Daily Bulletin, Friday, September 16
Chris Redmond
[1][University of Waterloo]
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Friday, September 16, 2005
* _St. Jerome's launches Cummings Lecture_
* _Buildings welcome visitors tomorrow_
* _The positive and the negative_
Editor: Chris Redmond cred...@uwaterloo.ca
_[6]Royal Medieval Faire _
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St. Jerome's launches Cummings Lecture
A tormented artist, disdained by his peers only to become a celebrated
icon of the 20th century, is the subject of the inaugural Laurence A.
Cummings Lecture in Cultural History at St. Jerome's University
tonight.
Modris Eksteins of the University of Toronto at Scarborough is the
speaker. He addresses the topic of "Art, Fame, and the Problem of
Authenticity: [7]Vincent van Gogh and Us" at 7:30 in Siegfried Hall at
St. Jerome's.
[Cummings] Eksteins examines Van Gogh's life and art to understand how
this obscure 19th century artist -- the victim of poverty, critical
neglect, unrequited love, mental illness and suicide -- rose to
near-mythic status in the 20th century. His distinctive
post-impressionist canvases, once unsold, now command record prices.
What does this transformation say about Van Gogh and, more
importantly, about the people who are fascinated by him?
Eksteins, a professor of history, is currently researching a book on
van Gogh. He is the author of _Rites of Spring: The Great War and the
Birth of the Modern Age_ (1989), winner of the Trillium Prize and the
Wallace K. Ferguson Prize of the Canadian Historical Association, and
selected one of Amazon.ca's 50 essential Canadian books. _Walking
Since Daybreak: A Story of Eastern Europe, World War II, and the Heart
of Our Century_ (1999) won the inaugural Pearson Writers' Trust
Non-Fiction Prize.
The Laurence A. Cummings Lecture in Cultural History has been
established by former students of Cummings _(pictured)_, who was a
professor of English at St. Jerome's from 1962 to 1972, then moved to
the main UW campus as a professor of English and architecture. He is
recalled as the founder of the cultural history program in the UW
school of architecture. In 1979 Cummings received a province-wide
award for excellence in teaching from the Ontario Confederation of
University Faculty Associations.
Admission to tonight's lecture on van Gogh is free, but space is
limited.
The lecture is the first event of the 2005-06 season for the St.
Jerome's Centre for Catholic Experience, which will present more than
a dozen speakers this year. Among them are Stan McKay, former
moderator of the United Church of Canada, speaking October 21 on "The
Aboriginal Experience of Christianity"; theologian Gregory Baum,
speaking January 20 on Muslim-Christian relations; and Douglas John
Hall, theologian and long-ago founding principal of St. Paul's United
College, speaking March 24.
Graduates of St. Jerome's University who were taught by Larry Cummings
or who belonged to his theatrical troupe, St. Aethelwold's Players,
are also invited to a reunion brunch on Saturday at 10 a.m. at St.
Jerome's. Information: 884-8111 ext. 8277.
[Carey] [Brandt]
_Filling in:_ Tom Carey, UW's associate vice-president (learning
resources and innovation), is on a year-long sabbatical leave that
started September 1. While he's away, the provost announced this week,
the associate vice-president (academic), Gail Cuthbert Brandt, will
also serve as interim AVP for Carey's portfolio. The [8]"learning
resources and innovation" departments include the teaching resource
office, the Centre for Learning and Teaching Through Technology,
audio-visual services, and distance and continuing education.
Buildings welcome visitors tomorrow
Across Waterloo Region tomorrow, people can visit obscure churches,
historic government buildings, a quaint store or two -- and two of
UW's buildings, one that's new and one that's new again. The occasion
is _Doors Open Waterloo Region_, part of a province-wide effort to let
people see what's inside architectural treasures and curiosities. More
than two dozen buildings in Waterloo Region will be open, most of them
from 10:00 to 4:00, and it's all free. The UW buildings involved are
the Centre for Environmental and Information Technology at the centre
of the main campus (built in 2003 and including the popular Earth
Sciences Museum) and the Architecture building in Cambridge
(originally [9]a 1920s factory, renovated for the architecture school
last year).
