What does experiential learning look like beyond co-op work terms? What does internationalization look like beyond exchange programs? Here’s Will Ogden talking about the use of games in museum exhibits to promote audience interaction. Ogden is one of the Bachelor of Knowledge Integration students who visited Amsterdam in the spring to study museum exhibit design in some of the great galleries and museums of the world. Back on campus this fall, they’re applying their critical insights to the “Museum Course”, INTEG 231, where they’ll design working museum exhibits of their own. Together they are learning how to communicate complex information through audience experience, how to collaborate effectively with peers, and how to manage an interdisciplinary design project, says Linda Carson of the KI program.

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Cell companies working to boost service

Two mobile phone companies have made some information available in the wake of persistent complaints that it’s hard to get a strong, reliable cellphone signal on campus. The problem isn’t peculiar to Waterloo, says a statement from Telus Mobility, noting that exactly the same thing was reported in September in “the university area of London, Hamilton and Guelph” where thousands of students were suddenly using their phones. The result “a spike in network usage that went beyond installed network capacity in certain locations”.

Bell Mobility gives exactly the same explanation: “network congestion due to the influx of student users. At different times of the day the network service is better or worse.”

Bell says it is “actively working on a fix”, which would include adding more cell towers. Telus says it’s working to add capacity to existing sites, and “further capacity would be added by building new sites in the university area.”

The university’s information systems and technology department doesn’t play a role in providing cellphone service, except that it has a corporate plan with both Bell and a third mobile company, Rogers, for use by employees who need to bill their cell service to the university.

However, IST has issued some information about the current problem, pointing out that “a Distributed Antenna System (DAS), if implemented correctly, can reduce the load on cell tower systems, thus improving both exterior and interior spaces. Housing & IST are moving forward on a DAS pilot in Mackenzie King Village, hopefully this term.”

IST also gives an answer to the frequently asked question of why cell reception is bad inside some Waterloo buildings even when the local towers aren’t overloaded. “Cellular signals are attenuated (blocked) by certain materials,” its statement says. “Concrete (e.g. Math and Computer) is one of them. Also, metallic-tinted glass (as in E5 and MKV) is an obstacle as well. Unfortunately, most new buildings have poor cellular coverage as the same building techniques that conserve heat and block out the sun also block out cell phone signals. One exception: locations serviced by a Spotwave signal booster.”

IST suggests that users who aren’t getting the service they want “should call up their carrier and report dead zones and reduced coverage”.

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Jelly beans — and more serious notes

The on-campus United Way campaign is off to a respectable start, with $66,553 in personal gifts raised as of Tuesday's count, towards a $200,000 goal. "With your help we have reached 178 donors and are sitting at 33% of our goal!" writes United Way office manager Marina Selioukova. But, she adds, "We are still only at a participation rate of 5.2%." Money is also starting to trickle in from the "special events" that are a high-profile part of the campaign each October. The first draw was made this week, for instance, in the traditional Engineering Bingo; there's a jelly bean jar in the psychology department mailroom where you can pay 50 cents to guess the number of beans; a euchre tournament is being scheduled; and today and subsequent Fridays are officially "dress-down days". There's much more about such entertainments on the United Way web site.

Some notes have arrived from the Homecoming festivities that took place on Saturday, September 25. The day kicked off, as it usually does, with the AHS Fun Run. More than 200 people walked, jogged, or rolled around the Ring Road, including perennial participant David Johnston, in his last run as Waterloo’s president. Carmen Au was the top female finisher, clocking in at 18:49; Jordan Anderson led the men with a time of 18:12. Johnston, in his role as “Grampa Book", read Curious George at the Family Festival (right), afterwards chatting with families and signing autographs. Other featured events included Renison’s East Asian Festival, St. Paul’s Seventh Annual Traditional Powwow, rugby games on the north campus (the women beat Brock, the men tied Guelph), and many reunions. “None of the events that make up Homecoming would be possible without our volunteers,” says Chantel Franklin, the alumni officer who coordinates the event. “We especially appreciate the 70 students who helped out this year. Homecoming is a great way for students and alumni to connect.”

Deaths of several retired staff members have taken place in recent days, the human resources department reports. David Butler, who was a custodian in plant operations from 1979 to his retirement in 1988, died June 19. Fridric Rampelt, also a custodian who arrived in 1979 and retired in 1991, died June 24. John Newstead, who was a trades helper in plant ops from 1983 to his retirement in 1998, died September 10.

