Daily Bulletin

University of Waterloo -- Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

December 19 Bulletin | Previous days | UWevents | UWinfo home page

Friday, December 20, 1996

This Daily Bulletin includes information for the Christmas and New Year's holiday break.

Coming to the end of 1996

The long Christmas and New Year's break is almost at hand: the fall term winds up with the last day of exams today and it's the last day of work for the majority of staff and faculty. Instructors must submit marks by Friday, January 3. The winter term begins -- both registration and classes -- on Monday, January 6, 1997.

The last official working day of 1996 for UW staff and faculty is Monday, December 23, and the first working day of the new year is Thursday, January 2. But many departments have arranged to close on Monday (making today the last day of work), and others will have only a few staff at work. A few departments will also be closed January 2 and 3 or have only partial staffing. Among departments closed all three days will be the bookstore and UW Shop, athletics, the research office, and financial services. Among departments closed Monday, but open January 2 and 3, will be the library, co-op education, the registrar's office and health services.

And so we leave the campus to the few people who live here 365 days a year, and to the essential staff who will be on duty over the break:

UW police will be in operation 24 hours a day throughout the Christmas and New Year's period. The emergency phone number is 888-4911 (on campus, that's ext. 4911).
Maintenance and custodial staff in the plant operations department will be on duty Monday as usual, except that custodial staff who normally have night shifts will work from 12 noon to 8 p.m. to get an early start on the holiday. During the break, central plant will be staffed as usual, and emergency maintenance requests can be called in to ext. 3793. Snow removal from December 24 through January 1 will be minimal, and limited to priority areas such as the ring road.
The Student Life Centre (phone ext. 3867) will be open 24 hours a day as usual throughout the holiday.

Other notes on services over the next two weeks:

All parking lots, except lot D under Needles Hall, will be open and free throughout the holiday period. Visitors' lots will be on coin entry December 23 and January 2 and 3. Gates to service roads will be kept closed during the holiday break.
Computers never entirely shut down, but the Customer Support Centre in information systems and technology will be closed during the holiday. (It's open Monday until 4 p.m., and reopens January 2 at 8:30.) If you notice an outage of the campus computer network or any major IST-maintained computing facility during the holiday break, you can report it by telephoning the IST helpdesk at 888-4839. If the outage has a severe impact on the university computing environment, and the appropriate support people can be contacted, the problem will be addressed as soon as possible, IST says.
Food services is gradually shutting down its cash outlets. The only places left open today are Double U's in South Campus Hall, Tim Horton's in the Davis Centre, Brubaker's in the Student Life Centre, and Pastry Plus in Needles Hall. There will be no food service on Monday. On January 2 and 3, only Brubaker's and the Davis Centre Tim Horton's will be open. Other cash operations will reopen January 6.
The libraries are open today for the last time in 1996. The Dana Porter and Davis Centre Libraries will close at 6:00, the University Map and Design Library and the Optometry Resource Centre at 4:30. Davis, Porter and UMD will then be closed until January. The Optometry resource centre will be open Monday from 9 to 12 and 1:00 to 3:00. All the libraries reopen January 2 and 3, will be closed on the January 4-5 weekend, and resume normal hours on January 6.
The Columbia Icefield will be open for recreational skating December 28 and January 4 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and January 5 from noon to 2 p.m. Otherwise, all recreational facilities are closed. The Physical Activities Complex will close for public use today at 5 p.m. and reopen January 6.
The switchboard will close at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, December 23, and reopen at 8:30 a.m. on January 2. While it's closed, it's possible to direct-dial to UW extensions through the "automated attendant" at 888-4567.

Construction work will happen here and there on campus during the break, including some renovations to the first floor of the Dana Porter Library. Air supply to parts of the Student Life Centre will be shut down from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. December 23 and December 30 for repair work.

A few holiday activities

The basketball Athenas host "the Waterloo Christmas Shoot-out" December 28-30 in the Physical Activities Complex. Visiting teams are Guelph, Laurier, Ryerson, Western, Brock, Queen's, and Toronto. Play starts at noon each day; the Athenas' first game is at 7 p.m. Saturday. Tickets for the full tournament are $15 (students and kids free), with a $7 ticket for any two-game session.

Federation Hall will host its usual "New Year's Eve Extravaganza" on December 31, "the party of the year". Tickets are $10 in advance for UW students, $15 for non-students and at the door.

The University Club also has a New Year's Eve party going -- sold out, the grapevine reports.

Roman Catholic worship services at St. Jerome's College are scheduled as follows: This Saturday, 5 p.m; Sunday, 9:30 and 11:30 a.m.; Christmas Eve, 7 p.m. and 12 midnight; Christmas Day, 10 a.m; December 29, 9:30 and 11 a.m.; December 31, 5 p.m.; New Year's Day, 10 a.m.; January 4, 5 p.m.; January 5, 9:30 and 11:30 a.m.

Anglican worship services at Renison College are scheduled as follows: this Sunday, 10:30 a.m; Christmas Eve, 11 p.m.; Sunday, January 5, 10:30 a.m.

Wise words as we scatter

Some parting advice from the plant operations department:

Heat and ventilation will be kept at night settings from December 24 through January 1. Anyone coming to campus during that time can expect to find cool buildings. It will save additional energy expense if coffee-makers, computers, office equipment and unused fumehoods are turned off during the break. And please make very sure all windows are closed before you leave.

And from the UW police:

Do not leave any personal valuables or smaller attractive items, such as laptop computers, radios and cameras, in the office or workplaces. These items should be secured in a cabinet or removed to home for safekeeping over the holidays. The local police services will be out in full force with the RIDE program over the holidays, so if you drink, do not drive.

Registration in the new year

For graduate students: Graduate students who have not yet registered for the winter term 1997 may register in person at the cashier's office, 1st floor, Needles Hall, on December 20, or when the cashier's office reopens on January 6, 1997. Graduate students may also register by mail or drop off their registration documents (with payments by cheque) at the graduate studies office on the third floor of Needles Hall on January 2 or 3, 1997.

For undergraduate students: The cashier's office in Needles Hall is open today to receive winter term registrations. Drop boxes are available at the registrar's office and in the Student Life Centre (postdated cheques are accepted). The cashier's office and registrar's office will be closed January 2 and 3; in-person registration begins Monday, January 6, in the Physical Activities complex.

And it's so long from me

There will be no Daily Bulletin on Monday, December 23. The next Bulletin will hit the computer screen on Thursday, January 2, 1997, and the next Gazette will be in print Wednesday, January 15. Any emergency announcements before January will be made through a Flash on the UWinfo home page.

[Candle] . . . So some of us go now to church,
and some to feast, and some to skis,
and some to bed -- and most of us
to loving friends and families --
though some must study or must work:
a dozen faiths, a thousand ways
to live in harmony with truth
through cold and dark December days.
We pause from labours, when we can,
and hear the season's whispered call
to burn the candles of our lives
for Peace on earth, good will to all.
CAR

Editor of the Daily Bulletin: Chris Redmond
Information and Public Affairs, University of Waterloo
credmond@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca -- (519) 888-4567 ext. 3004
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Copyright 1996 University of Waterloo