New, simpler rules for blue boxes

Recycling on campus will be a little easier — and before long there will be outdoor bins to collect bottles and other recyclables — as the result of a new system that goes into effect next week.

“A significant change to our blue bin/blue cart recycling system at all University of Waterloo academic/administrative buildings on all campuses will take effect the week of November 3,” says a memo from Tom Galloway, director of custodial and grounds services in the plant operations department.

He explains: “Currently blue box/blue bin recycling material collection has been provided by a private hauler. Effective November 3, 2008, the Region of Waterloo will assume collection of all of our blue bin/blue cart recycling.” There’s no change in the residences, he points out, since the Region is already providing service there.

The new system “will effectively harmonize recycling activity between what you do here at work and what you do at home as part of the Region’s residential curbside recycling program,” Galloway says.

“You will notice two significant changes. Firstly only two separations will be necessary where we currently have three. The second change is that the list of eligible materials is expanded to the identical list you use at home. Therefore tinfoil, yogurt cups and other rigid plastic containers, tetrapak, and other materials will now be eligible. No longer will you need to distinguish between what you can recycle at home and what you can here at work.”

So recycling areas will have just these two blue boxes:

• Newsprint, magazines, books, boxboard and all other paper fibres (except corrugated) as well as plastic retail bags in one container.

• Glass, aluminum, plastics, and all other materials in the other container.

Some fine print: “Corrugated boxes will continue to be collected as usual by being placed beside a blue bin or blue cart. Corrugated material cannot be placed in the paper cart.

“Please also note that the white paper/white bin program is unaffected by these changes.” (UW earns significant money from the recycling of white paper of the kind that comes out of photocopiers and laser printers.)

Galloway’s memo notes that blue recycling carts will be installed in the near future at outdoor locations beside waste containers.

“All these changes,” he writes, “should make it easier for everyone, and we expect that the simplified and more inclusive system will result in a significant increase in recycling material and a corresponding reduction in waste going to landfill.”

The new arrangement will also save UW some money, as the Region does not charge for carrying away recyclables. The private firm that has done the job in the past does make a charge, although it’s partly covered by the revenue from selling any recyclables for which there’s a current demand.

Questions? Call plant operations at ext. 33793.

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$3 million donation from board chair

based on a release from the UW media relations office

The chair of the UW board of governors is committing $3 million to Campaign Waterloo. Two-thirds of the gift will establish undergraduate scholarships and faculty fellowships in the school of accounting and finance, with the remaining $1 million directed to a newly established humanities and social sciences research endowment.

Mathematics accounting graduate Bob Harding (left), chair of Brookfield Asset Management, will establish two endowments in the accounting school, one supporting 10 President's Entrance Scholarships and one funding three faculty fellowships. It's the largest one-time donation ever received by the school of accounting and finance.

Harding, who has been chair of Campaign Waterloo since 2001 and a long-time supporter, will also be a pivotal donor to the newly established humanities and social sciences research endowment, which will provide annual awards to UW faculty conducting arts and social science research.

"During difficult times such as these, it is even more important than ever to support students and researchers who will make a fundamental impact on the future of our Canadian businesses and economy," says Harding. "The great issues of our day — globalization, the financial crises, intercultural relations, political stability, security, the social impact of technology — all require the insights generated by research in the humanities and social sciences."

Harding recognizes the importance his education played in his successful business career and wants to help UW attract the brightest students and most accomplished faculty to campus. This gift will help enhance the school of accounting and finance's reputation as the leading centre for such studies in this country and help the school achieve its plan for expansion.

As chair of the board, Harding says he understands UW's funding needs and knows social science research is often underfunded. He views his gift to the humanities and social sciences research endowment as a way to help to the university fund worthy and challenging projects.

"Bob has been a magnificent leader at this institution, committing his time, wise counsel, and leadership to help UW become one of the premier universities in this country," said UW president David Johnston. "His generous gifts to the social sciences and to accounting will allow us to offer much-needed opportunities for arts and social science research as well as the recruitment of the top accounting and finance students and faculty — ultimately helping us all better understand and appreciate the human condition."

