system become available sooner than 8:00 a.m on the 21st, we will post a notice on the Quest website."

The Physical Activities Complex will be open pretty much as usual next week ("check the website for available gym and pool schedules") but the Columbia Icefield will be closed all week for maintenance. The bookstore, UW Shop, TechWorx and Campus TechShop will be open their regular hours Monday to Friday, but the stores in South Campus Hall, which are usually open on Saturdays, will be closed February 24. ArtWorx in East Campus Hall will be closed all next week.

A number of food services outlets will be closed, but there will still be victuals at Mudie's cafeteria in Village I, Brubakers in the Student Life Centre, Pastry Plus in Needles Hall, the CEIT Café, Browsers in the Dana Porter Library, and Tim Hortons in the SLC (Monday-Friday, 7;30 to 4:30) and South Campus Hall.

Doubtless some students will be hitting the books (or the digital equivalent) or working hard on lab and studio projects over the days ahead. Doubtless, too, others will slope off to, well, the slopes, or be drawn to warmer climes. I've heard little this year about academic field trips and volunteer expeditions during the week, but presumably there will be a number of those as well. And then everybody will be back in place a week from Monday.

Right after reading week comes Pick Your Plan Week, scheduled for February 26 through March 2. That's the time when undergraduate students do the paperwork, if they need to, for choosing or changing a major, or adding a minor or option. Once that's out of the way, they can look ahead to online class enrolment "appointments", March 19-31 (for spring courses) and June 11-23 (for fall courses).

There's probably no need to remind anyone that after reading week there will be just five weeks and two days of classes left in the term. Winter term exams begin April 9, and the registrar's office says the final examination schedule is now available online.

Back to top

Gallery show marks the city's 150th

A special exhibition opens today under the title “Village Crossroads to Smart City: Waterloo 1857-2007”, as a part of the City of Waterloo’s sesquicentennial celebrations. That means the city is marking its 150th anniversary at the same time the University of Waterloo celebrates its 50th.

UW has had a huge influence on the city over the past half-century, as the Record newspaper pointed out in an editorial published January 11, the day UW's anniversary celebrations began. At the same time — as UW president David Johnston told a gathering of government officials that same day — the community has had a huge influence on the birth and shaping of UW. Either way, the two are deeply intertwined, as they've been for a very long time now. (Pictured is a red-letter day 96 years ago, the opening of Waterloo Lutheran Seminary — one of UW's forerunners — in a house on Albert Street.)

The exhibition traces "the fascinating history of 150 years of municipal government from village to town to city. It will also focus on the people and businesses that have helped shape Waterloo; from the mills and breweries through to the insurance and manufacturing companies, to the universities and high tech firms. "

Some of the highlights that will be on display in the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery, on Caroline Street a little way south of the main UW campus, are a newly discovered 1854 village plan, an elaborate late 19th century Mayor’s chair, and the whistle from the former Canbar factory that will sound once again. "Visitors will have a chance," a news release says, "to take a visual walk along King Street as it looked in 1982 and see how much has changed in the UpTown streetscape in 25 years.

"To celebrate Waterloo’s 150th Anniversary, visitors to the exhibition can create their own commemorative ribbon and are encouraged to share their memories of Waterloo in our guest book that will be filled with historical images of Waterloo that have been collected over the past year. Come celebrate this important milestone in Waterloo’s history, and explore the roots of our dynamic city. "

The exhibition is mounted by the Heritage Resources Section of the City of Waterloo and is sponsored by Sun Life Financial. “Village Crossroads to Smart City: Waterloo 1857-2007” will run from February 16 to April 8. Hours are Tuesday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m. Regular Gallery admission rates apply.

Back to top

Student mourned, and other notes

A memorial service will be held in British Columbia tomorrow for Sarah Whetham (right), a first-year student in mechanical engineering who died at UW last Sunday, February 11. The family's death notice reminds friends that Whetham "loved the outdoors and took every opportunity to go skiing, hiking and climbing . . . had many interests including music, and played clarinet and soprano saxophone." She was a graduate of Mount Baker Senior Secondary School in Cranbrook, BC, and a scholarship is being established there in her memory. Sarah Whetham is survived by her parents, Bob and Gretchen. Tomorrow's service begins at 3 p.m. at Mount Zion Lutheran Church in Cranbrook.

The Federation of Students “is satisfied with the results of the forensic audit conducted by Deloitte & Touche on the financial transactions of the Waterloo Tamil Students’ Association (WATSA),” a statement from vice-president Renjie Butalid said yesterday. “The report states that there are no indications of financial misconduct on the part of the Waterloo Tamil Students’ Association. We are pleased to have independent confirmation of what we already know. We have strict guidelines and procedures that all our clubs and services follow regarding any financial transaction and we are glad to see that WATSA’s name has been cleared.” The statement went on to note that WATSA “aims to assist Tamil students in their social and academic development at the University of Waterloo as well as to further promote the Tamil heritage and bridge cultural understanding among the general student population”. The statement also had words from Mario Pushparatnam, former president of WATSA: “We are certainly glad that this unfortunate incident is behind us so that we can return our focus to promoting our club’s mandate and purpose. WATSA and its members have always played an active role in the campus community, promoting acceptance and diversity of cultures through the One Waterloo Diversity Awareness Campaign and through participation in International Celebration Week.”

The engineering faculty's e-newsletter reports that Moren Lévesque of the management sciences department has been chosen as the recipient of the 2006 Outstanding Reviewer Award for the Journal of Business Venturing. Dean Shepherd, the journal's associate editor, says that Lévesque's reviews contain a balance between general and detailed comments. He notes the journal's success depends on the quality of its reviewers. Lévesque is the Canada Research Chair in Innovation and Technical Entrepreneurship.

The fourth annual Ice Dog Festival is scheduled for tomorrow in "uptown" Waterloo. • If you're the Revolution/Flying Dog customer who lost her coat on Saturday night and ended up going home in a borrowed jacket, the jacket's owner would much appreciate word from you at lparry@csr.org. • The Federation of Students expects to announce results of this week's executive election at 11:00 this morning.

And . . . the annual predict-the-spring contest sponsored by UW's weather station is under way. For the ninth time, the idea is for users of the station's web site to guess the date and time that the temperature will first go above 20 degrees Celsius for this year. "We have had over 20 days below average, so I think people are starting to believe that it may never get warm again," says station coordinator Frank Seglenieks. He figures the contest offers a thin thread of hope that warmer times will come. Last year's winning date was April 19; the earliest it's been in past contests is March 8. Contest prizes are being offered this year through a sponsorship by the Ontario Seed Home Hardware store on King Street, and the entry deadline is next Friday, February 23, at 3 p.m.

CAR

Back to top