Basketball coach Tom Kieswetter retiring

A media release from the Athletics department

The Department of Athletics has announced the retirement of men’s basketball head coach Tom Kieswetter, who has been at the helm of the program for the past 20 years. Kieswetter took the coaching reigns in 1992 from Don McCrae and is currently the longest serving head coach amongst the 31 interuniversity sports offered at the University of Waterloo.

Over his twenty seasons as bench boss, Kieswetter has tallied a 325-352 win-loss record with several deep playoff runs in the early 2000’s, including a berth to Nationals in 2005. Kieswetter also guided the Warriors to the National Championship tournament in 1998 and captured four Naismith Classic titles along the way.

“We are going to miss Tom’s leadership and his steady hand in guiding and mentoring countless student-athletes, peer coaches, and others who have benefitted tremendously from his leadership,” said Waterloo Director of Athletics Bob Copeland. “Tom always conducted himself with utmost professionalism, integrity, and passion for the game in an increasingly competitive environment that is OUA and CIS basketball. We thank him for his many contributions to our program and university.”

Kieswetter’s time as a Warrior extends back even further as an assistant coach for three seasons and a player for five. Kieswetter was a member of the 1968-74 Warrior basketball teams during which time he was a captain and two-time OUA all-star. He was also a member of Canada's National Basketball team which competed in the pre-Olympic tournament in Germany in 1972.

“I’ve always been proud to be a Warrior and it’s been an exciting, enjoyable and challenging ride,” commented Kieswetter. “The University of Waterloo and our community have been very good to me and I’m extremely grateful for all the support and encouragement that I have received over the years.”

When it comes to summarizing the career of Kieswetter, the first thought that comes to mind is that he is a player’s-coach and always keeps the needs of his student-athletes first.

“I’ll miss working with my coaches, the annual team-building and the intense, semi-organized chaos of competition, but most of all I’ll miss the players,” said Kieswetter. “I have been extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to share lots of life’s celebrations and disappointments with many exceptional, exemplary young men and I will always cherish those memories.”

A national search for a new head coach of Waterloo men’s basketball is underway under the direction of Christine Stapleton, Associate Director of Athletics.

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Students finish fifth at Rotman competition

A team of Mathematics undergraduate students from Waterloo placed fifth overall at this year's Rotman International Trading Competition, and was the top Canadian university in the contest.

Pictured at right are (l-r) Rotman Professor Tom McCurdy, David Ma, Kevin Yuan, Fred Yin, main organizer Kevin Mak, and Yunfeng Liu.

The trading competition took place over three days in late February at the University of Toronto, and, according to its website, "utilizes simulated trading cases that closely mimic different aspects of real world markets" that provide contestants with challenges that are relevant to current market trends.

In addition to beating every other Canadian school, the Waterloo team finished ahead of teams from MIT, Columbia, and Duke University.

The competition results are posted online.

Photograph by William Chiu.

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Engineering prof plots "Murder in Steel"

The bizarre 1973 death of Hungarian deputy prime minister Péter Vályi, who fell into a container of hot iron while visiting a steelworks, serves as real-life inspiration for a mystery novel published in November by Waterloo Distinguished Professor Emeritus John Lenard using the UW publishing system.

"Murder in Steel" is set in the near-present but concerns events that took place during the unsuccessful Hungarian uprising of 1956, including a fictional conspiracy to assassinate a politician using a container of hot steel as the murder weapon. The crime is then pinned on the protagonist, a retired University of Waterloo professor, who visits his native Hungary in 2002 only to find himself arrested and accused of the decades-old assassination.

The Waterloo Region Record has called it a "darkly entertaining page-turner."

Lenard, a retired member of the department of Mechanical and Mechatronics engineering, has published more than 180 research papers and two books, but this is his first novel. His research, naturally, concerns the formation of hot steel.

The book is available at the UW bookstore, Words Worth Bookstore, the KW Bookstore, and the Bookshelf in Guelph. It is also available as an e-book for Kobo readers.

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Pi Day festivities and other notes

March 14 is of course Pi Day, and MathSoc has a number of festivities planned, including a "Pi your prof" bidding war that pits students against professors, with the students bidding for the chance to "pi" their profs in the face, and the profs attempting to bid their way out of it. All proceeds will go to the Colour Me Educated Campaign.

The annual Pi reciting competition will also be taking place, fittingly at 1:59 today. The contestant who can recite the longest string of digits will have their name engraved on the trophy and will receive "an awesome prize," according to MathSoc's website.

1:59 will also mark the release of the brand-new Pi Day t-shirt, the design of which has been kept under wraps. Shirts will be available for $10.

Movies will be shown in the MC comfy lounge, including Darren Aronofsky's Pi (natch) at 10:30, Monty Python and the Holy Grail at 12:00, Revenge of the Nerds at 1:30 and A Serious Man at 3:00. Is there a subtext to this film selection? Who can say?

As always, free pie (including gluten and nut-free options) and pineapple juice will be available. At 3:30, the first round of the pie-eating contest will begin, with sign-up sheets available today, with the second round starting at 3:45.

Here's the latest Nutrition Month "myth vs. truth" nutrition tip from Health Services dietician Sandra Ace.

"Myth": Late-night snacking will make you gain weight.
"Truth": It can lead to weight gain, but it’s not due to the time on the clock. After-dinner snacking can lead you to eat more calories than your body needs in a day, especially if you’re having high-calorie snack foods and sweetened beverages. Are you truly hunger or just bored, tired or stressed? If you are hungry and want a snack, try to keep it healthy.

If you have any questions or comments about these tips, which are running the month of March, please contact Sandra.

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