Yesterday's list of university-related people who are seeking office in this month's municipal election managed to omit one. Jake Smola, who is manager of facilities and plant operations at Renison University College, is seeking a place on Kitchener city council as councillor for Ward 7. He's already a figure in local politics as a Kitchener representative on Waterloo Region council, but is not running for reelection there.

The Campus Crusade for Cheese will hold one of its tasty meetings today, and every Friday in October and November, at 4:30 (Rod Coutts Engineering Lecture Hall room 308). • The Mini Pharmacy School series that was to begin next week at the downtown Kitchener pharmacy building has been postponed to a date in the spring. • Today winds up the first week of employer interviews for the "main" group of co-op students seeking winter term jobs; there are three weeks to go, with job ranking day set for  Friday the 29th.

And . . . Wednesday's Daily Bulletin reported on the granting of a Bachelor of Arts degree to Paul Kokelj, who was close to completing the requirements before his death from Ewing's sarcoma last month. The degree should not have been described as "posthumous". It was presented to Kokelj in his hospital room by university registrar Ken Lavigne, who notes that "Although bedridden and very weak, Paul smiled and beamed proudly as I said a few words and presented the diploma to him."

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It's Thanksgiving . . . and Oktoberfest

Willkommen to Waterloo — famous for the university, the BlackBerry, and, especially for the next ten days, Oktoberfest and the nationally televised Thanksgiving Day parade with its floats, bands, clowns and local and imported culture.

It's the 42nd annual Oktoberfest for this community — “Canada’s Great Bavarian Festival” — and the festival begins with ceremonies in downtown Kitchener at noontime today. Monday's parade begins at 8:30 a.m. in downtown Waterloo and heads south along King Street into central Kitchener. This year’s parade marshal is comedy star Fred Ewanuick.

A star of the week will be Miss Oktoberfest 2010, who is Meghan Hennessey (left), a student in Waterloo’s Master of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology program (and a BA graduate in speech communication). “In November of 2009,” says an Oktoberfest  news release, “Meghan set up her own company, Lime Events, specializing in weddings, parties and corporate events. Meghan also contributes to the community with the Heart and Stroke Foundation, Junior Achievement and the UW Competitive Dance Team; she had previously volunteered as a coach while attending university. . . . The search for Miss Oktoberfest identifies someone who can be a role model for young women and who can represent our community and our festival as one of its lead ambassadors in the best possible light.”

Oktoberfest, honouring Waterloo Region’s deep German heritage, offers a number of special events aimed at families, including Saturday morning's pancake breakfast and barrel race in central Waterloo, and the "Oktoberfest Idol" competition in Kitchener on Sunday. Plenty of sporting events, meals and opportunities to dance and laugh are also on the program. And last night the Oktoberfest “Women of the Year” were announced, in such categories as arts and culture, community service, and “young adult”, a set of honours that often includes people connected with the university.

The heart of the festival is the "festhalls" scattered across the city (and open varying days), with German music, German food and a certain German beverage in abundance. Missing from the list of festhalls again this year is "Seagram Haus", otherwise the gymnasium at University Stadium, which was an Oktoberfest venue until a few years ago. Various outings to some of the festhalls are planned, including “Student Night” at Bingemans next Thursday (tickets $14 at the Federation of Students office).

Meanwhile, the campus will be quiet for the next three days as Thanksgiving is observed. Monday, October 11, is a holiday — university offices and most services will be closed, and classes will not be held. The Physical Activities Complex and Columbia Icefield are closed Monday (the PAC is also closed Saturday and Sunday, but the Icefield will be open). The Dana Porter and Davis Centre libraries will be open normal hours on Saturday and Sunday, and from noon to 6 p.m. on Monday. The bookstore and other retail outlets will be closed both Saturday and Monday. Campus-wide, it's back to normal on Tuesday morning.

As always, the university police (519-888-4911) will be at work, the Student Life Centre (519–888-4434) will be open, and the central plant will monitor campus buildings (maintenance emergencies, ext. 33793).

Finally . . . with the beginning of Oktoberfest, there can be more than the usual number of too-merry drivers on the road; let us celebrate with moderation and drive with care. And at Thanksgiving may we be, as the old grace says, truly thankful. The sorrows and burdens come easily enough to mind, but still, we can remind ourselves, we in Canada and at Waterloo have much for which to give thanks.

CAR

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