Daily Bulletin, Friday, November 29
Chris Redmond
[1][University of Waterloo]
DAILY BULLETIN
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Friday, November 29, 2002
* _Snow! Rules about winter storms_
* _Alumnus wires UW's Rome studio_
* _Other notes and events today_
Editor: Chris Redmond cred...@uwaterloo.ca
_[6]Canadian Aboriginal Festival in Toronto _
_________________________________________________________________
[Baskets of pine cones]
_Crafty people_ work all year towards the two-day pre-holiday craft
sale sponsored by UW's staff association. Vendors give 10 per cent of
the proceeds to the association, which raised more than $1,000 from
the event last year. It continues today, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the
Davis Centre lounge. (Photo by Sherri Bowen of Graphics photo-imaging.)
Snow! Rules about winter storms
Today's light snow doesn't look like the onset of a blizzard, but
we're approaching December, and one of these days the snow will fall
heavily and the winds blow fiercely.
And when that happens, there's a fixed procedure for determining
whether UW will be closed and classes cancelled or exams postponed --
[7]as happened one day at this time two years ago.
Under the [8]storm closing procedure established in 1994, UW will be
"closed" for the day if the Waterloo Region District School Board
cancels classes at all its schools. If only rural schools are closed,
or if buses are cancelled but schools stay open, the university will
remain open.
UW follows the school board's lead since it has "an effective system
for evaluating weather conditions across Waterloo Region", and
informing the public through the media.
Says the procedure: "The university will 'close' because of severe
winter weather when normal operation would pose a significant danger
to students, staff and faculty while on campus or would prevent large
numbers of them from coming to campus or returning safely to their
homes in Kitchener-Waterloo and the immediate surrounding area."
_Speaking of weather:_ the UW weather station reports that "Sometime
between 4:15 pm and 4:30 pm on November 26th we had our 1 millionth
visitor to [9]the website since April 17, 2000 when we first put the
counter on the homepage. The quick thinking 1 millionth visitor (Cody
age 12) managed to get [10]a screen shot of the moment."
For the university to be "closed" means that meetings and other
scheduled events are cancelled -- including classes and exams. In
addition, staff other than those employed in "essential services are
not expected to be at work, but are paid for a normal day, and
deadlines for assignments and other submissions are postponed until
the same hour on the next business day on which the university is not
"closed". The "essential services" listed are food service in the
residences, policing, the central plant (powerhouse), snow removal
(grounds crew), emergency repair and maintenance, and animal care.
Says the policy: "Classes will not be held during 'closed' periods,
and assignment deadlines must be extended. Faculty members and
academic departments do not have the authority to make exceptions to
this rule."
If there is a major winter storm on a day when the schools aren't
open, such as the first week of January, the closing decision will be
made in the early morning by the provost. When work has already begun
for the day, UW will close "only in extreme circumstances", the
procedure says.
A closing of the university will be announced on [11]the UW home page.
And the UW news bureau will report it to local radio stations, which
have been asked to broadcast it quickly and often, "since the
University of Waterloo attracts a large number of people from across
the region and beyond".
Alumnus wires UW's Rome studio _-- by Barbara Elve, from this week's Gazette_
[Unpacking hardware] In a gesture of "extraordinary vision and
generosity", an alumnus of the UW school of architecture has
transported [12]the school's Rome studio into the 21st century.
According to architecture director Rick Haldenby, Stephen Leblanc
_(left)_, who graduated with his BArch in the mid 1980s, visited Rome
last winter, where he noticed that the studio in Piazza S. Apollonia
had no computer system available for UW students.
"Over the last six months, Stephen, completely on his own initiative,
raised enough money to create a local network of six workstations,"
Haldenby reports.
"In September of this year he came to Rome for two weeks and literally
built the computers from components he purchased. He set up both wired
and wireless networks which provide internet access for both
school-owned and student-owned computers. He has added peripherals
such as a scanner, printers, disc burners, and a webcam.
"Stephen has donated his time and his expertise -- when I first heard
about the computers, I had no idea he intended to build them himself.
More than this, he has brought a tremendous generosity of spirit to
the Rome program and the school. . . .
He travelled with the class on the field trip to the south of Italy,
participated in tours and visits in Rome and worked late into the
night in the studio to get the system up."
As a token of appreciation, the Rome program presented Leblanc with a
seventeenth-century print.
Of interest on the web
[13]Simon Woodside "web log" about IT at UW
[14]Ontario spends less on student loans
[15]Review: two new books about Canadian universities
[16]Texas A&M renews the bonfire tradition
[17]College and University Retiree Associations of Canada
[18]University series ran on Vision TV this fall
[19]Settlement ends Olivieri dispute at U of T
[20]Benjamin Franklin's dollars fund modern scholars
[21]Massive cheating case at U of Virginia
[22]Ontario's new university invites its first students
[23]Somebody at UW is the greatest Doctor Fun fan
Other notes and events today
I said yesterday that the _"Greening the Campus"_ presentations from
Environment and Resource Studies 250, which began yesterday morning,
would continue today. Not true: the second half of the presentations
will come next Tuesday, December 3, starting at 9:30 in Arts Lecture
Hall room 116.
