Daily Bulletin

Jobs in the hardest work term

Figures provided by co-op director Bruce Lumsden say 3,471 students were "scheduled to work" this term, and 156 ended up unemployed -- meaning that 3,315 did get jobs. That's an employment rate of 95.5 per cent.

By comparison, in the spring term of 1998 there were 3,403 students looking for jobs, and 95.0 per cent found them.

Success rates this term vary from 100 per cent in accounting and architecture to 85.7 per cent in the teaching option (there were just 14 teaching students looking for jobs, and 12 found them). The success rate was 92.7 per cent in science, where 203 of 219 students are employed. The biggest co-op program, engineering, sees 1,312 of 1,357 students employed for the spring term.

Spring is the most difficult term for co-op placement because co-op students are competing for jobs with thousands of "regular" students, from UW and other institutions, who have the summer off school. It's not the biggest term for placement, though. UW had 3,903 students looking for jobs in the winter term this year (of whom 98.2 per cent got work) and 3,094 students looking for jobs in the fall term of 1998 (of whom 99.9 per cent got work).

"We will continue to work with students, faculty and staff to develop new employment opportunities," says Lumsden, "as we move into an expansionary phase in co-op enrolments." He'll be hoping to find some 200 extra co-op jobs as of the winter term 2000, because of the ATOP enrolment expansion.

ESL program's a success story -- by Barbara Elve

Over the past five years, the intensive writing and speaking program for students of English as a second language has grown from nine students in its first year to 57 students this month. In addition, a second session has been added in August to accommodate the demand.

Of the 57 students in the July program this year, 45 have come from the Chinese University of Hong Kong to study at Renison, said Tanya Missere, assistant director of English for Success. For those students, the appeal is a program that emphasizes not just grammar, but conversation and presentation skills.

The visiting students also appreciate the intensive nature of the course, and often opt to remain in North America for a couple of extra weeks of travel at the end of the program, she said.

For students who choose the residential option, the total immersion experience includes not only meals and accommodation, but extracurricular activities including excursions to Toronto and Niagara Falls on the weekends. That means lots of opportunity to practice English skills with native speakers, Missere added.

Most students enter the program with a basic knowledge of English, scoring a minimum of about 500 on the TOEFL exam. However, classes are small -- a maximum of 15 students -- providing plenty of personalized attention by the seven teachers, with tutors assisting those with fewer skills.

The success of the program is due in part to word-of-mouth referrals from satisfied students, she said, but also to the interest shown in English for Success by Renison principal, Gail Cuthbert Brandt, who directs the school's East Asian studies program.

A few openings are still available in the next session, which runs August 3 to 27. For more information, contact Missere at 884-4404 ext. 639.

Body art means unacceptable blood

Students attending the Canadian Blood Services clinic this week at the Student Life Centre are frequently surprised to find they are disqualified from giving blood if they've had either of the procedures in the past year.

While Mary Hansen, head nurse at the clinic this week, is unsure of the percentage of donors being turned away because of recently applied body art, she says first-time donors are often unaware of the one-year deferral.

Protecting the blood supply is the reason for the restriction, says Hansen. "We don't know what type of needle was used. Sometimes piercing is done by a friend." Hepatitis and HIV are examples of blood-borne viruses which can be transmitted by an unsterile needle, and if contracted, will likely show up within a year.

For dedicated blood donors -- or the squeamish -- there are alternatives to the more invasive body art, including temporary stick-on tattoos, mehndi (henna tattoos), and clip-on jewelry.

The July blood donor clinic winds up today (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.). The next clinic at UW will be held October 25 to 28. Information on donor restrictions is available from the Canadian Blood Services at (888) 871-7201.

Today: wearable computers, and more

Hundreds of computer users across campus received e-mail this week under the heading Groceries Online -- would you be interested in doing your local grocery shopping electronically, rather than pushing a cart? Some would and some wouldn't, and a goodly share of those who got the message don't buy Spam and objected to unsolicited e-mail. The origin is unknown, says a memo from Roger Watt of the information systems and technology department: "The copy that 'rwwatt' received yesterday was relayed through an SMTP server in Korea from a faked origin. . . . Every copy that has been forwarded to abuse@uwaterloo.ca so far (please don't send any more) has about 22 recipients, in descending alphabetical sequence. . . . Whoever did this purchased one of the 'millions of verified e-mail addresses' lists and generate-mass-mailings software packages that are routinely advertised for sale via the Internet, then used it to send mailings to addresses ending in 'uwaterloo.ca'."

Department chairs in relevant parts of the university had a memo the other day from Liz Vinnicombe in the research office, providing advance information about this year's grant competitions from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council. "All research grant applicants in all disciplines must submit advance material to NSERC by August 16 if they intend to apply for a Research Grant," she warns. "Information for Researchers about new programs, the Researcher's Guide and applications forms is located on the NSERC website," and her memo included details of what's required.

And . . . this month's winner in the Dollars for Scholars raffle was announced yesterday: Karen Bertram of Kitchener, a 1992 accounting alumna.

CAR

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