They'll break ground today for Engineering 6, a building occupying part of the present parking lot B off Phillip Street that will become the home for about half UW's chemical engineering department (the biochemical and biomedical, green reaction, polymer science and materials research groups). Chem eng is currently housed in Doug Wright Engineering, UW's oldest academic building, formerly called Engineering 1. Funding for the E6 project is coming from the federal Knowledge Infrastructure Program and the provincial government, and government officials will be on hand for the groundbreaking ceremony at 2:00. • Somebody asked the other day how UW can have an Engineering 5 (already under construction) and Engineering 6, when there are a 2 and a 3 but there's no 4. Explanation: the present Carl Pollock Hall was originally Engineering 4; it got its new name in 1979.

Back to top

'Science matters' lecture tomorrow at 9

Pro-science journalist and blogger Chris Mooney, once named one of Wired magazine's ten sexiest geeks, will speak tomorrow under the rubric of UW's Science and Technology Matters Lecture. Mooney, who holds a Knight Science Journalism Fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will speak on "Why Scientific and Technological Literacy is Important", starting at 9 a.m. in the Humanities Theatre.

Mooney (right), who is also contributing editor to Science Progress and senior correspondent for The American Prospect magazine, is "an accomplished public speaker and gifted writer who is a strong advocate for responsible scientific and technological advances in society," says Ken Coates, dean of the faculty of arts. "There is widespread agreement that the main challenges of this century revolve around science and technology, and we need public figures like Chris to spread the cause."

Mooney is the author of three critically acclaimed books, including the New York Times best-selling The Republican War on Science — called "a landmark in contemporary political reporting" by Salon.com and a "well-researched, closely argued and amply referenced indictment of the right wing's assault on science and scientists" by Scientific American. He also wrote Storm World: Hurricanes, Politics, and the Battle Over Global Warming, described as "riveting" by the Boston Globe.

His latest book, Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens Our Future, was co-authored with Sheril Kirshenbaum. Together, they write The Intersection blog for Discover Magazine. The Intersection was a recipient of Scientific American's 2005 Science and Technology web award, which noted that "science is lucky to have such a staunch ally in acclaimed journalist Chris Mooney."

Mooney, 32, was born in Mesa, Arizona, and grew up in New Orleans. He graduated from Yale University in 1999, where he wrote a column for the Yale Daily News. Before becoming a freelance writer, he worked for two years at The American Prospect as a writing fellow, then staff writer and then online editor (where he helped to create the popular blog Tapped).

Mooney has contributed to many publications over the years, including Wired, Science, Harper's, New Scientist, Slate, Salon, Mother Jones, The American Scholar, The New Republic, Columbia Journalism Review, and the Washington Post.

Admission to tomorrow's lecture is free, but pre-registration is necessary. The event is co-sponsored by the faculty association and the faculty of arts.

Back to top

Kitchener woman's archive now a drama

It begins with a cardboard box abandoned close to a recycling dumpster at a Toronto apartment complex. A Colombian immigrant woman finds the box, labelled on four sides “Edna Bear” in bold black lettering. Inside, jam-packed and arranged meticulously, are more than 1,700 artifacts from a life lived in Kitchener.

“People introduced to the archive were fascinated but afraid to touch it,” the story continues. “Either they were troubled by the ethics of the invitation of considered it a complete waste of time.”

And that’s the background to “Edna’s Archive”, a site-specific drama being staged, starting today, at the old PUC building in downtown Kitchener, which now houses the recently-opened Critical Media Lab for UW’s department of English. The show is part of the first IMPACT 09 theatre festival, which runs for a week and a half at various Kitchener locations.

“This work,” say the organizers — Andrew Houston and Lisa O’Connell, both based in the UW drama department — “invites a consideration of how life is given value, how it is marked and unmarked through rituals of archiving, where the traces of what remains offer sublime contemplation of what was and what might still be.

“In the original vision of the space, the PUC building was not the first choice for the workshop. The first choice was the old Koebel building nearby. We know that a relative of Edna's worked at the business and an old clipping of the building is in the archive. The building most recently was a bridal shop, which also appeared to represent Edna. She was married three times, a prominent feature for a woman of her time, and wedding photos exist in the archive.

“However, due to financial circumstance, the PUC building became the more practical choice. . . . The possible relationships between the space and the archive are endless.”

The show is subtitled “Learning to Perform Memory/ Learning to Perform Forgetting”, and is a co-production of the IMPACT festival and CAFKA (Contemporary Art Form Kitchener & Area). Several of the cast members are UW students.