Today brings another stage of the long process by which Ontario's
biggest-ever high school graduating class becomes Ontario's
biggest-ever first-year university and college class next September.
It's _deadline day for applications_ from those students -- estimated
at no more than 15 per cent of the total -- who will be using the old
paper system rather than the new electronic system, SSOLA. "These have
always been very soft deadlines," says Peter Burroughs, UW's director
of admissions, meaning that students who try later will likely still
squeeze in. He said the [24]Ontario Universities Application Centre
has already received what it thinks is about 10 per cent of the
applications that will eventually come this year.
[The wall is full] The fine arts department's sixth annual _miniature
art sale and silent auction_ starts today, following two days of
previews. The event begins with a reception at 3 p.m. and continues
until 9:00 tonight in the department's home, East Campus Hall. The
miniature sale goes on tomorrow, 1 to 4 p.m., and all day Monday and
Tuesday, but the silent auction winds up tonight. (In the photo at left,
taken by Jean Stevenson, fine arts technician Murray Bastian previews
the sale.)
_And here's how the Ontario College of Art and Design [25]is doing it _
A first-year computer science student, Zheng Chen, _is in hospital_
after he was struck by a car on Albert Street last Sunday. "He was in
very serious condition," I'm informed, but since then has made good
progress in Hamilton hospital. He is now in fair condition and reports
suggest he will make a full recovery. He is a Chinese national. His
parents are trying to come to Canada to see their son but have not yet
been able to make it over here."
A female student who was _hit by a car on Columbia Street_ on Tuesday
morning is walking with crutches thanks to a sprained ankle, but
otherwise not much hurt, UW police said yesterday. The woman was
crossing the street on her bicycle near the Optometry building about
8:30 a.m. when the accident took place. She was treated at K-W
Hospital and released, sergeant Alan Binns said.
Richard Dong, an environment and resource studies student, has a lot
of hair. "It is 25 inches long!" he writes -- and he's hoping that
it'll soon be a lot shorter. Dong _will shave his head_, he says, if
he can raise $500 in donations for cancer research. There was [26]an
item about him in last week's _Imprint_, but he's still looking for
sponsors: e-mail richar...@waterloo.com.
"_Imprint_ wants to know what you think," writes Magda Konieczna,
editor of the student newspaper. "_Fill out their readers' survey_,
either [27]the online version or the paper version found in this
week's newspaper. Respondents will be entered into a draw, and will
contribute to making a better student newspaper at the University of
Waterloo." Among the questions: "What news do you want to read? . . .
What would you like on the cover? . . . Do you find the advertisements
effective?"
_Philosophy professor_ Jan Narveson speaks on "Slavery, Taxation and
Moral Theory" at 2:30 this afternoon in Humanities room 334. . . .
[28]NuMus, "one of Canada's most active new music societies", has _a
concert in the Humanities Theatre_ at 8:00 tonight, under the
provocative title "Strip Show". . . . "Not by Choice" _plays the
Bombshelter_ pub tonight. . . .
Ensembles from UW's music department will offer several _end-of-term
concerts_ this weekend:
* The UW Stage Band, "Swing Is King", 8:00 tonight in the great hall
of Conrad Grebel University College (tickets $10, students $5).
* The UW Choir, "Noel!", 3:00 Sunday afternoon in the Humanities
Theatre (again $10, students $5).
* Instrumental chamber ensembles, Monday night at 7:00 in the Conrad
Grebel chapel (admission free).
And next Thursday, December 5, the choirs will give their traditional
concert and carol sing-along in the great hall of the Davis Centre
(12:15).
_Bluegrass group_ "5 on the Floor" will give a concert Sunday
afternoon in support of the Toronto Mennonite Theological Centre, a
program of Conrad Grebel University College. Location: Waterloo North
Mennonite Church on Benjamin Road. . . . The staff association's
_Winterfest_ event is set for Sunday afternoon at the Columbia Icefield
(tickets were sold last month). . . . _Guests of the Federation of
Students_ will dine and dance at Federation Hall on Sunday night at
the Feds' annual holiday party. . . .
_Sports this weekend:_ The women's hockey Warriors host Laurier
tonight and Western tomorrow night (7:30) at the Columbia Icefield.
The women's volleyball team hosts Brock tomorrow night (7:00) in the
PAC main gym. Other teams are travelling this weekend: basketball,
both men's and women's teams, to Guelph tomorrow afternoon; swimmers
to Eastern Michigan University for an invitational; the men's
volleyball team to York Saturday night and Queen's Sunday afternoon.
CAR
TODAY IN UW HISTORY
_November 29, 1995:_ Ontario treasurer Ernie Eves cuts university
grants by 15 per cent; "I'm pleased that it's not worse," says provost
Jim Kalbfleisch.
[29]Information and Public Affairs, University of Waterloo
200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1
(519) 888-4567 ext. 3004
http://www.bulletin.uwaterloo.ca | [30]Yesterday's Bulletin
Copyright ) 2002 University of Waterloo
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