United Way campaign surpasses goal

by Kirsty Budd, Communications Co-ordinator, Federation of Students

On Wednesday, November 16, the University of Waterloo’s United Way campaign reached its 2011 goal of $210,000 and has since surpassed it. As of last week, the campaign had reached 103% of its goal, putting the total at $216,968.98. Co-chair of the campaign, Alex Lippert, expressed her gratitude to the uWaterloo community: “I was thrilled when we reached our goal, but I never had any doubt that we would. I’m very proud of my colleagues and my work environment. There certainly is no better place to work.”

“We have been increasing our campaign goals steadily and as usual, the uWaterloo community rose to the occasion,” said Co-chair Richard Wells.

Lippert noted that seeing the volunteers working so hard to help someone they will probably never meet was an amazing experience.

“I was blown away by all of the support and energy our volunteers had towards the campaign and our community,” she said. “From bake and coat sales to bingos and euchre tournaments to carved pumpkins - the imagination and fun people had was really great to see!”

The United Way in Kitchener Waterloo is committed to five regional priorities: children and youth, families, newcomers, neighbourhoods and economic security. They support a variety of programs that make a difference in the lives of those in the community, ranging from the Child Witness Program to the Therapeutic Riding Program to ROOF (Reaching Our Outdoor Friends).

Wells noted that as the needs of the United Way programs have increased, so has the number of people working on the campaign. “I was incredibly heartened by the enthusiasm of everybody we approached to help and how generously they gave of their time and expertise,” he said.

Wells and Lippert both agreed that the events are the best way to raise awareness of the campaign on campus and a heightened awareness translated into an increase in giving via payroll deduction.

“I was so impressed to see so many in the community giving through payroll this year,” said Lippert. “Every little bit really does help.”

The Co-chairs also expressed their gratitude to Waterloo’s President, Feridun Hamdullahpur. “The campaign receives such great support and we’re lucky to have strong leadership at the University who stand behind what we do,” said Lippert.

While Lippert is happy the goal has been reached so she can finally have a good night’s sleep, she wouldn’t change a thing about the experience. “This journey has been a huge eye opener to the strength of the human spirit right here on campus.”

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Mental health day in review

by Chris Redmond

Staff and faculty members crowded into the Humanities Theatre on Friday morning for a presentation on “Mental Health Issues in the Workplace”, organized by the office of Organizational and Human Development. Two speakers, Ian Arnold of the Mental Health Commission of Canada and Mary Ann Baynton of Great-West Life, reviewed things to know about mental illness and its likely prevalence among somebody’s co-workers. “It’s never wrong to show concern,” Baynton said emphatically. Other parts of the presentation dealt with typical symptoms of such troubles as depression, anxiety, and addiction, and ways of thinking and acting to combat them — along with the importance of getting help. Arnold reported on a national proposal to develop a certification system for “peer counsellors”, people who have surmounted mental illness themselves and now can help others. He also noted a growing interest in providing training for family members and friends to act as “peer” supporters. OHD has promised follow-up sessions on workplace mental health issues, to be available in the new year.

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Classes end today, and other notes

Today marks the end of classes for the fall term, which means that exams are right around the corner. After a pair of pre-exam study days, the examination period begins December 8 and runs to December 22, with December 9 and 10 set aside for online course exams. In the event that the university is closed during examinations, the examinations will be rescheduled on the next available day, including Sunday, on which examinations have not been scheduled. Specific make-up dates will be announced on the University of Waterloo homepage.

Seasonal changes to schedules and hours of operations abound:

Library hours were extended starting November 27 and for the remainder of the examination period (until December 22) the Davis Centre branch is open 24 hours, except for Sundays from 2:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m., and Dana Porter is open Monday to Sunday, 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. During this time, service desks and related services will be closed at regular times (Porter at 11:00 p.m. and Davis at midnight), and there will be attendants present for security purposes. At Davis, staff will monitor for noise, cell phone use, and hot foods that are not permitted in the Library. On the last day of extended hours, December 22, Davis will close at midnight and Porter will close at 11:00 p.m. The libraries will both be open for intersession — Friday, December 23 — from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Most food services outlets will stick to their regular fall schedules for at least another few days. There is a detailed schedule of each location's holiday hours available on the Food Services site as well as an interactive map. For those looking for a coffee fix before their exams, take heart: effective today, the Tim Hortons in the SLC is open 24hours until Thursday, December 22 at 7:00 p.m. Also effective today, the new Williams Fresh Cafe will be open Monday to Friday: 8:30am to 4:00pm.

The Feds Used Books store has updated its hours for December. From December 1 to 23, it is open 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and it is also open Saturdays — on December 3, 10, and 17. It is closed December 24 through to December 31, and re-opens Monday, January 2, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The annual WatITis conference for campus information technology professionals gets underway tomorrow. This year's keynote speaker is Student Success Office director Sean Van Koughnett, who will be delivering a talk on technology and the student experience. "I'll be touching briefly on three things," says Van Koughnett. "How information technology is impacting higher education and the student experience, the role of technology in student engagement and development, and some of the possibilities and challenges for the University of Waterloo in improving our student success efforts." Other sessions include "Stick a Computer On It: How to Embed a Microcontroller into Anything," "An ARIA to Web Accessibility," "A Digital Media Campus: The Waterloo Stratford Campus Story," "Information Under Siege: Information Security Events of 2011," and "A Writer's 40-Year Love-Hate Relationship with Waterloo Information Technology" by the Daily Bulletin's Chris Redmond. The full conference agenda is, where else, online.

Another sign of the season? The hundreds of high school students who will be swarming on campus this Tuesday and Wednesday for the annual Fed-Prov conference. This event, organized by Waterloo's political science department and the regional history heads association, is Canada's longest-running simulated federal-provincial conference and has been held at the university for the last 46 years. A total of 370 students will attend. Working sessions take place in the Arts Lecture Hall, J. G. Hagey Hall of the Humanities and the Modern Languages building on Tuesday and Wednesday. The concluding plenary session will be held in the Theatre of the Arts, Modern Languages building, on Wednesday, from 1:45 to 3:00 p.m.

Also taking place this week is WE Innovate, the year's biggest showcase of Waterloo Engineering innovation. The event gets underway December 7  in Engineering 5, rooms 3101 and 3102, with a students-only session from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m., and an industry and general public session that begins at 4:00 p.m. and runs until 7:00 p.m. Pre-registration is required to attend the public session.

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