Daily Bulletin

Monday, September 23, 1996

Of mists and mellow fruitfulness

An anniversary of interest today: it was 150 years ago, on September 23, 1846, that the planet Neptune (photo at left, from the University of Arizona) was discovered by English and French astronomers.

Today is Yom Kippur, the solemn "Day of Atonement" in the calendar of the Jewish faith.

They'll have fun, fun, fun

Jesse "Jester" Bergman writes in Friday's MathNews: "When you look back on university, do you want to remember how much fun you had, or do you want to remember how much time you spent finding the limit of f(x) as x approached infinity?" Tough question, that. . . .

Running from Monday through Saturday, Math Week promises some memorable fun, including sumo wrestling, Laserquest, casino, pub and movie nights, a concert, a barbecue, a trip to Stratford and more. Today, activities run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Davis Centre quadrangle, and in the evening it's Casino Night at Federation Hall ($5 at the door).

For more information or tickets, contact the Math Society at its landmark office in Math and Computer room 3038, phone ext. 2324, or mathsoc@undergrad.math.

Co-op fee under study

The committee was set up "to review the structure of the co-op fee, understanding that the fee must continue to cover the costs of the co-operative education department. Any recommendations for change will be made to the vice-president (academic) and provost."

Paul Skippen, a student committee member, told the Imprint in February that within the limitations of the committee, the group "has been granted a great deal of flexibility. Any proposal is fair game. Any student, or any individual who has felt they could come up with a better system now has the opportunity. For the junior student who feels ripped off for paying $800 and still not getting a job, for the accounting student who goes back to the same firm each term, for the engineering student who finds his own job each term or for anyone who hates the co-op fee in general, the co-op fee review committee represents an opportunity for them to come up with a better option."

Under the current structure, co-op students pay $411 a term, which represents the cost of providing co-op services for an average student amortized over their undergraduate career.

What's happening today

• At 12 noon, in the multi-purpose room of the Student Life Centre, the Waterloo Public Interest Research Group presents a talk about "illustrative opposition" by Chaia Heller. WPIRG explains that Heller "explores how protesting particular ecological injustices can provide a forum to educate ourselves and each other about the need for wider social and political change".
• Also at noon, downtown at the Kitchener Public Library, Ken McLaughlin of St. Jerome's College gives a talk on "The University Idea in Waterloo 1945-1995", presumably drawn from the research for his almost-finished book on the history of UW.
• Posting #2 is available in the co-op department this morning, as students look ahead to the winter work term.

And a few other matters

Also sorry to note a little mistake in Thursday's Daily Bulletin. I said that several retired faculty members were to be honoured as "professor emeritus". In fact, just about all faculty who retire becomes professors emeritus. The special honour, given to just a few each year -- including four who will receive it at next month's convocation ceremonies -- makes them "distinguished professor emeritus".

CAR

Editor of the Daily Bulletin: Chris Redmond Information and Public Affairs, University of Waterloo credmond@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca -- (519) 888-4567 ext. 3004 Comments to the editor | About the Bulletin | Friday's Bulletin Copyright 1996 University of Waterloo