Like a rock: curling and community

This article was originally published on the Applied Health Sciences website.

In rural Canadian towns, curling clubs are more than just a place to play the roaring game.

Curling unites rural women and offers them health benefits beyond the physical, according to Waterloo research. For women in Canada’s most remote communities, the sport can even help stave off seasonal depression.

 “Curling clubs are sport places for sure, but they also provide a health service to the community, especially for women,” said Heather Mair, a professor in the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies and a lead investigator on the project.

Each winter, women in rural communities face greater challenges than their city-dwelling peers due to:

• poor road conditions
• limited recreational resources
• more isolation
• higher rates of seasonal depression than average Canadians

But across the country, curling clubs are working to offset the winter blues by bringing women together and giving them a place and reason to connect.

“For rural women, curling becomes a reason to leave the house in the winter,” said Mair. “In many communities, curling clubs are among only a few recreational resources available. It becomes a place where they can talk with other women, seek advice and build friendships, and take leadership roles; increasing both their confidence and resiliency when coping with rural challenges.”

In communities in the Northwest Territories, where darkness can last between 18 and 20 hours a day in the winter months, curling is valued as a way to maintain health and well-being.

“The women we spoke to talked about using curling as a way to stay positive during the darkness,” said Mair. “We found that Northern women are consciously using the sport as a way to reduce or minimize the risk of seasonal depression.”

Rural curling clubs also act as makeshift healthcare organizations, and may reduce the number of unnecessary visits to doctors' offices or hospitals.

“In communities without well-established health services, curling clubs can help to pick up the slack,” said Mair. “They become a place where other members can provide checkpoints on well-being. The clubs become a cushion between people and doctors' offices.

In remote communities the closest hospital can be hundreds of kilometers away.

“Curling clubs aren’t just a place for fun— they are places where women’s physical, mental and emotional health is enhanced,” said Mair. “We need to find a way to convey that so that these places are better supported and continue to thrive from coast to coast.”

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Town Hall to tackle experiential education

The eighth in a series of Mini Town Halls will be taking place on Wednesday, January 21 in the Sedra Student Design Centre in Engineering 5. The theme focus will be on experiential education, with the event running from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Experiential education theme leads Ian Orchard, vice-president academic & provost, Peggy Jarvie, director of Co-operative Education & Career Action (CECA), Emanuel Carvalho, associate dean, co-op, administration & planning, and Judene Pretti, director of the Centre for the Advancement of Co-operative Education (WatCACE), will engage in an interactive dialogue on the subject of co-operative education and other programs that fall under the umbrella of experiential education, one of the key themes of the Strategic Plan.

The mini town halls are organized to give an opportunity to members of the university community to learn how the Strategic Plan is being put into action as the theme leaders and members of the theme working groups present their progress and also answer questions.

Over the course of the last seven sessions, held between March 6 and September 23, 2014, attendees have had the opportunity learn what it will take to move Waterloo’s eight strategic priorities from paper to practice.

Questions can be submitted in advance to townhall@uwaterloo.ca, and the conversation can be joined using the #UWth hashtag and also by following @uWaterlooLIVE on Twitter. The event will be webcast live. Seating is limited.

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Exam, survey processing services moving

Exam and Survey Processing will be moved to the IST Service Desk in East Campus 2 (EC2) on Wednesday, January 14.

These services will be unavailable on January 14, 15 and 16.

Beginning on Monday, January 19, answer sheets can be dropped off at the IST Service Desk in the front lobby of the EC2 building, or at the IT Service Desk in the David Centre Library from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday.

The IST Service Desk in EC2 boasts a 24-hour turnaround time (give or take depending on demand) and has short-term parking available if clients prefer to drive. There will be workstations available to mark the processed exams and surveys.

For the IT Service Desk in the DC library, exams must be dropped off in a sealed envelope or box. Answer sheets will be transferred to the IST Service Desk in EC2 for processing, with transfer times at 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Turnaround time is 24 hours from the transfer time. There are no workstations in the DC Library to mark or review exams and surveys.

Anyone with questions or concerns is encouraged to contact the IST Service Desk (the CHIP) via email or by calling extension 84357.

Media Resources services (videos, e-classroom keys and fobs) will still be located in MC 1052. For fob license renewal, please complete and submit the electronic form. For all other podium access requests, please visit MC 1052.

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Winter Welcome Week begins

The Federation of Students is hosting Winter Welcome Week from January 12 to 17.

"This year, undergraduates will be able to enjoy a number of new events including Winter Wonderland on Tuesday, which will features rides on horse carriages," writes the Federation's Jacqueline Martinz. "On Thursday, a mechanical bull will be placed in the Student Life Centre for undergraduates to take a spin on. There will also be popular returning events such as Sex Toy Bingo and a free breakfast for lucky early risers."

Contests will be held throughout the week on the Feds social media accounts. The full schedule for Winter Welcome Week is available on the Feds' website.

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