'Find it in your hearts' to give this month

“Your dollars make a difference!” say organizers of the on-campus United Way campaign, which officially begins today and aims to raise $200,000 for local charitable and service organizations.

The goal shouldn’t be hard to hit, as last year’s campaign reached $212,910 — about nine-tenths of it from individual donations and one-tenth from special events such as raffles and bake sales. Those raffles are already under way, including a weekly draw for a “basket” involving the departments here on the third floor of Needles Hall.

Individual pledge forms have been sent or delivered to faculty and staff members, who have a choice of ways to donate: by cheque, by credit card, or by payroll deduction (monthly or biweekly pay, starting with the first payday in 2010). Retired staff and faculty are getting their pledge forms in the mail.

And students who would like to join in UW’s support for the United Way can get in touch with Russ MacKay at the on-campus UWay office in the Davis Centre, phone ext. 33840.

The on-campus campaign is part of the United Way of Kitchener-Waterloo and Area, which is seeking to raise $5.3 million across the community this year. Some 40 local agencies receive support through the organization, ranging from the Multiple Sclerosis Society and the March of Dimes to Catholic Family Counselling and Parents for Community Living.

“We live in one of the most thriving areas of Canada, exhibiting a wealth that goes beyond dollars,” says the United Way website. “We live in a region that defines success as a strong community supportive of all citizens. A testimony to that strength is our educational system, our health-care system and our networks of social support, to name a few.

“United Way is proud to be one of the builders of this strong community. Last year, United Way of Kitchener-Waterloo and Area raised over $5.4 million to address the social service issues in this community.

“Your dollars do make a difference. Even small donations help to leverage the hard work of volunteers in this community.”

For example, a $100 gift can provide “a comfort kit and one night's accommodation for a victim of a fire” through the Canadian Red Cross, “a weekend of respite for a family with a son or daughter who is developmentally challenged” through Extend-a-Family, or “37 meals of emergency food assistance to a low-income family” through the House of Friendship.

“United Way,” it says, “saves money wasted in individual campaigns; reduces the annoyance of separate drives; meets the most serious community needs first; requires strict financial accountability; encourages high standards of agency services; frees agency personnel to devote their time to agency programs; and is the most economical, efficient approach to community fundraising yet devised.

“If you review the many services provided by our Member Agencies, it is likely you'll discover at least one which has served you, your family, or friends. The strength of a community is directly influenced by the health and happiness of those within it. United Way relies on your support to ensure that these community services are in place should you, or a loved one, need them.”

The pledge letter sent across campus includes a brief appeal from UW president David Johnston: “Regardless of how well our community seems to be doing, there are always people who fall through the cracks and come to need our help. I urge you to find it in your hearts to give.”

Among the traditions of the on-campus campaign are “Dress Down Days”, on which people come to work even less formally attired than usual and make a cash contribution to the campaign. Tomorrow is the first Dress Down Day of the season, and there will be four more, on October 9, 16 and 30, with October 23, the day before Convocation, instead designed as a Dress Up Day.

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High school science course gives UW credit

a news release from the UW media relations office

Local area students with a keen interest in the environment and geoscience will benefit from a new agreement between UW and the Waterloo Region District School Board. The agreement allows Waterloo Region students who complete an advanced standing dual credit requirements for Grade 12 university-type earth and space science course to earn their first university-level credit.

The initiative comes at a time when there's a growing shortage of geoscientists in Canada. A geoscientist studies the Earth's physical makeup and history, gathering and interpreting data about the Earth in order to increase understanding and improve the quality of life.

Officials with the university and school board celebrated the agreement Monday and were e joined by representatives of the Canadian Federation of Earth Sciences; the Canadian Institute for Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum; and the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada.

Under the new program, successful students will receive a first-year half credit in earth sciences if they decide to major in co-op science at UW. "The University of Waterloo is the first university in Ontario to develop a partnership with the local public school board to introduce an advanced standing dual credit option for students with an interest in the geosciences," said Barry Warner, chair of the department of earth and environmental sciences. "This new initiative will better prepare students for university and encourage them to explore the broad career opportunities available in earth and environmental sciences given the predicted future shortage of geoscientists."

A major study says that the geosciences sector in Canada would face a serious skills shortage over the next decade. It reported that up to 81,000 professionals will be needed to meet future needs.

"We are pleased to expand on the advanced standing dual credit opportunities we provide to our students through this initiative with the University of Waterloo," said Mark Harper, superintendent of learning services at the school board. "The advanced standing dual credit in earth and space science, which will be accessible through local high schools, combines the experience and resources of the University of Waterloo with the teaching excellence of the Waterloo Region District School Board."

