The Devil's Doorstop: Professor Stephen Prentice, the associate chair for undergraduate studies and head of the School of Anatomy in Applied Health Sciences took this photo of a goose parked in front of the entrance to Burt Matthews Hall on Monday.

Plant Operations has posted a sign warning passers-by of this ambush in waiting, and other notices are being posted across campus as our resident birds do what it is they do every spring (ask your father). They are also erecting the usual barricades around nesting sites that are close to areas of human traffic on campus.

This year, the Student Success Office has developed a Goose Watch website that allows people to send in alerts about goose nest locations by email or by tweeting them with the hashtag #goosewatch. The nest locations will be added to the map (pictured at right), giving pedestrians ample warning of where not to tread.

The university's safety office has recommended that you check out a warning leaflet prepared by the Ohio state government that outlines how to avoid getting on a goose's bad side. In the above case, it's by staying on this side of the protective glass barrier.

 

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CRT to provide after-hours care during exams

The Registrar’s Office has finalized plans with the Campus Response Team to provide after hours care for anyone who is ill or injured during the winter final exam period, writes Charlene Schumm, director of scheduling for exams and convocation.

"The Campus Response Team consists of exceptionally responsible, dedicated and professional students currently attending the University of Waterloo," Schumm notes. "We still require that anyone who is sick or injured be sent to the University of Waterloo Clinic (Health Services) during regular business hours, but the Campus Response Team will be available to tend to illnesses and injuries when the clinic is closed."

The duties of the team will be to tend to any non-critical illnesses or injuries that take place outside regular business hours during the final exam period.

Anyone who is in need of non-critical medical assistance between April 11 and 25 can make a call to extension 31000 to the Campus Response Team, who will be stationed on the fourth floor of the Math & Computer building, central to all scheduled and administered exams, during the following hours:

• Monday to Thursday: 7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
• Friday: 3:30 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
  
• Saturday: 8:30 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.

 

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For co-op and faculties, it's business time

by Karina Graf, Co-operative Education and Career Action (CECA).

At Waterloo, we do business differently. CECA talked to faculty members who are intimately familiar with our various “X & Business” programs and our Management Engineering program to tell us about business at Waterloo. Here are a few highlights from the conversation:

What differentiates an “X & Business” student from another student?

AHS: “We’re trying to put them in a business environment. In a law program we want them to think like a lawyer, in med school we want them to think like a doctor. Until you think like the professional, you will never be successful. In our world, we don’t know where they are going to end up, but we know it is in a business environment. We help them think about the problems they are going to face.”

SCI: “An innovation for us is of no use until it is commercialized. Out of the lab and into the hands of the consumer is the journey of Science & Business. From the first day our students enter their Science & Business workshop, we tell them that this innovative product they are working on needs to get into the hands of the consumer.”

How do you differentiate your program from a typical business program?

ENV: “Our theme electives offer a variety of innovative courses – many of which are only offered at a handful of other universities. For example, one of our theme electives builds on ‘marketing 101’ knowledge by offering students an opportunity to learn about ‘green marketing’. Many of our students also choose to complete options such as the Environmental Assessment diploma.”

ARTS: “Business programs offered in Canada and the US are bringing in more and more humanities and social sciences into the business program. We were doing that a long time ago. The students are getting the business component, but they also get the exposure to Arts courses like the humanities, social sciences, languages and cultures, etc. Business programs (in North America at least) are gradually and increasingly building those courses into their programs.”

What do you want employers to know about your program?

MATH: “It’s a challenge having employers come to Waterloo to think about hiring a Business student. RBC comes to hire software people and Laurier for business people. We have strong business people and they shouldn’t forget about us. They are strong Business students with a full breadth of a Business background. Employers need to know that we have the students they want.”

How do you instill a business culture within the students?

ENG: “We strongly encourage the use of real-life problems in courses. Similarly, many of the senior design projects solve complex management engineering problems for industry clients. In addition, many student teams work to transform their student design ideas into start-up ventures.”

Where do Waterloo “X & Business” co-op students work? Check it out for yourself:

For the full story, check out The Prism, Fall 2012.

Last week’s question: 31 per cent of you guessed correctly; 5,019 individual advising appointments were held at the Centre for Career Action in 2012. Congratulations to this week’s poll winner He Xin Wang.

This week’s question: How many “X & Business” work terms took place in 2011? (Hint: you’ll find the answer in The Prism) Take a guess and enter to win a lunch bag.

 

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Lysistrata After Dark and other notes

Waterloo Regional Police are investigating a robbery that took place on Sunday, April 7 outside of Fed Hall. Two students, one from uWaterloo and one from Wilfrid Laurier, reported that they had been jumped by masked individuals who claimed to have a knife and took their cellphones. No knife was seen. Anyone with information should contact Waterloo Regional Police North Division Detectives or the University of Waterloo Police Service.

Given the choice, would you rather have world peace forever or no more sex ever again? That’s the famous ultimatum delivered by the women of ancient Athens in Aristophanes’ Lysistrata, which is being given a modern spin by Drama student Shaw Forgeron as his undergraduate thesis project, beginning its run tomorrow.

Lysistrata [After Dark] has been re-envisioned as a burlesque show that is being called “sexy-fun, funny, and fantastical.” It is being produced and performed by a group of theatre students from the drama department as part of their ongoing studies.

The musical adaptation runs from April 11 to 13 in the Theatre of the Arts. Tickets are $7 for general admission, and $5 for students and seniors, and are available online.

Nancy Matthews, author of "Sabbaticals 101: A Practical Guide for Academics and Their Families" will be leading a discussion session on Tuesday, April 16 from noon to 1:00 p.m. in the Dana Porter Library's Flex Lab (room 329). The event is free.

Matthews is a veteran of six overseas sabbaticals and exchanges with her recently-retired husband David Matthews and their two sons. She has supplemented her personal experience by interviewing 40 other sabbatical veterans as well as research on cross-cultural adjustments, travelling with children, living abroad and returning home. Attendees can pre-register by emailing Nancy.

 

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