More than 100 theatre artists from around the world are converging on Kitchener to take part in IMPACT, described as “an international theatre forum where culture, and some of the world’s most cutting-edge contemporary theatre practices, will collide”. It promises “the best physical theatre from three continents as well as the latest in Canadian intercultural theatre . . . productions by companies from China, Hungary, Palestine, and Canada.

“Working from the belief that theatre is an opportunity for meaningful dialogue and action, IMPACT 09 will feature topical, socially-engaged theatre works from a variety of international perspectives. Just some of the contemporary issues which will be addressed in the productions include: the SARS outbreak in China; the Palestinian-Israeli conflict; religious orthodoxy and freedom of speech; First Nations identity; terrorism and the artist; and violence and the masculine body.”

The festival, and the drama in UW’s lab at 191 King Street West, will continue through October 3. Performances of “Edna’s Archive” are at 8:00 nightly, with a pay-what-you-can admission ($5 minimum).

Back to top

And more pixels in the big picture

Some faculty and staff members could be getting some money back from Ottawa, says a memo from Sandra Hurlburt of UW’s human resources department: “In January of 2004 the Canada Revenue Agency made the decision to treat tuition paid on behalf of students eligible under the University of Waterloo’s Policy 24 as a taxable benefit to the employee and this was made retroactive to 2001. CRA has recently revised its policy on how the value of the tuition scholarship should be reported. In two recent court cases, it was ruled that scholarship amounts paid to an employee's dependent should be taxable in the hands of the family member, not the employee. CRA has allowed the application of this ruling to be applied back to 2007, meaning taxpayers affected will be able to amend their tax returns effective for the 2007 and 2008 tax years. The value of the tuition scholarship will be reflected as income in the hands of the child(ren), not the employee. The University of Waterloo is currently working with our external auditors, Ernst and Young, to develop a strategy to deal with these re-assessments. Please note that all 2009 tuition benefits under Policy 24 have been processed as tuition scholarships and T4As will be issued to employee’s children in February 2010. Also, Policy 24 and the tuition benefit form are being revised to reflect CRA’s new policy. More detailed information about the re-assessment will be sent to affected employees in early October.”

A delegation of seven high school principals from India toured UW’s campus earlier this week, says Julie Hummel of the marketing and undergraduate recruitment office. “India is one of our priority markets for recruiting international students,” says Hummel, calling Monday’s visit “very productive and hopefully lucrative”. The Indian delegation, who are making a three-province tour, were greeted by provost Feridun Hamdullahpur as well as director of admissions Nancy Weiner, associate vice-president (international) Leo Rothenburg, and Hummel. “Based on the group’s expressed interest,” she added, “several faculty partners were invited to meet with the delegation for the final 20 minutes or so of their visit. The visit resulted in good information sharing and creating a positive impression about the benefits of a UW education. We all know how influential a campus visit can be.”

“You can’t learn everything from books,” says the web site of — yes — the UW bookstore. “That’s why we work hard to bring in local and best-selling authors to talk about their latest works.” Due this afternoon is David Brooks, the lead editor of Making the Most of the Water We Have: The Soft Path Approach to Water Management, just published by Earthscan. “Demand for water is one of the major challenges of the current century,” the editors says, “but past approaches are no longer sufficient. Based on the ‘soft path’ approach to the energy sector, a transition is now under way to a soft path for water. This book is the first to present and apply the water soft path approach.” Most of the authors are Canadian, including two teams from UW’s environment and resource studies department: Paul Kay and graduate student Elizabeth Hendricks (“Water Soft Path Analysis at a Provincial Scale”) and Sarah Wolfe and grad student Kurtis Elton (“Pushing the Boundaries: Shifting Water Soft Paths Philosophy towards Hard Policy in Municipal Water Management”). Today’s launch event starts at 3:30 in the, Laurel Room, South Campus Hall, and is co-sponsored by the Faculty of Environment and Friends of the Earth.

Some ten seminars under the title “Unlearn” are being held in UW’s residences this week — a spinoff of an international program whose mission is to "provoke thought in the hope that it will encourage positive change". It’s the third year the seminars have been offered, says Hayden Tay, the don who’s coordinating the project this year. “The focus of the seminars,” he says, “is to become more self-aware. Unlearning is about questioning yourself and the ideas that you currently hold. Unlearn gives you ideas to explore and consider, so that you can decide your future and who you want to be This is achieved through several interactive exercises where you get to explore stereotypes as well as your own and other people’s experiences.” A brochure describes the seminar as “not your old school diversity rant” but “a compressed combination of different concepts/exercises you would learn at leadership conferences”, under the headings of Underlying Diversity, Judgement Stunt, and Privilege Circle. Sessions were held over the past three evenings, and continue tonight (Village I, Ron Eydt Village and King Village) and Sunday (Village I again).

CAR

Back to top