A team of planning students — Clarissa Nam, Wai Yan Leung and Crispian Lo (plus, not pictured, Raymond Chau) — get congratulations from Murray Haight, director of the UW school of planning. The team placed second in an international student competition to redesign Nathan Phillips Square, Toronto's civic centre. UW and the University of Guelph co-sponsored the unofficial contest because students weren't eligible for the professional design competition organized by the City of Toronto. More than 150 teams registered, of whom 51 submitted final designs. The winner was Zachary Rood of Cornell University; another UW team (Drew Adams, Fadi Masoud and Laurence Lui) received an honourable mention. Designs from the contest will be displayed in Toronto's Metro Hall rotunda July 23-26.

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Looking to UW's next fifty years

An anniversary is a time for looking ahead as well as back. And that’s why the spring issue of the UW Magazine, loaded with the stories of how this university was created in 1957 and made it through the first half-century, also presents the thoughts of half a dozen campus people whose eyes are fixed on the future.

“If the pace of change continues, it’s very hard to envisage what a university will be like in 2057,” UW president David Johnston writes. But he takes a shot at it, as the magazine’s editors asked him to. So do one of the deans, several faculty members and other campus figures, all looking ahead from this year’s 50th anniversary to UW’s 100th, now less than half a century away.

The article is available online, along with the drawings done for it by Anthony Jenkins (BA 74), a 1974 fine arts graduate from UW who is now editorial cartoonist for the Globe and Mail. He was commissioned to create humorous illustrations of the predictions made by the future-gazers, who were interviewed by staff writer Patricia Bow. A few words from the eight seers:

Ken Coates, dean of arts: “Over the next fifty years, I believe that the social sciences, humanities, and fine arts will regain some of their traditional prominence in the university.”

Pierre Filion, professor of planning: “There would be a specialization of city neighbourhoods according to chosen lifestyles. Universities would become one of those specializations. The campus would be filled by housing, and the paths would become streets with small stores. . . . Students, professors and staff would live on campus; alumni would come back because they want to stay part of the university.”

President David Johnston: “It seems that at long last we have come to a clear understanding of the imperative of dealing with climate change, and this university has played a prominent role in that. We have the strongest concentration of energy, auto, and broadband technology to help overcome the need for more transportation and move the world towards sustainability.”

Ray Laflamme, director of the Institute for Quantum Computing: “Quantum computers will do the math, nanotechnology will do the engineering. The computers that make new materials, however — they could be the size of a building, because the important thing about these devices will be that you can link to them easily.”

Aimée Morrison, professor of English: “We may see a new unplugged elite that you can’t reach by email or cell phone 24 hours a day. With students, we’re going to have to start teaching the capacity for reflective thought, for solitude. It’s important and valuable to grapple with something difficult, at length and alone, and we seem to be losing that capacity.”

Mark Morton, instructional expert in the Centre for Teaching Excellence: “Although technology changes the delivery of education, the way we learn now — in terms of how we construct knowledge in our minds — is essentially the same way we learned 5,000 years ago, and I think it’ll be the same way in 50 years. Learning is a process that’s intrinsically social. I don’t think that will change.”

Michelle Zakrison, 2006-07 president of the Federation of Students: “There’s going to be a social movement to have free tuition. In Canada and Ontario, because we’re moving towards a knowledge-based economy, education has become hugely important. We’ll need to make it much more accessible.”

Archna Gupta, 2006 science-and-business graduate and international health activist: “Some things will probably never change: the students’ love for the Bomber, especially Wednesday Bomber nights; traditions such as engineering’s Iron Ring ceremony and math’s Pink Tie Guard during orientation week; and the rumour that Dana Porter is sinking.”

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Women's basketball coach is named

The UW department of athletics has announced that Christin Dickenson, most recently of McMaster University, will arrive August 1 to take over as head coach of the Warrior women’s basketball program.

Dickenson comes to Waterloo after spending 2006-07 as an assistant coach with Mac’s Marauders, an announcement says. “She also served as an assistant coach with Canada Basketball – Centre for Performance (Ontario), and has coached for Team Ontario for both the juvenile and midget provincial teams. In addition, she was head coach for the U-19 Swedish National Team for 2004-2005.

“Prior to entering the coaching ranks, Christin played university ball with McMaster from 2001-2004. With the Marauders, she was a two-time OUA all-star and captain for two years. As captain, she led McMaster to an Ontario Championship in 2002-03 and was named MVP in the Ontario Championship gold medal game. In 2003-04, she was named OUA Player of the Year. She is a NCCP level III certified coach.”