Computing systems staff are attending their weekly IST professional
development seminar this morning, and this week's topic is _"Solutions
for Connecting from Home"_. With the prospect of UW's dialup service
-- the cheap, if slow, way to connect to the campus network and the
Internet -- [10]being discontinued next spring, people are looking for
alternatives. IST staff will brief each other about four (at least)
commercial options: Huron Telecommnication, Sympatico, 295ca, and
Rogers. "The speakers," a seminar announcement indicates, "will talk
about ease of installation, cost, speed, multiple connections,
problems, and more." And then, presumably, they'll be available across
campus to respond when they're asked for advice about the
alternatives.
_Novelist Sandra Birdsell_ reads from her new book, _Children of the
Day_, Sunday at 7 p.m. in the chapel at Conrad Grebel University
College. Admission is free. The book [11]is described as "an
incredible, life-affirming portrait of the marriage of Sara Vogt, a
Mennonite immigrant stifled by a bloody family history and the secrets
and propriety of her people, and Oliver Vandal, a man troubled by his
own ghosts and longings, that include his nostalgia for his Metis
heritage."
The _tourism lecture series_, sponsored by the recreation and leisure
studies and geography departments, will be held again this term, with
the first presentation scheduled for Monday morning. It'll be given by
Paul Eagles of recreation, under the title "International Trends
Affecting the Future of Tourism in Protected Areas". That and
subsequent lectures -- some by UW people, others by visitors from as
far away as New Zealand and Sweden -- will be given Mondays at 9:30
a.m. in Arts Lecture Hall room 105.
Coming Tuesday through Thursday next week (with a repeat in late
November) is a course offered by UW's [12]continuing education office,
under the title _"Project Management Applied Tools and Techniques"_.
The course, a flyer says, "covers the complete project life-cycle,
from initial project proposal and definition, through project
implementation and finally to the often neglected project completion
phase." Price tag for the three-day course is $975 plus tax, although
full-time UW staff can get it at half price.
Friday of next week brings a special event for the _Centre for Family
Business_, an arm of Conrad Grebel University College. The centre's
annual general meeting will be held along with the first "breakfast
seminar" of the new program year, which features speaker Ken Kaye on
"Getting and Staying on Track". It'll be held at the Grey Silo Golf
Course in Waterloo's RIM Park; details are [13]online.
The [14]UW Recreation Committee has a rich program of _events for
faculty and staff_ this fall, starting with a self-defence information
seminar on Monday and an American Sign Language class that begins
Tuesday, and continuing with scrapbooking, Reiki healing, "Christmas
creativity", theatre outings, and various others. Details are on its
web site, and the UWRC also has an active e-mail list for those who
are interested.
Winners of the _President's Scholarships_ for top-ranking students
entering UW this fall have been invited to a reception this afternoon
at the University Club. . . . The local chapter of the [17]Canadian
Federation of University Women, an organization for _women university
graduates_, will hold its first 2005-06 meeting [18]on Tuesday night
and welcomes new members. . . . The graduate studies office is
coordinating UW applications for this year's _Rhodes Scholarships_,
and lists the deadline as September 23. . . .
_Sports this weekend:_ Warrior baseball, Saturday 1:00 against Western
and Sunday 1:00 against McMaster, at Jack Couch Park in Kitchener.
Field hockey, Saturday 12:00 against Carleton and Sunday 1:45 against
Toronto, at University Stadium. Women's rugby, Saturday 1:00 against
Western, at Columbia Field. Men's rugby, Saturday 3:00 against
McMaster, also at Columbia Field. Soccer against Carleton on Saturday,
women at 1:00, men at 3:00, Columbia Field. Women's tennis, Saturday
at Laurier; both men's and women's tennis in Hamilton Sunday against
Western and McMaster. Women's volleyball, playing in Montreal for the
weekend -- tonight against Bois de Boulogne, tomorrow against
Universite de Montreal and then McGill. Cross-country, tomorrow at the
Guelph Invitational. Football, tomorrow 2 p.m. at Guelph.
_WHEN AND WHERE_
_Clubs Days_ 10:00 to 4:00, Student Life Centre.
_Centre for International Governance Innovation_ presents open
seminar: "Global Institutional Reform: Conflict or Coherence?" 9:30
a.m., 57 Erb Street West, free tickets rs...@cigionline.org.
_Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council_ session on
grant-writing strategies, Monday 10:00 to noon, Tatham Centre room
2218.
_Art gallery reception_ to mark the opening of "Drafting Paper
Memories" by Scott Fillier, 4 to 6 p.m., Modern Languages building
gallery.
