Transition from winter to spring term

The winter term is drawing to a close, with just a few more days of exams, and students drifting away from campus as they finish their work. Expect a quiet week, then — but note that just two weeks from today, it’ll all start up again. Monday, May 2, will be the first day of classes and, to add to the frenzy, the day of the federal general election. Here are the milestones between now and then:

• Last day of exams, Thursday, April 21
• Unofficial marks begin to appear on Quest, April 22
• Good Friday holiday, April 22
• Spring term fees due April 25 (certified cheque, money order, promissory note), April 28 (bank transfer)
• Residence move-in, May 1

As things wind down this week, the libraries are continuing their 24-hour (well, almost 24-hour) exam-time operation, but food services outlets are turning the lights off one by one. Festival Fare in South Campus Hall is already shut, not to reopen until September, and the same is true of Liquid Assets in the accounting wing of Hagey Hall as well as Pastry Plus in Matthews Hall. Today’s the last day until September for the PAS lounge outlet. At the other extreme, Tim Hortons in the Student Life Centre continues 24-hour-a-day weekday operation (weekend hours are shorter) until exams are altogether finished. Mudie’s cafeteria in Village I had its last day of around-the-clock service on Friday, but meal hours continue there and also at REVelation in Ron Eydt Village until the end of exams.

In other matters . . . the university senate will hold its monthly meeting today, starting at 4:00, in Needles Hall room 3001. The agenda looks fairly light (but you never know, you never know). Co-op and career action director Peggy Jarvie is scheduled to give a briefing on the work of her department, and there will also be a report from university librarian Mark Haslett. The former “environmental scan” from the president is being replaced on senate agendas, starting this month, by a “report of the president” and a “Q and A period”. There should also be word at today’s meeting of what celebrities and academic high-flyers will receive honorary degrees at June’s convocation ceremonies.

Speaking of those convocation ceremonies, which are scheduled for June 15-18, arts has become the first faculty to announce who its valedictorians will be (or at least the first faculty to send word to the Daily Bulletin so the world can read the news). "Kieng Iv and Elizabeth Carol Watkins have been chosen to represent the Faculty of Arts 2011 graduating class," Danielle Jeanneault writes from the arts undergraduate office. "Kieng, who is completing a Bachelor of Accounting and Financial Management and minoring in economics, will be the valedictorian at the morning ceremony. Elizabeth, our afternoon valedictorian, is majoring in speech communication and minoring in history."

Instructors, staff and students are invited to attend an open house tomorrow to introduce the new Learning Management System — that is, the long-awaited successor to UW-ACE. The event will be held Tuesday from 10:30 a.m. to noon in CEIT building room 1015. Says Jan Willwerth of information systems and technology: "Following an introduction by Geoff McBoyle, provost and vice-president (academic), the LMS Selection Committee and representatives from Desire2Learn will talk about the migration to the new system, including a demonstration of the new LMS. Attendees will have a chance to ask questions. Please RSVP to lms@ uwaterloo.ca, so we can ensure that we have sufficient refreshments."

Discovery Days in Health Sciences will be held tomorrow, with a total of 16 workshops, a keynote lecture and a career panel aimed at high schoolers. Activities are sponsored jointly by two faculties, science and applied health sciences. Among the interactive workshops: "Revealing the Ability in DisABILITY: The Art and Science of Recreation Therapy", "Athletic Taping — Helping Athletes Maintain Peak Performance", and "Imaging of the Human Eye". "Discovery Day gives students an idea of what it’s like to be a health professional by interacting with educators and clinicians in a practical, hands-on setting," says Janet Tufts, executive director of the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame, which co-sponsors the event at 11 universities across the country.

The new Environment 3 building is nearly ready, and "approximately four weeks" of landscaping work starts today, according to Don Haffner of the plant operations department. As a result, he writes, "It is necessary to close access to the loading docks at EV1, EV2 and Modern Languages theatre. Emergency egress only will be possible at Environment 1 and 2, no access from the exterior. Fencing will be erected around the work site. Asphalt will be removed, some site services and new hardscape installed. Thank you for your patience and understanding as a wonderful building is nearing completion."

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Grebel prof's book reviews church apologies

a news release from Conrad Grebel University College

In recent years, churches have repented for historical wrongs.  In his new book, Ecclesial Repentance: The Churches Confront Their Sinful Pasts, Jeremy M. Bergen (left) tells the story of these apologies and analyzes the theological issues they raise about the nature and mission of the church.

“In a context in which churches, as well as national governments, are increasingly offering public apologies for past acts of injustice and failure, this book represents an important contribution,” writes Christopher Craig Brittain of the University of Aberdeen. “Rather than seeing ecclesial repentance as undermining the Church’s reputation, or functioning as a self-serving public relations strategy, Bergen offers a theological account of how they help the Church be faithful to its mission. The result is a sensitive reflection on the complexities and perils of public apologies, as well as a thoughtful appreciation for their potential to facilitate the healing of past wounds.”

Bergen (PhD, University of St. Michael’s College) is assistant professor of religious studies and theology at Conrad Grebel. To mark the publication of his first book, Grebel College is a book launch for Jeremy Bergen on Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. in the college's atrium. Bergen’s book will also be launched at McNally Robinson Booksellers, Grant Park location, Winnipeg, on May 31.

Margaret Pfeil of the University of Notre Dame says: "With grace, courage, and a discerning spirit, Jeremy Bergen offers an account of ecclesial repentance worthy of a pilgrim people, a church at once reconciled and always on the journey toward full reconciliation. Christian communities would do well to use this volume in a process of communal examination of conscience."

In November 2010, Bergen gave a paper entitled “Lutheran–Mennonite Reconciliation in Stuttgart as an Instance of Ecclesial Repentance” at a conference at Waterloo Lutheran Seminary. At this conference, called “Confessing in Faith: Healing Between Lutherans and Mennonites”, Bergen situated the Lutheran repentance for the persecution of 16th century Anabaptists within a larger framework of church apologies in recent decades. Doing so allowed him to raise some critical questions about what such repentance means, and how Mennonites and Lutherans might express a new relationship.

CAR

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