Student election campaigns underway

Campaigning has begun for the 2015-2016 Federation of Students elections and undergraduate student senator elections.

The campaign period runs from January 27 to February 9. Candidates for the four Federation of Students executive positions, Students' Council seats, and undergraduate student senate positions will be making their case to the undergraduate electorate.

A number of campaign-related events are scheduled, including:

• Services Debate: January 29, 2015 - 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm, SLC Great Hall
• Executive Debate: February 2, 2015 - 9:00 am - 11:00 am, SLC Great Hall
• Imprint Debate: February 3, 2015 - 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm, SLC Great Hall

The nominees are:

Federation of Students Executive

President

• Baiju Patel
• Chris Lolas
• Paula Colaso

Vice-President, Education

• David Fin Birnbaum
• Stephane Hamade (incumbent)

Vice-President, Internal

• Jessica Dineen
  
• Maaz Yasin (incumbent)
  
• Matt McLean
• Mike Cimetta

Vice-President, Operations & Finance

• Ben Balfour (incumbent)
• Carly McCready

Students' Council

There were a number of acclamations to Students' Council.

Arts

The following candidates were acclaimed to the 5 available Arts seats:

• Amy Zhou
  
• Dayna Nelson
  
• Doug Turner
  
• Hannah Beckett
  
• Natasha Crasto

Engineering

The following candidate were acclaimed to the five available Engineering seats:

• Chanakya Ramdev
  
• Julian Wang
  
• Kush Thaker
  
• Rhea Philip
  
• Amy Yang

Environment

Candidates Nicole Yang and Shalaka Jadhav were acclaimed to the two available Environment seats.

Mathematics

Candidate Tristan Potter was acclaimed to one of the six available Mathematics seats.

Renison

Candidate Hayley Hopkins was acclaimed.

Science

The following candidates were acclaimed to the four available Science seats.

• Emily Ha
  
• Nirupama Gidla
• Tenzing Kuyee
• Kianna Wan

Stratford - GBDA

Candidate Guile Domingo was acclaimed to the Stratford seat.

At the close of the nomination period, there were no nominees for the two Applied Health Sciences seats, the School of Architecture seat, the School of Pharmacy seat, the St. Jerome's seat.

Undergraduate Student seats on Senate for 2015-2017

There will be elections in three constituencies.

Applied Health Science

• James Koo
• Nickta Jowhari
  

Engineering (1)

• Pallavi Hukerikar
  
• Houze Wang

Mathematics

Candidate Tristan Potter was acclaimed.

At-Large

• Allyson Francis
  
• Guile Domingo
  
• Andrew Clubine

The polling period runs from February 10 at 10:00 a.m. to February 12 at 10:00 p.m. Voting will take place online, and polling stations will be set up across the University's main campus and its satellite campuses, with locations and times to be confirmed prior to the opening of polls.

The results will be announced on Friday, February 13 at 1:00 p.m. in the Student Life Centre's Great Hall.

Please direct any questions and comments to Elections Officer Anne Marie Hayman.

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Sunnybrook report lauds co-op students

by Julie Funk.

Rachel McDonald, 2B Health Studies, is the first author of “Student Accomplishments in the Rapid Response Radiotherapy Program: A Ten Year Review.”  This research paper is a survey-based analysis of the successes achieved by Sunnybrook Health Centre’s co-op students since 2004 and has been published in the Journal of Cancer Education.

McDonald presented the research seminar on December 9 to Waterloo’s Centre for the Advancement of Co-operative Education (WatCACE) at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto.

While WatCACE was not a collaborator on the project, the critical comparison of co-op to non-co-op student achievement reflects the work and research conducted by the Centre. Sunnybrook’s research on the “co-op advantage” strongly complements WatCACE’s research-based understanding of UWaterloo’s best practices as a world leader in co-operative education.