_Chemistry seminar:_ Austen Angell, Arizona State University, "The
Weirdness of Water-Like Systems in Their Supercooled States,
Liquid-Liquid Transitions and the Like," 4:00, Math and Computer room
2066.
_Canada's Wonderland_ trip organized by Math Society, Saturday;
tickets ($23) on sale third floor of Math and Computer.
_UW's ACM programming contests_ this Saturday and September 24,
details [15]online.
_Canadian Institutes of Health Research_ representatives speak about
scholarship opportunities, undergraduate to postdoctoral, Monday 8:30
to 10:30, Needles Hall room 3001.
_TB skin testing clinic_ Monday and Tuesday, 9:30 to 4:30, Village I
great hall.
_Computational mathematics seminar:_ Robert Bixby, ILOG Inc. and Rice
University, [16]"Mixed-Integer Programming -- It works out of the
box", Monday 3:30, Math and Computer room 5158.
_Centre for International Governance Innovation_ open seminar: "Public
Diplomacy, a Canadian and UK Perspective", Monday 4:00, 57 Erb Street
West, reservations e-mail rs...@cigionline.org.
_UW Senate_ monthly meeting Monday 4:30, Needles Hall room 3001.
_TB skin testing clinic_ Monday and Tuesday, 9:30 to 4:30, Village I
great hall.
The positive and the negative
I had two unsolicited e-mail messages this week that readers might
find interesting -- one about the wonders of the campus as new
students discover it, the other about unpleasant behaviour by (most
likely) some of those same students. The staff members who wrote the
two messages have agreed to let their words be published as long as
their names are not.
Here's the first letter: "Leaving campus last night through the lazy
twilight I was mesmerized by the renewed energy on campus. There was
something special; excitement, anticipation, and wonder filled the
air.
"The new class gathering under the trees at ML where new friends were
meeting and new worlds were being discovered. Small groups of students
enjoying the summer evening deep in discussion or wandering back to
Rez with bags of books. The buzz on the Bomber patio and the game of
Ultimate on the residence green which had all oddly seemed absent for
so long. It came to me as I drove on: They're back! And what a great
feeling that was."
Yes, but . . . here's the other letter: "It's wonderful to have all
the students back on campus. It's refreshing to see their young faces.
The down side is, it's only 2 p.m. and the women's washrooms are
already destroyed.
"I work in the MC building. At the beginning of each term we have to
put up with clogged toilets and sinks, soaped down washrooms, toilet
paper stolen, tampon boxes broken into and many other disgusting
things I don't wish to mention.
"[A relative] has worked on campus for at least 25 years and has never
worked in a building as dirty as the Math and Computer. My children
were is the ESQ camp one year and I went to meet them. I had never
used the washrooms in the SLC before. I couldn't get over how clean
they were. I mentioned this to a student who was in there and she
asked me which building I was from. When I told her she said "Oh,
that's too bad -- that building is disgusting."
CAR
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www.bulletin.uwaterloo.ca | [20]Yesterday's Daily Bulletin
Copyright © 2005 University of Waterloo
References
1. http://www.uwaterloo.ca/
2. http://www.bulletin.uwaterloo.ca/2005/sep/15th.html
3. http://www.bulletin.uwaterloo.ca/previous.html
4. http://www.bulletin.uwaterloo.ca/bulsearch.html
5. http://www.bulletin.uwaterloo.ca/aboutus.html
6. http://www.royalmedievalfaire.org/
7. http://www.vangoghgallery.com/
8. http://avp-lri.uwaterloo.ca/
9. http://www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infonews/release/2002/047%20Funding%20for%20School%20of%20Architecture,%20March%207,%202002.html
10. http://www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/bulletin/2005/aug/03we.html
11. http://www.grebel.uwaterloo.ca/media/
12. http://dce.uwaterloo.ca/
13. http://www.cffb.ca/show_record.php?load_record=1&record_id=59
14. http://uwrc.uwaterloo.ca/
15. http://plg.uwaterloo.ca/~acm00
16. http://www.math.uwaterloo.ca/navigation/CompMath/Research/seminars/CM-notices.shtml#Bixby
17. http://www.cfuw.org/
18. http://info.wlu.ca/~wwwlib/cfuw/
19. http://www.communications.uwaterloo.ca/
20. http://www.bulletin.uwaterloo.ca/2005/sep/15th.html