The Earth Sciences Museum in UW's Centre for Environment and Information Technologies building will serve as an essential teaching element in support of the new program. Waterloo's department of earth and environmental sciences offers students many opportunities for exploring key concentrations in such mining-related fields as hydrogeology, groundwater modelling and remediation, organic and isotope geochemistry, isotope hydrology, economic geology, mineralogy, geophysics, and mine-site remediation and restoration.

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Twittering from the fair, and other notes

I continue to put out a couple of tweets a day (tweets are the messages you send through Twitter — I knew that my acquaintance with the Great Vowel Shift, acquired in a long-ago “history of the English language” course, would turn out to be useful for something). Daily Bulletin readers who are also Twitter users can sign up to “follow” the @uwdailybulletin Twitter account, and as of yesterday at midday, 90 of them had done so. The roster includes some co-workers, quite a few people I don’t know (in many cases I presume they’re UW students), and at least one faraway reader who turns out to be the parent of a first-year student, presumably wanting any available fragments of news about life here on the construction site. “Dropped off my son for his 1st year at college (U Waterloo) on Sunday,” one of his own recent tweets reads. “He couldn't wait to get rid of us. :-)”

I sent back a few tweets on Friday when I visited the Ontario Universities Fair to see first-hand how UW recruits many of its first-year students. “Arrive at Ont Universities Fair enter past metal detectors!” I reported breathlessly when I got to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. “Thousands already filing out with loot bags.” Then: “Crowds 6 deep the whole length of the #uwaterloo booth to talk to staff and volunteers. Noticed AHS dean Roger Mannell.” Then: “Volunteers have armfuls of brochures but what I hear them telling students is: Text us!” And still later: “Jody Berringer of #uwaterloo marketing ofc says 239 people attended the morning's first workshop presentation about co-op.” After the ball was over, Berringer called the event “a huge success” and “the largest OUF to date,” with total attendance of 116,304, up a few thousand from last year’s figure. Certainly the crowds were awe-inspiring, both at Waterloo’s long booth (a small slice of it is pictured at right) and at other booths around the convention floor. “This could only happen,” says Berringer, “with dedicated and amazing faculty, staff and student volunteers who are able to speak so well about our campus.”

A kickoff event for the fifth year of the One Waterloo diversity campaign — celebrating differences and engaging the campus community in a dialogue about diversity — will be held Friday from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Bombshelter pub in the Student Life Centre. “One Waterloo is a campaign designed to do more than affirm Waterloo’s commitment to values of respecting differences, but also serves to provide an environment to engage in a dialogue about diversity through events and influential speakers,” says Johnny Trinh of the UW student life office, co-chair of the campaign along with Federation of Students vice-president Sarah Cook. Programming for Friday’s launch celebrations includes interesting new media from past One Waterloo events, free refreshments, and opportunities for student volunteer recruitment to join the One Waterloo planning team. The highlight will be a guest lecture by Sean Jackson, CEO of Ecordia, speaking on diversity and cultural sensitivity in the community. Events this fall include Coming Out Week, October 13-17, a partnership with GLOW and other on campus support services for “the LGBTQQ campus community”, and a November exploration of disabilities and differing abilities as well as faith and religion.

UW’s pharmacy school has launched a new “conditional admission” program for high school students, says the school’s director of advancement, Laura Manning: “With this program, students are provided with a clear path toward achieving their goal of becoming a pharmacist. Normally, applications to the Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy (BScPhm) degree program are considered from university students who have completed at least two years of undergraduate science. With the CAP program, high school students can receive a conditional offer of admission, to begin the BScPhm program in their third year of university studies. Specific criteria must be met in order to maintain CAP status. Students who satisfy these requirements will have their place assured in the BScPhm program at UW. With CAP status, students will be able to participate in some social and educational activities organized by the School and the UW Society of Pharmacy Students (SOPhS). This will enable students in the CAP program to learn more about the degree program and the profession of pharmacy. With the connections and friendships they will establish, CAP students will have a smooth transition into the pharmacy program.”

UW’s Conrad Grebel University College is co-sponsoring the fifth international conference on Mennonite/s Writing, being held today through Sunday at the University of Winnipeg. The event includes author readings and papers by literary scholars — both commentaries on individual works of fiction and poetry, and remarks on more general subjects such as the influence of place in Mennonite/s writing and the nature of Mennonite literature’s diverse audiences. And then, most of the participants will ride a bus together all day on Sunday, to visit sites in Winnipeg and southern Manitoba inscribed in fiction and poetry by major Canadian authors — among them Rudy Wiebe and Di Brandt — who will read from their work along the way. Co-chair of the conference, along with Winnipeg’s Royden Loewen, is Hildi Froese Tiessen, professor of English at Grebel. “This is the first conference on Mennonite/s Writing since 1990,” she notes. “The first took place here at Waterloo, initiated by The New Quarterly and hosted at Conrad Grebel.”

CAR

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