Staff can get fit with SIF subsidy

by Lori Kraemer, UW Fitness

It seems there are never enough hours in the day to fit everything in — especially when it comes to taking care of ourselves. We schedule work meetings, kids’ activities, doctors’ appointments, family vacations, and grocery shopping, yet we rarely schedule time to exercise.

Life gets busy, and we forget how important it is to our physical and mental health to take care of our bodies. Our energy levels decrease, we get out of breath climbing stairs, the weight creeps up a few pounds each year, and we say, “I’ll do something about it next year when I have more time.”

Sound familiar?

It’s time to let out one of Waterloo’s best-kept secrets. For several years, a handful of Waterloo faculty and staff have been reaping the benefits of attending small-group personal training sessions held on campus over lunch hours or after work. It’s well documented that increasing physical activity leads to numerous health benefits for the individual as well as increasing productivity and decreasing sick time in the workplace.

UW Fitness, located in the Manulife Wellness Centre and Lyle Hallman Institute for Health Promotion, offers small-group personal training sessions for Waterloo staff and faculty. (These sessions are not open to students.) Exercising in a small group offers a fun, social, and motivating atmosphere, at a more affordable rate than one-on-one personal training.

These twice-per-week exercise sessions include cardiovascular exercise, resistance / weight training, and flexibility exercises under the guidance and encouragement of a kinesiologist and certified personal trainer in our private and very well-equipped gym. Previous exercise experience is not necessary, as programs can be modified for those new to exercise and made more challenging for those who have worked out in the past but want more structure and guidance.

Thanks to the staff Special Initiatives Fund (SIF), the first 50 Waterloo staff to register for one of our upcoming six-week exercise sessions starting in September will receive a $100 subsidy toward the cost of the small-group training. (Although faculty are welcome to register, they are not eligible for the SIF subsidy.) Given this incentive, there has never been a better time to invest in your health.

The sessions start mid-September, with new six-week sessions beginning every six weeks thereafter. For more information or to sign up, visit the UW Fitness website, email fitness@uwaterloo.ca, or call ext. 36841. Sign up soon: spaces are limited.

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Math to mystery: the buzz this week

More than 400 of the world’s top scientists and mathematicians are buzzing around Wilfrid Laurier University this week at the five-day International Conference on Applied Mathematics, Modeling and Computational Science (AMMCS-2011). Among them are Ming Li (left), Waterloo computer science professor and Canada Research Chair in Bioinformatics, who will deliver a plenary lecture on “Kolmogorov Complexity and its Applications in Computer Science.” A dozen other Waterloo faculty members in mathematics, engineering, and science are leading special sessions on topics as diverse as “Computational Number Theory” and “Recent Advances in Energy Harvesting Technologies.” Details are on the conference website.

Get Linked In, from the University of Waterloo Staff Association. This workshop is for those who aren’t using LinkedIn yet or who would like to use it more effectively‚ and without spending a lot of time doing so. “Learn the basics of gathering information in your field, expanding and maintaining contact with your professional network, and researching potential employers.” Wednesday, noon to 1 p.m. in Tatham Centre room 1113. Go online for information or to register.

“From Montreal to Boston: Mystery Authors and a Secret Cache of 19th-Century Canadian Writings” is the intriguing title of an English department guest lecture by Jennifer Harris, associate professor of English at Mount Allison University and vice-president of the Canadian Association of American Studies.

What it’s about: “The search for writings about a late 18th-century American writer led to the accidental resolution of a scholarly disagreement about the identity of a mysterious (albeit admittedly minor) 19th-century Canadian writer, T.D. Foster. Following Foster's trail uncovered a network of writing women spanning two countries and generations, all on the way to a previously unknown and rather riotous story by Catharine Parr Traill replete with dead kittens and an impertinent pup. This talk traces the process, considering the ways in which these revelations might inflect thinking about the relevant authors, their interrelations, and writing practices, as well as print communities.” All are welcome: Wednesday, 3 p.m., Hagey Hall room 150.

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Fire evacuees alert off; other notes

Last week, the university’s Conference Centre was preparing for the arrival of evacuees from northern Ontario wildfires. Friday, the news came that the fire situation had improved and we were not to receive any evacuees after all.  

"Thanks to the efforts of those involved from the university community,” says Rex Coffin, assistant director of Food Services, “we were ready and waiting to receive the evacuees on Friday, but pleased to hear for their sake that they did not need to evacuate." He praised the efforts of Susanne Keppler, Conference Centre manager, who “did an outstanding job at working with representatives from the Region of Waterloo to pull together a plan for how the university could help. Appreciation also goes out to the UW Police, Parking Services, Health Services, Media Relations, cleaning and maintenance staff in Housing and Residences, and others that stepped up quickly to help with the situation and ensure we were ready to welcome evacuees with open arms." He adds: “We continue to monitor the situation and communicate with the Region of Waterloo in case we are called on to assist if the situation changes.”

FEDs Used Books donates to Zambia
Feds Used Books, the Federation of Students’ used textbook store, recently packed up 30 boxes of textbooks -- more than 500 used books —for Chreso University in Lusaka, Zambia.

Feds Used Books has a record of donating some of its inventory to universities and libraries across the world, starting in 1998, with a gift of 10,000 books to the Elmira Kiwanis Club to set up a public library in Jamaica. Feds Used Books also sent large donations of textbooks to Guyana in 2005 and China in 2007.

For the Zambian donation, Richard Brown (far left), international director of Visionledd, a ministry organization that brings aid to African communities suffering from the effects of HIV/AIDS, approached Used Bookstore manager John Jongerius (left). Along with the textbooks a tractor and pharmaceutical supplies will be sent to Zambia.

“Feds Used Books has an incredible inventory and over the years it has included many textbooks that are no longer used in Waterloo classrooms,” said Prashant Patel, FEDs vice-president, administration and finance. “By donating these books to universities in developing countries we can help other students in their pursuit of higher education.”

Library extends hours for exams
The University Library will begin extended hours, starting this Sunday, to accommodate students preparing for final exams. From July 24 to August 13, the Davis Centre Library will open 24 hours each day except Sundays, when it will close 2 to 8 a.m. On the last day of extended hours, August 13, Davis will close at midnight. Porter will be open Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m.-11 p.m. During this time, service desks and related services will close at regular times (Porter at 11 p.m., Davis at midnight). Attendants will be present in the Davis Centre Library for security purposes. Staff will monitor for noise, cell phone use, and hot foods that are not permitted in the library.

Help design Waterloo's diploma
University registrar Ken Lavigne reports that a recent survey to Waterloo students, alumni, faculty, and staff regarding four diploma design options resulted in two of the designs (one of them is to the right) being rated almost equally. To help the Diploma Review Committee finalise its recommendation to Senate in September, faculty, staff, students, and alumni are asked to complete an anonymous survey related to these two designs. Images of the two diplomas appear in the survey. “Please keep in mind,” says Lavigne, “that these images do not reflect the actual quality of the printed diploma. For example, the gold seal on each will be embossed on gold foil and not simply printed.”

CPA staff

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