Cheers: President Feridun Hamdullahpur and IQC Executive Director Raymond Laflamme join (l-r) Juan-Pablo Paz, 2012 Nobel Prize Laureate David Wineland and Wojciech Zurek for a toast to Zurek’s 60^th birthday and the 20^th anniversary of his seminal paper in quantum information.

Wineland, who received the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physics ""for ground-breaking experimental methods that enable measuring and manipulation of individual quantum systems," was participating in the Decoherence and Friends conference in honour of Zurek’s accomplishments. Wineland’s co-recipient, Serge Haroche, will be giving a public talk at IQC tonight at 6:00 p.m. at the Quantum-Nano Centre.

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CBC's "The Debaters" coming to campus

A popular radio show that features comedians sounding off on topics both serious and silly will be taping three shows at the Humanities Theatre on Monday, May 27.

The Debaters, featured on CBC Radio One, is hosted by Steve Patterson, named Canada's Best Male Standup of 2011, and is billed as "a combustible mix of sharply crafted comedic rants and hilarious adlibs. The engaging format is part stand-up, part quiz show and part comedy competition with the live audience picking the winners."

Three episodes of the show will be taped, featuring six debates and 12 comics.

The taping takes place from 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. in the Humanities Theatre. Tickets are on sale at the Theatre Centre Box Office.

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Senate approves budget, will vote on strat plan

Senate convened for its regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday and discussed a range of agenda items that included the institution's 2013-2014 operating budget and the latest draft of the university's strategic plan.

Vice-President, Academic & Provost Geoff McBoyle presented the operating budget on behalf of Senate's finance committee. The budget is balanced and in fact shows a surplus of income over expenses of about $328,000.

McBoyle outlined some of the pressures facing the income side of the university's operating budget. For example, operating grant income of $209.5M was subject to to "policy levers" per the 2012 Ontario budget to the tune of 0.95 per cent, or $2.16M, and a further $979,000 was lost to "international student recovery," a reduction in the operating grant of $750 for each undergraduate and Master's-level international student that was also introduced in 2012. Undergraduate tuition accounted for $241.5M in income, which took into account the new tuition framework announced in March that capped increases for regulated programs at 3 per cent (5 per cent in deregulated programs). McBoyle noted that overall income increased by about five per cent.

On the expense side, salary, wages, and employee benefits increased by 5.3 per cent overall, and student support, which includes things like matching scholarships, tuition set-aside, and undergraduate scholarships and bursaries, increased by 4.9 per cent.

Balance was achieved through the usual 2.5 per cent expenditure reduction across the faculties in the neighbourhood of $6 million.

Senators voted to recommend that the Board of Governors give "favourable consideration" to the budget at its meeting on June 4.

The vote to endorse the university’s new strategic plan, as recommended by the Senate Long-Range Planning Committee, was postponed and will take place later this week electronically.

In addition, Kelly Anthony of the School of Public Health and Health Systems, and Applied Health Sciences Teaching Fellow, gave a presentation on the subject of the HIP, or high-impact-practices approach to experiential learning in undergraduate education.

Senate also passed a number of revisions to the Psychology department's PhD in Clinical Psychology, approved the English for Academic Success Admission Requirements, and established a new Bachelor of Science in materials and nanoscience, a 2+2 program with Beijing Jiaotong University while inactivating the Faculty of Environment's geomatics option.

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Tomorrow, visiting students Think About Math

The University of Waterloo will host its annual conference intended to increase an interest in math-related careers among girls tomorrow.

Forty girls in grade 9 classes across Ontario will attend Think About Math on Friday, May 24 at the Waterloo campus. The one-day workshop, now in its fifth year, highlights interesting careers and applications of mathematics.

"The goal of this workshop is to boost girls' confidence in mathematics and inform them about the number of fulfilling careers open to them when they study math," said Jen Nelson, a lecturer in the Faculty of Mathematics at Waterloo, and Director of Think About Math. "We hear anecdotally that this event is an eye-opening experience for many of the girls who attend."

In the morning, the girls will meet with female Waterloo math alumni who are working in a variety of exciting careers. They will get a chance to ask questions about career paths and work-life balance in a career-fair setting. The career fair takes place from 10:30 a.m. to noon in the Davis Centre atrium.

In the afternoon, the girls will participate in two different interactive workshops. In the first session, called Extreme Makeover: Math Edition, the girls will explore math in popular culture, how pop culture makes it difficult for girls to connect with mathematics, and ways they can change how math is perceived and consumed. It will take place in room 3103 in the Mathematics 3 building from 1:00 - 2:15 p.m. In the second workshop, Math and Minds, the girls will see how math is used in neuroscience. In this session, the girls will learn how the brain can be seen as a computational device. It takes place in the same location immediately following, and goes until 3:45 p.m.

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Bombshelter Pub to open patio with a party

"The sun is shining," writes the Federation of Students' Jacqueline Martinz, "and starting May 24 the university community and guests will be able to enjoy breakfast, lunch, and dinner outdoors."

The Bombshelter Pub, located in the Student Life Centre, is hosting a special Hawaiian-themed opening for its patio from 4:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. on Friday. The event includes an

official ribbon cutting, a free pig roast, Hawaiian dancers, exciting trip giveaways, and guest host DJ Whitegold.

Tickets for the special event are available for $5 in the Federation of Students’ main office, which is located in room 1102 in the Student Life Centre.

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