Daily Bulletin, Thursday, December 8, 1994 NEXT YEAR'S BUDGET: The provost offered a first draft of a 1995-96 budget for UW at yesterday afternoon's meeting of the senate finance and long-range planning committees. What does it show? Income up by 1.8 per cent from the current year's level, to $185.6 million, and spending up by 1.2 per cent, to $186.0 million. The income figures are a little better than guesses, but not much better, following the Ontario government's announcement on Monday that there won't be any new cuts to university grants in the coming year. The expense figures are based on what's known so far about rising costs. They include the assumption that faculty members will have five Social Contract unpaid days in 1995-96 (there are six in the current year), staff none (this year one). Information about the current year's budget was perhaps more startling than anything the provost was able to say about 1995-96. Suddenly there's a sizeable deficit, with revenue now expected to be about $1.6 million lower than was estimated as recently as October. Reason: enrolment has dropped sharply. Foreign "visa" students, who pay far higher fees than Canadians, have stayed away in particularly large numbers, but non-visa enrolment is down too. "I think it is time to look at our enrolment strategy," said the provost, Jim Kalbfleisch. UW currently has more students than the government's grant formula covers, but the number has been drifting downwards. With tuition fees rising sharply -- "becoming more significant" in the budget overall -- that trend deserves to be reconsidered, he said. PORCELLINO, the cast-bronze Boar sculpture, is coming home today at last. It (he?) is being installed on the prepared site in front of the Modern Languages building, where a welcoming ceremony was held last summer. A plaque will be unveiled some time in the new year, says Pat Aplevich of the dean of arts office. Porcellino formerly lived in the ML lobby, but has been in storage for the past several years, awaiting an outdoor site. BLUE CROSS BENEFITS: There's an error in the new issue of the human resources department newsletter, and it's led to a lot of phone calls, says benefits assistant Tricia Loveday. The mistake is in the paragraphs that explain Blue Cross health coverage for staff and faculty members when they're travelling outside Ontario. The newsletter says that it's wise to fill out a "Special Authorization and Direction Form" when a person with Blue Cross coverage is to be travelling outside Ontario "for more than one week" -- but it should say "for more than one month", so that people on short trips aren't affected. The newsletter explains: "Completion of the firm will expedite settlement of your claim by permitting Blue Cross to negotiate directly with the Ministry of Health." So, once again: fill out a form (available from Loveday at ext. 3134) only if you'll be travelling beyond Ontario's borders for longer than a month. EASY LISTENING: UW police are advising people to reconsider their use of "Walkman" cassette stereos. "Listening to a favourite song could place your personal safety at risk," says Al MacKenzie, director of security. Recently, he says, UW police have investigated two incidents where people were using music-boxes. During the early morning hours of October 3, a man was walking across campus when he was struck from behind. He was later found unconscious. At the time of this incident, the victim was wearing a personal cassette headphone stereo and didn't hear his attacker. On November 18, a student was riding his bicycle on a pathway in the church college area. The rider adjusted his Walkman and ran into a female student walking along the path. Moral: keep your ears open. CRAFTS AND TOYS are on sale today and tomorrow, from 8:30 to 4:45, in the Davis Centre lounge. It's a fund-raiser for the Hildegard Marsden Co-operative Day Nursery on UW's north campus. Chris Redmond Information and Public Affairs, University of Waterloo 888-4567 ext. 3004 credmond@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca