Going and gone: UW president David Johnston is ready to act as auctioneer, and that's organizer Trenny McGinnis of the university secretariat at right, looking over some of the stuff that will go up for sale at 12 noon today. The auction is a benefit for the on-campus United Way campaign, and all are invited to Needles Hall room 3001 to watch and bid (and buy a $5 lunch). Donated items for sale, says McGinnis, include carry-on luggage, African art, wooden ducks, cheesecakes, a ski jacket, jewellery, home-made red pepper jelly, chocolate, and — no kidding — "a box of 100 toothbrushes".

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Election result touches universities

Federal policies related to education and science aren't expected to change much, as Stephen Harper and 142 of his Conservative colleagues were elected to Canada's next Parliament in yesterday's national voting. They'll form the country's third minority government in a row, and Stéphane Dion's Liberals will again serve as the official opposition.

Among the Tories headed to Ottawa are communications consultant Peter Braid, who knocked off long-time Liberal MP Andrew Telegdi in the Kitchener-Waterloo riding, and lawyer Stephen Woodworth, who defeated Karen Redman, the Liberal whip in the last Parliament, in Kitchener Centre. Three local Conservatives won re-election: Gary Goodyear in Cambridge, Harold Albrecht in Kitchener-Conestoga, and Gary Schellenberger in Perth-Wellington, the riding that includes Stratford.

Votes in some of the country’s 308 ridings are still being counted today, but the trends were clear as soon as results started hitting the TV screens at 9:30 last night (including the big screen at UW’s Graduate House). The popular vote was up for the Conservatives, New Democrats and Green Party, down for the Liberals and Bloc Québecois.

As a result, the Conservatives took more than the 124 seats they held after the previous election in 2006, but still not enough for a majority government. The Liberals are down to 76 seats from their pre-election level of 95, the BQ dropped a little, and the NDP gained from its 30 seats in the last Parliament. The Green Party has still not elected its first Member of Parliament.

Post-secondary education was not a major issue in the election campaign, despite some lobbying efforts — and despite Harper’s announcement this week that, if reelected, he would provide $50 million in federal funds toward UW’s Institute for Quantum Computing. There was, however, no promise about funding for UW’s proposed branch campus in Stratford.

The Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada sponsored an advocacy web site under the title “Universities Matter”, and asked federal party leaders to answer a questionnaire about higher education and university research issues. Three of the five — Liberal, NDP and Green Party — responded, the AUCC says, “all affirming the value of higher education and research and recognizing the strategic importance of investments in universities”.

Said AUCC president Claire Morris: “Higher education and research should be one of the most important issues in this campaign. Investments in postsecondary education and research are widely recognized as critical to Canada maintaining an innovative and productive economy. Increasingly, the critical role of a university in local economic development is also being highlighted as communities look to weather uncertain economic times.”

On its election web site, the organization called on candidates to make “commitments in three essential areas”.

First was university research and graduate education: “Maintaining Canada’s G-7 leadership in public sector research, including funding the institutional costs of supporting research excellence at internationally competitive levels. Increasing the number of graduate students in Canada. Ensuring the long-term sustainability of Canada’s major research facilities and networks.”

Second was access to quality postsecondary education: “Ensuring universities’ capacity to provide access to quality higher education, regardless of students’ social or economic status. Providing more opportunities for Aboriginal Canadians to benefit fully from postsecondary education. Investing in green and smart campus infrastructure to enhance quality and sustainability.”

And third was universities’ connections to the world: “Investing in international research collaboration to increase Canadian researchers’ opportunities to work with their global peers. Expanding Canada’s international marketing effort to attract more of the best foreign students to study in Canada. Increasing opportunities for Canadian students to study abroad as part of their university education.”

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Mental health research centre opens

from the UW media relations office

The Centre for Mental Health Research at the University of Waterloo, which officially opens Friday in a new facility, will further enhance a 40-year tradition of top research and teaching on mental health by the UW psychology professors and students.

The centre is holding an open house on Friday, 3 to 4 p.m., in Psychology, Anthropology, Sociology (PAS) building room 3005. Tours take place at PAS room 1421.

Mental health is a growing concern across the country. One in six Canadians suffer from some form of mental illness, according to the Mental Health Commission of Canada. Senator Michael Kirby, a mental health advocate, estimates the economic cost of brain-based disability exceeds $30 billion a year in Ontario alone.

UW's CMHR supports innovative research into and treatment of mental illness in children, adolescents and adults. Also, the centre plans to move into couples and group-based psycho-therapy, building on its current work in individual and family interventions.

Over the last four decades, UW has trained clinical psychologists, with its graduates now among the leaders in the field across North America. They hold positions at major research institutions and health-care centres.

"We are at the forefront of mental health research and care," said Walter Mittelstaedt, director of the CMHR. "The new centre provides the infrastructure for research into causes and treatment of mental illness while continuing our tradition of providing mental health services to the community and offering world-class training for graduate students in clinical psychology."

The centre, formerly known as the psychology clinic, currently serves 120 individuals and families a year. Student therapists are trained and supervised to provide interventions using evidence-based treatment, including cognitive-behavioural and interpersonal psychotherapy. Services are offered on a fee-for-service basis, using a payment schedule tied to a client's ability to pay.