Johnston announced Tuesday night that at Harding's request, some of the arts and social sciences grants will be named in honour of Lois Claxton (right), secretary of the university, with whom Harding has worked closely during his years as board chair. "He really likes to pay tribute to other people through his giving," the president said.

The humanities and social sciences research endowment, which now exceeds $2 million, will help researchers in the social sciences, humanities, and fine and performing arts improve their success of securing external grants and support small-scale or start-up projects. UW plans to grow this endowment fund to $10 million by 2017 as part of its commitment to expand the quality and intensity of its research.

Last year, UW raised more than $100 million in gifts, pushing the Campaign Waterloo total to more than $466 million.

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Other odd October observations

As this Daily Bulletin appears at 9:00 Thursday morning, the annual general meeting of the UW staff association is (presumably) in progress in a lecture hall in the Davis Centre. By the time it winds up at 10:00, Doug Dye of the safety office will be the association’s president, taking over from Jesse Rodgers of information systems and technology. And in the course of the meeting, secretary Trevor Grove will formally announce the results of the recent election to fill three seats on the executive board. Names of the winners were e-mailed to the membership on Tuesday evening: Marta Bailey (Centre for Teaching Excellence), Darlene Ryan (Waterloo International) and Chantel Franklin (Alumni Affairs). Continuing on the board are Grove (of IST) and two other directors who were elected last year: Jean Zadilsky (Office of Research) and Dawn McCutcheon (Health Studies and Gerontology).

The board of governors gave approval on Tuesday, as expected, to the recently signed Memorandum of Agreement between UW and the staff association. Provost Amit Chakma told the board that the agreement is “a significant milestone in how we do business”. There was no discussion by board members, except a brief comment from staff representative Stephen Markan, who said he was happy to see the agreement go into effect. “There are still some people that are not satisfied,” Markan added, “but we’ll deal with it.”

When the children hit the streets tomorrow night in search of Hallowe’en candy, Suneethi Viswanathan and some 200 other student volunteers will be out there too, collecting non-perishable food to support the Food Bank of Waterloo Region and its on-campus affiliate. The “Trick or Eat” program takes place in neighbourhoods near campuses all over Canada. Waterloo volunteers are organized into some 30 groups that will go door-to-door tomorrow, with the group that brings back the most donated food winning a pizza party. Cash donations are also accepted — more than $1,300 has come in already, Viswanathan says. She adds: “We are still looking for volunteers to help us move the food to the Food Bank vehicle on Monday.”

Some of the issues raised by UW’s plans to have a campus in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, can be expected to come up again when the university senate meets in mid-November. As I mentioned the other day, president David Johnston said at October’s senate meeting that members are welcome to send him questions that would then be answered next month. David DeVidi, president of the UW faculty association, has broadened the invitation, as he says in a letter sent to professors a few days ago: “Obviously, it is not only Senators who are likely to have questions. President Johnston has therefore also agreed that it would be a good idea for me to write to faculty members on campus, inviting them to send their questions to me, to the FAUW office, or to another Senator. I will be compiling a list of questions and passing them on to the President.” DeVidi observes that he expects many of the questions to focus on “human rights and other moral issues and academic freedom matters” in the Emirates.

"It's time for the annual citrus fundraiser sale," writes Jason Dockendorff, coach of the Warrior track and field team. "There is a truck full of oranges and grapefruits coming here straight from the citrus fields of Florida, seriously. The fruit is unbelievable! For those of you who've had it, you know what I'm talking about. Proceeds will subsidize the purchase competition uniforms for the athletes, with a portion going towards our program (equipment purchases, competition improvement) and the Brent McFarlane Track & Field Endowment Fund." Details and an order form are online.

Here's a reminder that the residence office is accepting applications for spring term positions as dons (but only until Monday). • Ildiko Tiszovszky will retire from UW's staff effective November 1, ending a 20-year career as a financial analyst in the finance office. • The information systems and technology department notes that UW's Internet connections were largely paralyzed for about 45 minutes on Tuesday evening because of a "denial of service attack" in which someone commandeered a server in the engineering faculty to send out spam.

CAR

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