Heavy weather closes campus

The university is closed today because of heavy snowfall that started in the early hours of the morning and is expected to continue all day. Call it a Snowpocalypse, call it Snowmageddon, or just call it a day off.

The closing means that there will be no classes today, staff get a paid day off, libraries are closed, and everybody gets a 24-hour extension on assignments. A few essential services, including policing, the Student Life Centre, and residence cafeterias, continue regardless of an emergency closing.

The closing applies to the main campus as well as satellite operations including the School of Architecture, the Downtown Kitchener Health Sciences Campus, and the Waterloo Stratford Campus. The Stratford campus had already taken the steps of cancelling buses that had been scheduled to transport the Global Business and Digital Arts (GBDA) class from Waterloo to the Stratford Campus.  Alternative arrangements had been made in order for GBDA classes to be held on main campus, but last night’s snowfall and its continuation this morning has put paid to that contingency plan.

The University of Waterloo’s Optometry Clinic is closed as well.

Co-op interviews have been cancelled and will be rescheduled in JobMine.

An email from Registrar Ken Lavigne indicates that the make-up day for rescheduled classes will be Saturday, March 2.

To reiterate, according to the university's weather guidelines: "closed" means: classes are not held; meetings and other scheduled events are cancelled; scheduled examinations are cancelled, to be rescheduled; deadlines for assignments and other submissions are postponed until the same hour on the next business day on which the university is not "closed"; staff, other than those providing "essential services," are not expected to be at work, but are paid for a normal day.

"Essential services" are defined to be: food service in the residences; policing; the central plant; residence life staff; snow removal; emergency repair and maintenance; animal care. Staff providing "essential services" will be so designated by their Department Heads, who are responsible for assigning duties to be carried out and making reasonable arrangements for the protection of such staff.

Reports are coming in on Twitter of cancellations that include the Fed Bus and athletics facilities, with the Athletics department reporting that all Warrior home games have been cancelled tonight due to inclement weather, including Volleyball at 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. vs. Windsor and Men's Hockey at 7:30 p.m., also against Windsor..

Some events and services soldier on. St. Jerome's University is still going ahead with its Lectures in the Catholic Experience tonight at 7:30 p.m. that features Michael Higgins, former president of St. Jerome's, and Kevin Burns, entitled "Genius Born of Anguish - Exploring a Book of IDEAS." Tonight's FASS performances at 7:00 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. will continue as scheduled. Conversely, the UW Drama department's performances of "on love" at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., have been cancelled.

The indomitable Turnkey desk in the Student Life Centre will also be open.

The last time the university closed on a weekday in the face of poor weather was February 1, 2008, though there have been some close calls in the years since. The university experienced a Saturday shutdown on March 8, 2008.

 

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Dressed for success: BlackBerry fansite CrackBerry ran a contest called "What Would You Do For a BlackBerry 10 Phone?" and Chris Vigna, a teaching laboratory co-ordinator in the kinesiology department, gave his answer. He would become one. Video evidence above.

Suitably impressed with Vigna's costume design, CrackBerry is sending him a Z10. Congratulations, Chris!

 

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They liked it, now they get to put a ring on it

There will be over a thousand more Canadian engineers before tomorrow is over, as graduating students from the faculty of engineering take part in the Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer and put on the Iron Ring for the first time. The ceremonies will be followed by the biggest party of an engineering student’s campus years — the Iron Ring Stag — and preceded by smaller celebrations today.

In helping to stage the traditional (and distinctively Canadian) ceremony, the Faculty of Engineering works with an independent agency, Camp 15 of the Corporation of the Seven Wardens, which will be conducting the Ritual in four ceremonies tomorrow. The office of the associate dean (co-operative education and professional affairs) says that there will be four ceremonies starting at noon on Saturday, all in the Theatre of the Arts. The ceremonies are not open to the public.

The first Iron Ring ceremony at the university was held in the spring of 1963. The wardens’ web site gives this background: “The Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer has a history dating back to 1922, when seven past-presidents of the Engineering Institute of Canada attended a meeting in Montreal with other engineers. One of the speakers was civil engineer Professor [Herbert] Haultain of the University of Toronto. He felt that an organization was needed to bind all members of the engineering profession in Canada more closely together. He also felt that an obligation or statement of ethics to which a young graduate in engineering could subscribe should be developed.

“Haultain wrote to Rudyard Kipling, who had made reference to the work of engineers in some of his poems and writings. He asked Kipling for his assistance in developing a suitably dignified obligation and ceremony for its undertaking. Kipling was very enthusiastic in his response and shortly produced both an obligation and a ceremony formally entitled 'The Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer.'

“The Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer has been instituted with the simple end of directing the newly qualified engineer toward a consciousness of the profession and its social significance and indicating to the more experienced engineer their responsibilities in welcoming and supporting the newer engineers when they are ready to enter the profession.

“The Iron Ring has been registered and may be worn on the little finger of the working hand by any engineer who has been obligated at an authorized ceremony of the Ritual of the Calling of the Engineer. The ring symbolizes the pride which engineers have in their profession, while simultaneously reminding them of their humility. The ring serves as a reminder to the engineer and others of the engineer's obligation to live by a high standard of professional conduct. It is not a symbol of qualification as an engineer — this is determined by the provincial and territorial licensing bodies.”

Waterloo’s graduating engineers have typically shown their joy by dressing up in exuberant outfits and parading on campus before the Iron Ring ceremonies. With the ritual now held on a Saturday, such celebrations are focused on today, as part of a week of social events organized by GradComm, an offshoot of the Engineering Society.

After the ceremony tomorrow comes the Iron Ring Stag, which has been held at the Waterloo Inn in recent years. A tradition of that event: everybody wears black, all black. And amid the merriment, the Tool, mascot of UW engineers, will be introduced — and the newly ringed ones permitted to touch its metal for the first time ever.

 

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Feds celebrate SLC agreement with cupcakes

by Jacqueline Martinz, Federation of Students

There was an air of excitement in the Student Life Centre Great Hall on February 7^th. Undergraduates lined up for tasty treats and an announcement by Federation of Students’ President Andrew Noble.

Both arrived at 11:00 a.m. when the SLC Celebration and Q&A launched.

“On February 4th, it was revealed that the Federation of Students will have full management control of the Student Life Centre. We will be using this space to start new initiatives and enhance existing ones to meet the needs of students,” said Noble to the crowd as they devoured cupcakes, hot chocolate and coffee.

He also addressed questions from students including if any changes will be made to Brubakers, and how this acquisition will impact students. Noble stated that Food Services will retain control of Brubakers, and that students will benefit in many ways such as having more space for clubs, events, and to study.

“We encourage all students to share their thoughts and ideas for how to utilize the building on FedsConnect,” said Noble. “The Federation of Students executive will also answer any questions about the new agreement there.”

Photograph by the Federation of Students.

 

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