Its therapists see individuals struggling with such mental health issues as anxiety, depression and relationship problems. Children, aged four to 18, are typically referred for anxiety, depression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorders.

Through collaborative research, both on and off campus, with schools, departments and centres, CMHR promotes mental health research performed by clinical psychology faculty and students.

Faculty and students study psychological factors behind the development and persistence of mental health problems, as well as the efficacy of psychological treatment of major mental illnesses. As a result, some psychological treatments are more effective than medication in coping with mood and anxiety problems.

The centre provides audio and video equipment with cameras in consultation and conference rooms. The equipment allows for real-time observation of sessions by remote supervisors using an Internet connection.

CMHR, located in a renovated 2,200-square-feet section of the PAS building (room 1421), accommodates a resource centre, including library, for student therapists; a reception area and administrative offices; consultation spaces and family room; two group/conference rooms; an equipment control centre; observation rooms, and testing rooms.

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Notes for an autumn Wednesday

Two new diploma programs at Renison University College were approved at the September 15 Senate meeting. Diplomas in the Chinese (Mandarin) and Japanese languages have been "designed for any non-native speaker admitted to the University of Waterloo," according to background information in the agenda. "Students are expected to acquire a basic introductory understanding of, but not fluency in," the chosen language. In each case, students must complete six courses from a designated list, and maintain an average of at least 65 per cent. These programs will be available starting in September 2009.

“What would you do with $500?” That’s the question the housing and residences office is asking students. But first, you have to win it. “Create a short video promoting spring term residence, and submit it by November 11,” says Kathryn McIntosh, the office’s marketing assistant. “The five best videos will be selected, and students will be able to vote for the winner from November 11 to 20.” All the details are online.

Students are encouraged to apply for the position of residence don for next spring. Applications will be available from October 14 to November 3. “Residence don is a position held by upper-year undergraduate or graduate students,” according to the application website. “This is considered to be one of the most prestigious and rewarding leadership opportunities a student can have.” A don lives in residence and, among other duties, serves as a role model “to approximately 50 students, encouraging residence activities and ensuring that residence policy is being followed.”

Something called the Ontario Innovation Excellence Awards Gala is being held October 29 at Bingemans Conference Centre in Kitchener and will see seven awards presented for “financial innovation”, “strategic positioning”, “intellectual design” and similar achievements. Organizers have just announced that proceeds from the gala (tickets cost $140) will go to UW’s downtown Kitchener health sciences campus. “Ticket sales,” a news release explains, “will provide seed funding to assist UW in exploring the potential for a concentrated research initiative in autoimmune diseases, which include conditions such as lupus, multiple sclerosis, diabetes and arthritis. Waterloo’s recognized ability to attract the best research minds from around the world will be leveraged in this effort to examine the latest discoveries and best thinking on autoimmune diseases, and identify where new and innovative research is most needed.”

I’ve been catching up on some of the printed matter that arrived in my office months ago, including the 2007 annual report of the Faculty of Engineering, which is just full of lively pieces about research being done by faculty members on the east side of the campus. Here’s one item that caught my eye: “For Selcuk Onay, it's about time. Management sciences' newest faculty member is an expert in intertemporal risk. He studies, for instance, how managers choose between two research and development projects, one of which might have a payoff of $50,000 in a year's time, and another which might have the same payoff but at an uncertain time, say between six and 18 months. Statistically, Onay says, the manager would be better off with the second project: the possibility that it might pay off sooner more than balances the risk that it might pay off later. And indeed, current economic models work on the prediction that the manager will choose the second project. But Onay's research shows that managers are more likely to pick the project where the payoff date is certain. ‘My goal is to understand human beings better,’ says Onay.‘Once we understand how people really perceive risk over time, we can make better models of how they will behave’.”

And here’s another: “The nano-particles of Michael Tam's dreams can decontaminate drinking water, purify a drug or seek out a cancer cell. The key is their ability to recognize targets: like antibodies that target the protein coating of specific viruses, Tam's nano-particles are specialists. They could be designed to be dropped into a city's drinking water reservoir, where they would attach themselves to specific toxins. Then — because the nano-particles would be polarized or charged — workers could use a simple magnetic filter to pull them out of the water, dragging the toxins along. The same process could be used to pull contaminants from pharmaceutical stock or harvest the useful proteins from bioreactors. A double-ended nano-particle could be used to target drug delivery to specific cells: one end would recognize and attach to the drug; the other would recognize and attach to only a certain kind of cell. A new laboratory that will support the work of Tam and his team received $146,000 in equipment grants from both the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the Ontario Research Fund in 2007.”

Finally . . . in response to the note in yesterday's Daily Bulletin on the imminent completion of the new Accountancy wing of Hagey Hall, Duane Kennedy, co-director of the computing and financial management program in the School of Accounting and Finance, sends his insight: "I wish it were true. We will not be teaching in the new wing in the Winter term, as the classrooms will not be finished. It was originally hoped that we would be teaching in the new wing in the Spring 2008 term."

CAR

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