Student Life 101 welcomes new frosh

UW Media relations

Many incoming first-year students and their families will visit the University of Waterloo this Saturday for a preview of campus life in the fall term. 

Now in its 15th year, Student Life 101 helps families start the transition to university before classes begin on Monday, September 13. An estimated 6,000 students and parents are expected to take part in Saturday's orientation program designed by students for students. 

"We want to let them know that there are a lot of people and services here at the University of Waterloo to support them and to help them make the most of their university experience," said Gabrielle Finnie, student life co-ordinator, first-year experience. "This orientation event was created to help prepare students for university life by giving them the tools so that they are successful throughout their time here." 

The event, organized by Waterloo's student life office, involves more than 350 student volunteers, including five Student Life 101 directors (above), who help design the program and oversee the day’s events. 

Motivational speaker Andy Thibodeau (right) will give the feature presentation, entitled “Get Your Hand UP First-Year Students.” He will discuss student success, the importance of asking questions and getting involved. The event will be held from 9 to 10:20 a.m. in the Physical Activities Complex. 

Students will have an opportunity to discover on-campus resources at the services fair to be held in the Student Life Centre. 

Participating departments at the fair include:
athletics and campus recreation, co-operative education and career services, counselling services, student life office, food services, housing and residences, aboriginal student services, office for persons with disabilities, retail services (Bookstore, CampusTech and WaterlooStore), student awards and financial aid, Federation of Students, Glow Queer and Questioning Community Centre, and the federation orientation committee.

Students interested in getting involved in extracurricular endeavours can visit the clubs showcase in the Student Life Centre. Clubs and student groups will highlight the diverse opportunities available to students.

Throughout the day, Student Life 101 will offer student success sessions on

• Co-operative Education; 
• Career Services; 
• Getting Off on the Right Foot: how to combine academics and extracurricular activities; 
• Making the Transition: how to ease the move from home to campus life; 
• Show Me the Money: how to receive government loans and assistance in September; 
• So, You're Living Off Campus: how to search for accommodation in the local community and pick up tips on off-campus life; 
• Getting Involved in Rez: leadership opportunities for first-year students in the Waterloo residential community. 

As well, each faculty will host a presentation for incoming students on academic support available during first year. 

During the day, students can also visit Waterloo's federated and affiliated institutions: St. Jerome's University, Conrad Grebel University College, St. Paul's University College, and Renison University College. 

For students and parents unable to come to campus on July 24, content from the student success sessions will be made available online after the event. Videos of various services, PowerPoint presentations, and links will be posted on the Student Life 101 website. 

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Notes: census flap, space rovers, Hot Flashes, library hours

A Waterloo voice has spoken up in the controversy over the Statistics Canada long-form census survey. Don McLeish (left), a professor of statistics and actuarial science at Waterloo, is also president of the Statistical Society of Canada. He’s quoted in a July 19 article by Shannon Proudfoot for Postmedia News (“Come to your census, expert tells Tories”) "’I think I can say quite safely that nobody in our organization has ever suggested that substituting a voluntary survey for the mandatory long form of the census could in any circumstances provide the same kind of information, no matter how much money is spent or how large a mail-out sample is attempted,' McLeish says. ‘No statistician in their right mind would believe that this provides an equivalent information base.’

"McLeish says arguments … that a voluntary census will provide representative results if it's sent out to more people betray ‘a misunderstanding of statistics that's fairly common.’ Certain groups are simply less likely to complete a voluntary survey and increasing the sample size doesn't fill in those gaps, he says, comparing the government's assumption to a belief that a bridge is stronger if it's built with twice as much concrete, no matter how shoddy the design.”

Mechanical and mechatronics professor Amir Khajepour (right) is collaborating with the software company Maplesoft and the Canadian Space Agency “to build unmanned land rovers destined someday for planetary exploration,” according to an article by Kathleen Lau in the July 12 issue of ComputerWorld Canada (“U of Waterloo, Maplesoft build smart space rovers”). The researchers are using MapleSim software to simulate all the possible ways the land rover could move.

“If there are no roads, the number of paths you can take from one point to another can become infinite,” says Khajepour, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Mechatronics Vehicle Systems and is also director of the Waterloo Centre for Automotive Research (WatCAR). The goal of the research, which may see fruition in a decade, is to give robotic land rovers the ability to choose “the path that presents minimal risk, uses the least energy and is the safest.”

The Hot Flashes, a team from external relations, will take part in the fifth annual fundraising Amazing Race for Heartwood Place on September 18. Heartwood Place, a charitable organization that provides affordable housing for low-income families in Waterloo Region, was founded in 2001 by a group led by Mary Bales, a Waterloo Board of Governors member, donor, and grad (MA ’72, MPhil ’73).

In their other lives, the Hot Flashes are Meg Beckel, vice-president external (left); Maryann Gavin, senior director, donor relations and advancement services; Linda Kieswetter, associate vice-president, principal gifts; and Erin Sargeant Greenwood, associate vice-president, annual and planned giving. “The race is a full day of challenging, silly and embarrassing contests,” writes Kieswetter. “We welcome your financial support in the way of sponsoring us. We get bonus points for securing sponsorship before August 3.”

Feels like summer, but the end is near. Classes for the spring term end next Wednesday, July 28, and exams begin August 3. To accommodate hard-working students, the Davis Centre library has adjusted its hours of operation. Starting this Sunday and continuing through August 14, DC will be open 24 hours a day, except Sundays, when it will close 2 - 8 a.m. for system maintenance. (Dana Porter will keep its usual hours, 8 a.m. - 11 p.m., Monday-Friday; 11 a.m. - 11 p.m., Saturday and Sunday; except for the Civic Holiday, August 2, when it will be open noon to 6 p.m.)

During this time, service desks and related services will close at regular hours (Davis at midnight, Porter at 11 p.m.), but attendants will monitor Davis Centre Library "for security purposes, and they will also monitor for noise, cell phone use, and hot foods that are not permitted in the library."

CPA staff

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