Wednesday, June 16, 1993 MESSAGE FROM PRESIDENT: UW president James Downey says he will be sending a letter to the university community later today or tomorrow to bring people up to date on the "social contract" legislation and say something about how UW will handle the matter. The executive council -- deans and other top officials -- met this morning, as it does most Wednesdays. While the meeting was (as usual) a closed one, it seems clear that the social contract budget-cutting was a major item on the agenda. The latest estimate is that UW needs to cut about $8 million a year from the faculty and staff payroll. The Social Contract Act, currently before the legislature, sets a deadline of August 1 for creation of a "plan" within each institution, preferably through agreement between employer and employee groups. NO GAZETTE: Please note that there is no Gazette issue today. The Gazette will return next Wednesday, June 23. Future issues will be published June 30, July 14 and August 18. ALZHEIMER RESEARCH: The UW news bureau has invited reporters to a media briefing tomorrow (Thursday) about "the planned Alzheimer's Research and Education Project" at UW. The project is sponsored by the faculty of applied health sciences and the Alzheimer Association of Ontario. Steering committee members include Mike Sharratt, director of UW's Centre for Applied Health Research. Chris Redmond Information and Public Affairs credmond@watserv1 ext. 3004