Terry Reid is Caesar, left, and Shawn Desouza-Coelho is Marcus Antonius in the UW drama department’s first-ever production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, opening Thursday, directed by drama professor Jennifer Roberts-Smith. The play runs November 13-15 and 20-22 at 8 p.m. in the Theatre of the Arts, Modern Languages Building. Tickets are $12 ($10 students and seniors): contact the Box Office at 519-888-4908. There will also be matinees for high school students on Friday, November 14 and 21, including a seminar at 10 a.m. and performance at 12:30 p.m. Information from Robin Atchison: 519-888-4567, ext. 35808 or ratchiso@uwaterloo.ca.

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Forum helps people live with dementia

from UW Media Relations

People living with early-stage dementia and their partners in care will share advice and tips this coming weekend in order to become stronger advocates and more in control of the disease.

A Changing Melody, to be held in Toronto on Saturday, Nov. 15, is an annual forum, now in its fifth and final year, that focuses on the experiences of those living with dementia. The theme of this year's forum is Joining Forces: Building Supportive Dementia Communities.

The one-day event offers a learning and sharing forum designed specifically by and for persons with early-stage dementia and their partners in care. Key areas covered include discussion and sharing on topics such as living with and transforming grief after diagnosis, living in meaningful ways, and building stronger dementia communities.

"Together we can join forces to amplify the voices of persons with dementia and continue to change the perceptions and misunderstandings of living with dementia," said Sherry Dupuis, director of the Kenneth G. Murray Alzheimer Research and Education Program (MAREP) at the University of Waterloo. "We can and should be working together to create communities that are better able to support persons with memory loss and their families in continuing to live meaningful, fulfilled lives."

On Friday, Nov. 14, a special workshop will unveil A Changing Melody Toolkit, a how-to guide that shows how to plan and implement forums drawing on the perspectives of persons with early-stage dementia and their family partners in care.

The forum's key goal is to provide people living with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias as well as their family members with information and strategies for planning ahead and living a meaningful life with dementia. "A Changing Melody is a safe space where we can connect and learn from others living with dementia about how to improve our quality of life. We always leave with hope," said Brenda Hounam, a person with dementia involved in the planning for the forum.

The event will feature sessions on:

• Living with and Transforming Grief and Loss after Diagnosis. Hounam, who was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's disease at the age of 53, shares her experiences with Alzheimer's disease. Professor Christine Jonas-Simpson, of the faculty of health at York University, discusses her research on the phenomenon of how human beings live with and transform loss in their lives.
• Living in Meaningful Ways with Dementia. Richard Taylor, a person living with dementia and strong advocate for the dementia cause, explores creative strategies to live a purposeful life while coping with the symptoms of dementia. The former psychologist believes that if people with dementia don't speak up and speak out, others will never truly understand what it's like to live with and in the disease.
• Building Supportive Communities. Monique Thibault, a family support and education worker, and Jim Mann, a person with dementia, will provide information on the programs and supports available for persons in the early stage of dementia, including the ways that advocacy has been encouraged and supported. By sharing such information, participants will see tangible ways of building their own supportive communities.

The forum was organized by people with dementia and their family partners in care with support from MAREP, the Alzheimer Society of Canada, the Alzheimer Society of Ontario, local Alzheimer Chapters, and the Dementia Advocacy and Support Network International.

A Changing Melody runs from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 15, at 89 Chestnut Conference Centre, 89 Chestnut St. in downtown Toronto, across from the Metropolitan Hotel. The special workshop launching the A Changing Melody Toolkit will take place at the same location on Friday, Nov. 14. Information is available online.

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Waterloo profs and students win honours

The number of people at UW being honoured for outstanding achievements is getting to be far more than you can shake a stick at. Here are some recent ones, mostly in alphabetical order:

Sharon Campbell, director of evaluation studies at UW’s Centre for Behavioural Research and Program Evaluation (CBRPE), received the Canadian Dental Association’s Oral Health Promotion Award on November 7. Campbell conducted the first Canadian studies that aimed to help dental professionals identify which patients were using tobacco, in order to ultimately help them quit. She worked with provincial and national dental associations and with CBRPE to develop educational programs for dental offices across Alberta and Canada.

Richard Lebel, of the rugby Warriors, has been named West Rookie of the Year by OUA (Ontario University Athletics). He had a team-high six tries and seven converts. The Rugby West Division All-Stars include Waterloo’s Zach Bentley, Nick Wray, and Mark Goody.

