The big move started yesterday and continues today as the school of planning and school of environment, enterprise and development occupy their new quarters in Environment 3. Linda Youngblut, Edie Cardwell, and Shelley Knischewsky of the planning school brought a few items over, but Central Stores is handling most of the move. Joanne Holzinger, assistant to the dean of the environment faculty, said the trendy "living wall" in the green building's atrium should be complete next month. "In addition," Holzinger added, "the building will have six classrooms and the café." About that: food services has confirmed that the coffee shop, which was the subject of controversy and uncertainty for a while, is going to be a Williams Fresh Café. It should be open for business on the first day of classes. Photo by Joe Bevan.

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Fall term students arrive within days

The "master schedule" for next week's complex orientation program hit my desk yesterday, rich with event titles that raise more questions than they answer: Quidditch Practice, Cardmobile Races, Dizzy Daze, One Last Rodeo. There are familiar features as well, including "Single and Sexy" (a "collective play about attitudes"), Monte Carlo Night, the Black and Gold spirit day, and engineering's Junkyard Wars. New this year is an Invocation Ceremony, a ceremonial introduction to the university. And of course there are big blocks of time set aside for tours, introductions to academic officials and departments, and the English Language Proficiency Exam. Orientation begins on Monday, Labour Day, and runs through Saturday, September 10, with some days or half-days scheduled on the basis of what program a student is in, others on the basis of where he or she lives (university residences, the colleges, or off campus). Orientation is operated jointly by the Federation of Students and the university, with the co-chairs being Becky Wroe of the Feds and Cora Dupuis of the student life office.

For most new students, step one of arriving at Waterloo is to move into their accommodation, either on campus or off. For the university's residences, including the Villages, UW Place and Columbia Lake Village, move-in is a carefully choreographed two-day process, starting Sunday and continuing Monday (left: this time last year). Students and their doting parents know which day, and which part of which day, they should arrive (and details are online). Bronwyn Forbes of the housing and residences office says "close to 40" faculty and staff members, at last count, have signed up for shifts greeting new students and lending a hand during move-in periods on one or both of the two days. She'd be happy to hear from more volunteers.

New students who aren't in first year, such as transfer and exchange students, are welcome at a few of the orientation week events. Special sessions are being offered for international students, with information about "living in Canada, and in the Kitchener/ Waterloo area… the University of Waterloo campus and services… shopping on a budget, and much more."

Warrior Field will get its first workout on Saturday, September 10, when the football Warriors host Guelph and first-year students celebrate Black and Gold Day. "Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m.," an athletics department announcement says, "and the event, which is expected to draw large crowds of frosh and community, will feature the grand reopening of Warrior Field after the installation of field turf. Don't miss out on the pre-game carnival happening on the CIF fields adjacent to Warrior Field and the always anticipated orientation leader dance at half-time. There will also be a ceremonial kickoff by Federation of Students president Matthew Colphon and the game ball delivery by skydivers." It'll be the second game of the new season for the football team, which plays on Labour Day evening at the University of Western Ontario.

As the first day of classes (September 12) nears, upper-year students will be arriving as well. For them, the Federation is planning its annual Welcome Week during the first few days of classes. Some details were made public yesterday: "The week-long affair is made up of multiple events ranging from a free pancake breakfast to a comedy show to Rockstar Live Karaoke. All of the events lead up to the always-popular Friday night concert on BMH Green, and this year Canadian favourites 'Down With Webster' (right) will be centre stage." Nga Tran, special events coordinator for the Feds, says the organization continues to "work hard to make sure there’s something for everyone and everyone feels included. This event is all-ages with a 19+ section to accommodate everyone.”

On a whole 'nother topic, the Federation says in a news release this week that it's "ready to burst with excitement as we get ready to open a new Bubble Tea location in the Student Life Centre for October 2011. The new shop will be set up beside Wasabi! and serve traditional milk bubble tea, iced bubble tea and real fruit smoothies. We asked for name ideas and then held a poll to have you, the students, choose between our top five. 'Campus Bubble' was submitted by Eric Van Halteren, and for his winning submission he'll receive a month's supply of Bubble Tea! Campus Bubble is still in the hiring process. Interviews will occur in September."

As the fall term starts, get ready to hear a lot about “uWaterloo Lipdub”. Arts student Sean Carrasco explains: “A lipdub is a video that incorporates lip synching and audio dubbing with a mass amount of people to make a music video. Lately, many universities have began to produce lipdubs, sparked by UBC's viral YouTube video which showcased their campus and local celebrities. Following UBC's footsteps, we are in the process of organizing our own lipdub to be filmed at the end of September. We will be using songs, clubs, students, alumni and our campus to showcase the fun and unique side of uWaterloo.” He and Melissa Eapen, also of arts, are joint executive producers of the project. Eapen sends word that a so-called “teaser” video for the project is now online. “We're currently in the process of filming our second teaser,” she adds. “Also, there will be auditions held (with the location TBA) on September 15, 16, and 17, for students to show us any specific talents they may have.”

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Climate engineer speaks Thursday at noon

from a news release issued by the university’s media relations office

An American expert on climate change will discuss the pros and cons of using solar geoengineering techniques that can potentially reduce global warming during a public talk tomorrow. Ben Kravitz, a postdoctoral fellow at the Carnegie Institution for Science's department of global ecology in Palo Alto, California, will give the talk, entitled Solar Geoengineering: Cooling the Earth with Black Carbon or Other Aerosols in the Stratosphere.

The event, hosted by Waterloo's Interdisciplinary Centre on Climate Change (IC3), will take place Thursday at noon in Environment 1 room 221.

"Dr. Kravitz will provide an overview of solar geoengineering or solar radiation management proposals that have emerged over the past few years to counteract greenhouse gas-induced global warming," said Claude Duguay, director of the IC3. "Ben will explore the full range of proposals that have emerged in recent years and focus specifically on those considered by many to be the most feasible: mimicking large volcanic eruptions by placing or creating aerosols in the stratosphere, which would reflect a fraction of incoming sunlight back to space."

Kravitz does research on climate change and changes to Earth's radiation budget. Most of his work involves using climate model simulations to quantify the effect on global temperatures from aerosols emitted from large volcanic eruptions and from potential geoengineering scenarios.

In his talk, Kravitz will discuss results from his own work in leading the Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP) and conducting climate model experiments on injecting black carbon aerosols into the stratosphere, or upper atmosphere, to artificially engineer the climate.

Waterloo's IC3 was created to advance research on climate change through an interdisciplinary approach, considering the physical basis of climate change, its impacts on biophysical and human systems, and adaptation and mitigation strategies in response to changes. The IC3 is based in the faculty of environment but also includes researchers from the faculties of engineering, mathematics and science, as well as from Environment Canada.

CAR

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