Launch for UW 'social change' unit

from the UW media relations office

Canada's leading mental health advocate will deliver a talk on ending the discrimination faced by mentally ill people at tonight's launch of the community programming component of a new UW group dedicated to supporting social change in Canada.

Senator Michael Kirby, who heads the new Canadian Mental Health Association and has proposed a national charity to raise research money for such illnesses as depression and schizophrenia, will give a lecture entitled Social Innovation and the Mental Health Commission of Canada, at 7:30 p.m. at the main branch of the Kitchener Public Library.

His talk is being sponsored by Social Innovation Generation at Waterloo, a new university unit that is part of a national collaboration dedicated to supporting social change in Canada. This regional event launches SiG's local programming, which features a social innovation dialogue series.

"Our goal is to generate new knowledge about social innovations and the social innovation process in Canada," says Frances Westley, who holds the J. W. McConnell Chair in Social Innovation. "We seek to understand more deeply the dynamics of learning, adaptation and innovation in sustainable development and in the mental health domain, which is one of the most pressing challenges of engaging vulnerable populations."

Kirby has worked with Westley and SiG's national collaborators to facilitate innovative thinking and action. Mental illness is one of two key themes of the local group, with the other being ecological sustainability. SiG is a social innovation resource centre that develops new ideas and practices to deal with challenges in society.

The Kirby lecture is part of SiG's plans to bring the best thinkers and innovators from Canada and around the world to Waterloo Region. Invited guest speakers also include environmental activist Severn Cullis-Suzuki, the daughter of David Suzuki, who will discuss the state of the environment and what young people can do to bring about change.

SiG, with offices at 195 King Street West in downtown Kitchener, generates new knowledge about how significant change happens in the world. It plans to share information through publications and learning events, including graduate programs, community workshops and intensive "future search" initiatives, as well as various lecture series to connect practical academics and thoughtful practitioners. Future plans will have a specific focus on supporting Waterloo Region youth into becoming a socially innovative generation.

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295 employers at tomorrow's fair

Nearly 300 employers and 3,000 students and recent graduates of UW, Wilfrid Laurier University, Conestoga College and the University of Guelph will come face to face tomorrow to discuss careers and employment prospects.

The occasion is what’s described as “Canada’s largest post-secondary career fair of its kind”, sponsored by the four institutions and now in its 15th year. The same group organizes a Job Fair during the winter term.

The fair will be held at RIM Park in Waterloo from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. tomorrow. It’s open only to students and alumni from the participating universities and college, and a shuttle bus service will be available from all four institutions to get them to RIM Park, on the east side of Waterloo, and home again.

“Although economic news in recent months has not always been positive, we are particularly encouraged by the record employer attendance at our upcoming fair, something we definitely attribute to the strength of our graduates and academic programs at the four local institutions,” says Jan Basso, director of co-operative education and career development at Laurier and one of the event’s key organizers.

Students and alumni will have the opportunity to meet with hundreds of Canadian and international employers and gather vital information on careers. In turn, employers get an opportunity to promote their organization to future employees and reduce recruitment costs by connecting with many highly skilled candidates on the same day in one location. Among the 295 participating employers: Babcock & Wilcox Canada, Canadian Tire, Christie Digital, Danone, Expedia, Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Manulife Financial, Microsoft, Ontario Public Service, RCMP, Sherwin-Williams, and Syncrude Canada.

Carol Ann Olheiser, employment advisor in UW's Career Services, says the Career Fair is "an exceptional opportunity for students to network with employers. They can use this like ‘one-stop shopping’ to ask for career information, qualification requirements, industry trends, etc. Students are so fortunate to have the largest career fair of its kind take place right here in our community. A real bonus is that transportation and admission are free to students from the partner institutions.”

Shuttle buses between the main UW campus and RIM Park will leave from the Ring Road near the Hagey Hall entrance driveway every 30 minutes from 9:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m., returning every 30 minutes from 11:00 until 4:00.

There’s a difference between tomorrow’s event and the Job Fair that will happen a few months from now, organizers say: “Career Fair is an opportunity for you to network with employers and learn about career opportunities that may be available to you upon graduation. In addition, many of the employers in attendance are currently recruiting for co-op and internships and permanent or contract positions either immediate or after graduation. At Job Fair, organizations have job opportunities available at the time of the Fair or within six months following the Fair. This Fair can encompass employers hiring for summer, co-op, full-time, part-time, permanent or contract positions.”

Additional information about upcoming fairs, registration procedures and a complete list of participating organizations are all available online.

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Staff member mourned; other notes

A funeral service will be held tomorrow for Alice Scott (left), a long-time staff member in UW's food services department, who died Friday. She was 55. Scott was well known to patrons of the Modern Languages coffee shop and more recently of Brubakers cafeteria in the Student Life Centre. She is survived by her husband, Jim, and children Bev and Nicole, as well as five grandchildren. Visitation is scheduled for today (2:00 to 4:00 and 7:00 to 9:00) at the Ratz-Bechtel Funeral Home in Kitchener, and the funeral will be held there tomorrow at 11 a.m.

Barbara Sivak, who retired last year from a faculty position in UW's school of optometry, died Friday at London Health Sciences Centre. A funeral service was held Sunday. Born in Poland and raised in Montréal, she graduated in physiotherapy, earned a master's degree and a doctorate, and was appointed a laboratory demonstrator at UW, later becoming an assistant professor and teaching anatomy and physiology over a 35-year period. Her career also included teaching at Wilfrid Laurier University. Barbara (Werzkeig) Sivak was married to Jacob Sivak, a UW faculty member and former director of the optometry school as well as dean of graduate studies. Memorial donations are suggested to a cause that was dear to her heart, the Waterloo Regional Holocaust Education Committee.

Grand River Transit's number 7 bus will soon be stopping at Needles Hall again as it makes its northbound trip along the ring road. The bus stop was moved away from NH several years ago and located a short distance away beside Biology II — but that leaves it in the middle of the mud and congestion as construction work begins on the Quantum-Nano Centre just north of Biology. "On a temporary basis" it's being returned to the NH location, says Tom Galloway of UW's plant operations department. He said work should be done this week to paint stripes on the roadway, marking a space for buses that will replace several of the free, short-term parking spots in the NH layby. The pedestrian shelter at the B2 location won't be removed, but there will be signs indicating that it's not in use as a bus stop.

Kate Jessop of UW's marketing and undergraduate recruitment office was off to the airport yesterday. "After a successful tour to India," she said in a memo late last week, "our international recruitment travels continue with my trip to Istanbul, Turkey. I will be travelling with Carleton, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, and St. Mary's University. The main focus of this week-long tour will be independent school visits to the top schools in Istanbul."

The staff association is inviting applications for one “alternate staff representative” on the Employee Assistance Program committee. • A live webcam is now in operation to show the world “Solar Collector”, an outdoor high-tech sculpture devised by the UW-linked artistic group that calls itself Gorbet Design. • A workshop on "Mission-Critical Business Leadership" is running all day today at UW's Centre for Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology.

CAR

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