Blatchford's talk set for December 7

Journalist and author Christie Blatchford, whose appearance on campus earlier this month was cancelled after protesters took over the Humanities Theatre stage, will make a return appearance on December 7, the university announced yesterday.

Said a brief news release: “The University of Waterloo is announcing the date for a rescheduled meet-the-author event featuring Christie Blatchford. The Globe and Mail columnist will deliver the talk that was postponed on Friday, November 12, when she was invited to discuss her new book Helpless: Caledonia's Nightmare of Fear and Anarchy, and How the Law Failed All of Us.”

She’ll speak at 7 p.m. on December 7, a Tuesday, in the Theatre of the Arts.

The release goes on: “Admission to the event, sponsored by the University of Waterloo bookstore and faculty of arts, is open to the general public for free. Blatchford will discuss her book, take questions from the audience, and sign copies of Helpless. Space may be limited and registration is required. Interested parties should register online by noon on December 7. Registered guests can pick up their tickets at the bookstore by noon on the day of the event or make other arrangements with the bookstore.”

The incident on November 12, a Friday night, involved a group of protesters that took exception to what they called the "racist" attitude of her book, which deals with the four-year standoff over native land claims in the village of Caledonia in Ontario's Haldimand County. In her book, Blatchford makes a strong case for a failure of government to govern and protect all its citizens equally in the lands claim dispute.

About 20 members of the protest group chanted slogans inside the theatre, and three of them chained themselves together by the necks on stage. After some delay it was announced that the talk would be rescheduled.

The following Monday the university issued a statement that said in part: "The University of Waterloo was disappointed that a guest invited to share a particular perspective on a topic of importance to Canadians was silenced by protesters. Globe and Mail columnist Christie Blatchford was scheduled to appear at the university on Friday night to discuss her new book. Due to safety issues, the university decided to reschedule the event. The university considers Friday’s events as an attack on its presence as a place where issues are explored, discussed and at times debated. The freedom to speak and to learn is fundamental to the institution.”

“Three protesters shut me down once; they won’t do it again,” Blatchford wrote in her Globe and Mail column a few days later. The experience produced a number of other media reactions as well, including an editorial in the National Post charging that “Something is very wrong with Canadian campuses these days.”

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Researcher's talk sheds light on lasers

a news release from the media relations office

The 50th anniversary of the laser will be celebrated with a free public lecture tomorrow night by one of the key researchers in the field, Waterloo physics and astronomy professor Donna Strickland.

The laser has transformed the way we live and is considered to be one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century. Strickland (right) will explore how the laser works and its impact on society during a talk entitled 'The Laser Turns 50'.

“We are pleased to commemorate this milestone and have Professor Strickland share her extensive knowledge about lasers with the community,” said Terry McMahon, Waterloo's dean of science. Strickland was recently elected vice-president (and president-to-be) of the Optical Society of America, an association of more than 100,000 people who work in "the science of light and the advanced technologies made possible by optics and photonics".

In her talk tomorrow, she will also discuss chirped pulse amplification (CPA), a technique used to increase the intensity of lasers that was developed 25 years ago by Strickland and her PhD supervisor, Gérard Mourou.

This week at Université Laval in Québec City, Strickland and Mourou were recognized for their invention at the International Symposium on Chirped Pulse Amplification. The symposium brings together researchers from around the world that use CPA technology and provides them with an opportunity to showcase what they are doing in their various fields.

Tomorrow's lecture, hosted by the faculty of science, will be held in the Centre for Environmental and Information Technology, room 1015, starting at 7 p.m. After the lecture, small tours of Strickland's laser lab will be offered. Pre-registration for the tours (phone ext. 38804) is required as space is limited to 30 people in total, 10 per tour.

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Spreading the Waterloo word in Asia

Waterloo president Feridun Hamdullahpur is in Asia this week, making his first overseas trip since taking on the president’s job October 1, and attending university-related events in Dubai and India.

Today sees him in the historic city of Jodhpur in northwest India, taking part in a tour of the newest Indian Institute of Technology, IIT-Rajasthan, with which Waterloo recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding.

As well, he will be giving a Waterloo overview presentation at a general session alongside dean of engineering Adel Sedra. Other speakers from the university include Jatin Nathwani, director of the Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Energy; Magdy Salamy, professor of electrical and computer engineering; and Roydon Fraser and John Wright of mechanical and mechatronics engineering.

Monday he was in Dubai, not just visiting Waterloo’s United Arab Emirates campus but also attending an “alumni and friends” reception and dinner at the swanky Al-Murooj  Rotana Hotel. More than 200 people attended, including co-op employers and other industry leaders, Waterloo alumni, and faculty, students and staff members.

Speakers at the event, in addition to Hamdullahpur, were Peter Douglas, director of the UAE campus; engineering dean Sedra; mathematics dean Ian Goulden; Rick Roach of co-operative education and career services; associate vice-president (international) Leo Rothenburg; and second-year civil engineering student Ashaal Dabohlkar.

Friday, the president will be at the Canadian High Commission in Delhi, India’s capital, where another Waterloo alumni event is taking place. Also scheduled to speak there are Stewart Beck, Canadian High Commissioner to India; Prem Kalra, director of IIT-Rajasthan; and Rahul Bhatia (BASc 1984), Waterloo alumnus and group managing director of InterGlobe Enterprises Limited, which describes itself as an “integrated travel corporation.”

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As the library rose, 46 years ago

The 24 white arches that support the third storey of the Dana Porter Library — each containing some 105 tons of concrete — were installed in July 1964. The project is documented in a photo (left) now held by the library’s Kitchener-Waterloo Record Photographic Negative Collection. It’s on display on the first floor of Porter this month as part of an exhibition honouring the fiftieth anniversary of Waterloo’s faculty of arts, under the title “Arts and the Library Together for Fifty Years”. The exhibition presents images from the university archives focusing on the student experience during these early years and the establishment of arts buildings on campus. It also showcases original yearbooks, calendars, newspapers, and ephemera illustrating the nightlife, extracurricular activities, and construction on campus over the years. The exhibition, largely put together by archivist Jane Britton, continues until the end of fall term classes.

CAR

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