Eric Migicovsky, a UW systems design engineering student and VeloCity resident, won the $1,000 contest held in October as a teaser to the LauchPad 50K Competition. His idea: a device that allows you to see, discreetly, who is trying to send a message to your BlackBerry while you are in a meeting so you can decide whether or not to rush out and answer it. The device, which is called InfoPulse, can be worn like a watch and connects via Bluetooth to your BlackBerry.

Kinesiology grad Patricia Rosati, BSc '08 (pictured, far left), won the ACE Undergraduate Student Award for her paper, “The influence of paint roller type and wall height on shoulder muscle activity and force during wall painting,” at the 2008 Association of Canadian Ergonomists (ACE) conference this fall. Kinesiology professor Jack Callaghan (left), who served as scientific chair of the conference, co-authored a paper by Kelsey Forde of the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton, “Cumulative neck loading and postures experienced by Canadian forces helicopter pilots during simulated day and night flights,” which won the J.M.Christensen Award for master’s level students.

Jeffrey Shallitt, a professor of computer science at UW since 1990, has been chosen as an ACM Distinguished Scientist, a designation that recognizes Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) members “who have achieved a significant accomplishment in, or made a significant impact on, the computing field.”

Jordan Verdone (right), a first-year political science student as well as a first-year linebacker with the football Warriors, has been named the winner of the Norm Marshall Award for the OUA’s Rookie of the Year, and becomes the OUA nominee for the CIS Rookie of the Year award. Verdone, who comes from Sault Ste. Marie, led the Warriors in solo tackles.

John Yeow, a systems design engineering professor, will be presented with the Professional Engineers Ontario Engineering Medal (Young Engineer Category) at a ceremony this Saturday at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto.

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Garbage campaign picks up momentum

from the Student Life Office

The Garbage Campaign, Litter Reduction Initiative, is working with UWSP’s Residence Reduction Challenge and UW campus partners to organize a Garbage Pick-Up this Friday.

The one-hour pick-up will start at 1 p.m. in the Student Life Centre and finish at 2 p.m. in South Campus Hall, with hot chocolate donated by Food Services. Those interested in participating should email Johnny Trinh at jdtrinh@admmail.uwaterloo.ca.

The Garbage Pick-Up is encouraging all members of the UW community to spend one hour to help create a cleaner, green, litter-free campus.

Also on Friday, be sure to check out some of the Residence Reduction Challenge events promoting greener living and sustainability on campus. The Sustainability Fair will take place in South Campus Hall from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Celebrate Sustainability at Federation Hall will feature a comedian and a live DJ. Tickets for the event can be purchased at the FEDs Office or UWSP Office ($5 UW, $7 Non-UW, $10 at the door). Be sure to stop by Retail Services to check out some of their green products.

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Six professors note plans for sabbaticals

A number of UW faculty members will be on sabbatical leave for six months starting November 1 (and thus ending April 30 when the winter term winds up). Here’s a list, with their summaries of what they intend to do during the sabbatical, as reported to the university’s board of governors.

Thomas Duever, chemical engineering: “During this sabbatical leave I will spend time away from my administrative duties to focus on my research program. This will involve finishing several manuscripts and starting three new projects with new graduate students, as well as more intensive time working with existing graduate students.”

Bonwoo Koo, management sciences: “During the sabbatical leave I plan to complete several research projects on the theory of patent, empirical patenting analysis on biotechnology, e-commercialization, and airline pricing behaviour. In addition, I plan to explore new research areas on the real option and R&D, standard-setting in newly developed markets, and biofuel.”

Kathleen Rybczynski, economics: “During this leave I will be working (with co-investigator Lori Curtis) on new research, funded by a SSHRC-RDI grant entitled ‘The Impact of Market Structure on Health’.”

Wei-Chau Xie, civil and environmental engineering: “I will focus on research in the areas of stochastic stability of structures and reliability of engineering systems. I will also continue on writing my new textbook on ‘Differential Equations for Engineers’.”

Sally Gunz, accounting and finance: “Conduct interviews for study of Canadian corporate lawyers. Present findings of this and other studies to colleagues at academic conferences.”

And one sabbatical is listed to begin December 1 and run through May 31. Barbara Csima, pure mathematics, writes: “The area of research is Computability Theory. During my leave I plan to visit colleagues at the University of Leeds, the University of Connecticut, the George Washington University, and the University of Chicago to participate in collaborative research.”

CPA staff

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