Since 2004, under the guidance of Dr. Edward Chow MBBS, the Rapid Response Radiotherapy Program (RRRP) has hired a total of 54 post-secondary students, with 54% (29) of those co-ops from the University of Waterloo, to help run the program and conduct critical research.

Together, these co-op students published 69 first-authored papers found on Pubmed, and 29 first-authored book chapters. Of the 99 awards given to Sunnybrook student employees and volunteers, 97 were earned by Waterloo co-op students.

Pictured above are (front row) Stacy Yuen, Dr. Chow, Rachel McDonald, Philiz Goh, and Dr. Cyril Danjoux, and (back row) Dr. Elizabeth Barnes and Lori Holden.

Philiz Goh, a kinesiology alumna from the University of Waterloo, and a self-proclaimed loyal “minion” of Dr. Chow, returned to Sunnybrook as a registered nurse working in the Breast Cancer Research Centre. Goh and Dr. Chow give high praise to UWaterloo’s co-op program, preferring to hire first and second work term students (61% of total hires).  These students often return for a second work term with more research-based responsibilities, and mentor younger students in the clinical responsibilities of the RRRP.

Dr. Chow attests to the competitive advantage of a work term at Sunnybrook when pursuing further education in medical school. Research found that RRRP co-op students often go on to pursue post-graduate programs in a related field: 17 of Sunnybrook’s past student employees are currently in, or have graduated from, medical school; six pursued masters programs; and one achieved a PhD.

McDonald and the Sunnybrook research team witnessed great accomplishments in their co-op students working in the RRRP. They conclude that “co-operative education allows students to develop professional skills beyond those learned during academic semesters.  It also provides invaluable résumé building and networking opportunities that students may otherwise not experience.”

Dr. Chow and his team hope to further their investigation of co-operative education in the future with more in-depth analyses, including comprehensive in-person interviews.

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Panel examines the future of housing

To help kick off the launch of School of Planning researcher Markus Moos' Generationed City project, the School of Planning has organized a free expert panel discussion entitled Housing the Future: Challenges and Opportunities Facing the Next Generation.

The discussion will feature a panel of urban development scholars and will be moderated by CTV Kitchener's Abigail Bimman. Beginning at 12:30 p.m., students and young people are being encouraged to participate in a digital 'photo booth’ where they can share housing challenges they are encountering.

Panelists include:

• Professor Markus Moos, Assistant Professor, School of Planning, University of Waterloo;
• Professor Pierre Filion, Professor, School of Planning, University of Waterloo;
• Maxwell Hartt, PhD Candidate, School of Planning, University of Waterloo;
• Professor Laura Johnson, Professor, School of Planning, University of Waterloo;
• Professor Roger Keil, Professor, Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University; and
• Professor Alan Walks, Professor, Department of Geography, University of Toronto.

Generationed City aims to be a conduit for urban generational research. Much of Moos' recent work focuses on young adults and Millennials.

The event takes place on Thursday, January 29 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. on the third floor of Environment 3 in the School of Planning corridor. Refreshments will be provided.

Space is limited, so please register here.

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Wednesday's notes

The Mathematics Faculty Awards ceremony and dinner is set to take place on Thursday, January 29 at 5:30 p.m. At the ceremony, the Mathematics Faculty will "honour students who have established outstanding academic records in a number of areas." Awards being handed out include:

• First-year entrance award winners;
• Upper-year Senate Scholarship winners;
• Students who have done well in university competitions; and
• Recipients of numerous one-time awards.

A brief reception will begin at 5:30 p.m. followed by dinner at 6:00 p.m.

Today is Bell Let's Talk Day, a program dedicated to the promotion and support of mental health across Canada. The program enhances awareness, understanding, and treatment of mental illness and promotes access to care and research across the country. Today, 5 cents from every text message sent, long distance call made, tweet using #BellLetsTalk, and facebook share of the Bell Let's Talk image will be donated to mental health initiatives across Canada.

Raising awareness helps to decrease the stigma associated with mental health. The University of Waterloo provides support and treatment services and has many resources available to members of the University community.

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