United Way campaign launches today

The University of Waterloo is seeing red today.

Today marks the launch of the University of Waterloo's United Way Campaign 2014, and in support of the campaign, the campus has gone red. Red balloons, red banners, and red posters have been placed all over the place.

Snap a photo of yourself next to one of these red objects and share the photo on Twitter with the hashtag #UWUnitedWay, and you'll be entered into a draw for a $500 Via Rail travel voucher. If you're not on Twitter, email your photo to united.way@uwaterloo.ca to enter the contest.

"The goal for the 2014 campaign is $250,000 and it's time to pledge your support for a worthwhile cause to help reach this amount," writes Jacqueline Martinz. Check your mailboxes for incoming pledge forms.

President Feridun Hamdullahpur is featured in a campaign launch video:

More information about the campaign is available online.

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Capture your #uwaterloolife in photos today

by Ryan Connell, Student Success Office.

Today’s the day to show off your marvelous #uwaterloolife!

24 Hours of Waterloo returns for its third year. All members of the UWaterloo community are encouraged to share photos and videos of their day on Twitter, Vine and Instagram using the hashtag #uwaterloolife. Submissions are also accepted via email. Photo contests will be taking place throughout the day on the UWaterloo Life Facebook page and Twitter (sorry – students only!), with opportunities to win a UWaterloo diploma frame, gift cards and Waterloo swag.

The top 15 submissions from students will be shared to the UWaterloo Life Facebook page from October 6-9. The photo with the most likes at the end of the four days will win a $500 Retail Services shopping spree.

UWaterloo Life Instagram will also feature the ultimate Instagram takeover today, with 24 students taking over the account for 24 hours. Each hour will showcase a different UWaterloo student, including students who are presently internationalizing their degree outside of Canada, as well as students who are taking co-ops overseas.  The collage at right shows students who have already gotten into the act: Clockwise from top right: Giovanna, a Don at UWP; Arnav, a Nanotechnology Engineering student on exchange in Denmark, Chanakya, a co-op student working for the Office of Advancement in Hong Kong; Bridget, an Arts and Business student on exchange in France; and Russell, an Engineering student completing a study abroad term in Sweden.

Learn more about the 24 Hours of Waterloo project.

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Further education workshops this weekend

by Kaitlyn Holbein.

Saturday, October 4, marks the date of the semi-annual Further Education Bootcamp. Hosted by the Centre for Career Action, the Bootcamp provides students and alumni with the opportunity to attend a diverse array of further education workshops in one location over the span of a day.

The Bootcamp is intended to provide students and alumni with tips and strategies for success on admissions tests. Anyone thinking about taking the PCAT, LSAT, OAT, DAT Princeton Review, or MCAT tests is encouraged to attend.

Attendees will learn more about potential field(s) of study and the corresponding admissions process from career advisors, industry experts, and representatives from companies that offer admissions test preparation courses.

Workshops scheduled for this Saturday outline information about the following further education options:

• Teaching
• Law
• Pharmacy
• Dentistry
• Optometry
• M.B.A.
• Medical school - general
• Naturopathic medicine
• Osteopathic medicine
• Veterinary medicine
• Rehabilitation sciences

In the past, Bootcamp attendees have described the event as an outstanding opportunity to determine which career path is the best fit for them.

Check out the full day’s schedule on the Further Education Boot Camp website.

Attendees must register for each individual session that they plan to attend. Please pass along information about this event to any Waterloo students or alumni considering furthering their education.

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Wednesday's notes

Blood Donor Clinics are taking place in the Student Life Centre's multipurpose room today, tomorrow, and Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. According to a statement from Canadian Blood Services, the national blood inventory is at its lowest point since 2008, so roll up those sleeves.

Also today, the final UW Farm Market of the term will be in full swing in the Student Life Centre's lower atrium from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. A representative from the Regional Municipality of Waterloo will be there to discuss the topic of green bins with students.

Human Resources is reporting a number of retirements, effective October 1:

• Robert Phillips, who started at the University in April 2012, retires as Custodian 1 in Plant Operations.
• Ann Barrett, who began working at Waterloo in November 1998, retires as Managing Director in the Writing Centre at the Student Success Office.
• Mary Jane Crusoe, who began her employment in May 1982, retires as Registrar of Renison University College.
  
  

Effective September 1:

• Janice Freddo, who began working at Waterloo in September 2006, retires as Lecturer in the School of Optometry and Vision Science.
  

The City of Waterloo is organizing advance polling stations for the upcoming municipal election (scheduled for October 27) on the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University's campuses. These advance polls are scheduled to be open on Wednesday, October 8. Waterloo's poll will be located in the Student Life Centre, and Wilfrid Laurier's poll will be located in the Concourse of the Fred Nichols Campus Centre. The polls are open to all eligible voters.

More information about voter eligibility for students living on-campus and off is available on the City of Waterloo's website. There will be a poll in Village 1 open from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on October 27 for students living on-campus Students living off-campus will have to make other arrangements.

Last year, the Daily Bulletin reported that the town of Newmarket, England, planned to honour the wartime work of Bill Tutte with a memorial in the town centre and a scholarship fund supporting students in the fields of mathematics and computer science.

Tutte, who played a pivotal role in the development of mathematics at the University of Waterloo, spent the Second World War engaged in critical codebreaking activities in Britain’s Government Codes and Cypher School at Bletchley Park. He came to Waterloo as a professor of mathematics in 1962, and was a member of the department of combinatorics and optimization before retiring in 1985. He died in 2002.

The Waterloo Region Record has reported that the town of Newmarket, Tutte's hometown, has made good on its promise and erected a public sculpture honouring his work.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the PhD thesis defence for Jasveen Rattan in Recreation and Leisure Studies, originally scheduled for Tuesday, October 7 at 10:00 a.m., has been postponed until further notice.

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