After graduating from Mac in 2004 (Bachelor of Social Science), she continued her playing career overseas as a professional player in Sweden and England, the department says. “She was the club spokesperson promoting women’s basketball in both these countries.”

For the 2007-08 season, Christin “will co-coach”, the announcement said, alongside Mano Watsa, a well-known veteran of the Warrior men’s team and former women’s coach. “Mano and Christin will combine their expertise launching a new era in the women’s basketball program at Waterloo,” a news release said.

“I am very excited to be the next head coach of the Waterloo Warriors basketball team,” Dickenson is quoted as saying. “There is a long line of excellence in the program and it is my goal to continue that tradition.”

Says athletics director Judy McCrae: “Christin is a young woman pursuing a professional coaching career at the intercollegiate level. She comes to us from McMaster, a basketball program that has enjoyed great success through strong leadership, and Christin has been an integral part of this success. Christin’s drive to be successful, her love of the sport and her understanding and commitment to young women athletes provide the ingredients for a strong Waterloo women’s basketball program.”

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The 0.7% solution, and other notes

Saturday will be a special day for the local chapter of Engineers Without Borders, and vice-president Dane Cornell explains why: “Engineers Without Borders will be running a day-long event on July 7, 2007 (or 07/07/07), as part of the 0.7% Pledge campaign. On campus, students can meet at 7:07 p.m. outside the Student Life Centre to participate in recording a message to Prime Minister Harper and the Canadian government. The 0.7% Pledge refers to the recommendation by Lester B. Pearson (made in 1969) for all developed countries to contribute 0.7% of their Gross National Product to development aid. Canada committed to reaching this target in 1970, 1975, 2002, and 2005, but has failed to do so (Canada currently contributes 0.33%). Most recently, the House of Commons unanimously voted to reach 0.7% by 2015, but has not set a timeline. The day's events are aimed at reminding the government of our promises, and asking that a timeline be established for reaching 0.7% by 2015. In addition to the message at 7:07 p.m., EWB will be at the St. Jacobs Farmers' Markets in the morning, and running a KW-area Bike-a-thon throughout the morning and afternoon. They will also be partnering with Warrior Weekends at 9:00 p.m. in the SLC, and running a late-night barbecue at the Bomber Green from 1:00 a.m. until 3:00 a.m.”

Taking a cue from the Montréal, Halifax, Winnipeg, and Vancouver comedy festivals, the Waterloo Region Comedy Festival, set for this weekend, promises “opportunities for up-and-coming comics on the cusp of greatness to showcase their talents alongside well-known comedy professionals”. The WRCF opening season includes two shows to be held at UW’s Humanities Theatre. On Friday night, the WRCF presents “New Faces of Comedy” featuring students and recent graduates of the Humber College School of Comedy. (“For years to come, comedy lovers will be able to say, we saw them first, in the Waterloo Region Comedy Festival.”) On Saturday, the festival brings together a group of comedy stars to present “Comedy Eh!”. This show will feature established Canadian performers Tony Krolo, Michelle Shaughnessy, Kyle Radke, and Tim Nutt. Festival chairman Bill Sollows says the WRCF “will provide the Waterloo Region with a special cultural experience by delivering a humorous, friendly event that will be a destination for Waterloo Region residents, and for tourists.“ In addition, the WRCF will raise funds to support community needs. In 2007, the Business and Education Partnership of Waterloo Region will be the primary charity beneficiary — a charitable organization engaged in career exploration for youth in Waterloo Region. Tickets for both weekend shows are available through the Humanities box office at 519-888-4908.

The engineering e-newsletter reports that Donald H. Burn, of civil and environmental engineering, has been tapped to serve on a panel investigating the way water drawn from Lake Superior is used. “The International Joint Commission of Canada and the United States,” it says, “has chosen Burn as one of ten academics and government scientists who will run a five-year study. Specifically, the panelists will look at whether the regulation of Lake Superior outflows can be improved to better meet evolving needs of users on Lakes Superior, Huron, Michigan and Erie.”

Also from the engineering e-newsletter: “John Medley, of mechanical and mechatronics engineering, has won the 2006 Duncan Dowson Prize for the best paper published by the Medical Engineering Division of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. His paper was entitled ‘Wear particles from metal-on-metal total hip replacements: effects of implant design and implantation time’.”

The IM logo, pictured, comes from UW's library and serves as a reminder that librarians are available for consultation by Instant Message from 12 noon to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday. • Resnet was to be rebooted at 7:15 this morning for a router upgrade which, according to information systems and technology, "should prevent the router from crashing". • Winners in the June prize draw for Keystone Campaign donors (most of the prizes this month coming from UW food services) are listed on the Keystone web site.

CAR

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