St. Jerome's Day is September 30 each year. Now guess which of UW's church colleges will be celebrating the occasion. Correct: Renison College will install its new chaplain, Gerry Mueller, at a St. Jerome's Day service, 7 p.m. Sunday in the great hall of the college. Mueller is a former chemical engineering professor at UW, who entered the Anglican ministry in 1988. He becomes "incumbent of St. Bede's Chapel" and Anglican chaplain to all of UW.

Distance students visit tomorrow

It's the annual open house for UW's more than 4,000 distance students, those who are enrolled in one or two courses, or a whole degree program, from their homes and workplaces. Most distance courses are based on audiotaped lectures by UW faculty members, though increasingly part or all of a course is delivered over the Web.

About 125 students are expected for the event, says Avril McVicar of the distance and continuing education office. Headquarters for the open house is the Davis Centre, where a hospitality room will be open from 8:30 to 5:00. In the great hall of Davis, a used book sale will run from 8:30 to 2:45, and a "course fair" and departmental displays from 10:30 to 12:30. (Displays will include a demonstration of UW's online courses, as well as information about financial aid, library resources and career planning.)

A campus tour will leave from Davis at 10:30, and visitors are also being invited to venture outside to visit the UW bookstore or computer store and the WatCard office. Several special events are scheduled during the day:

• A keynote talk by kinesiology professor Jay Thomson: "Is Chocolate Good for Me? and Other Nutrition and Health Questions". He'll speak at 9 a.m. in Davis room 1302.
• Lunch at 1:00 in South Campus Hall, with a talk by Grant Russell of the school of accounting, who taught UW's first online course and promises to talk about his experience of combining the on-campus class with the distance class.
• A study skills seminar led by Dave Mackay of counselling services, at 2:45, back in Davis 1302.

Computing courses are scheduled

• Introduction to Unix
• Learning More Unix
• Introduction to Corel Draw

• Scientific Computing with Mathcad
• Scientific Computing with Matlab
• Technical Graphing with KaleidaGraph
• Technical Diagrams with Visio
• Technical Animations with Flash
• Database Management with Access
• Submitting Your Thesis Electronically

• Keeping Up With Your Research Literature -- Electronically!

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A chance to be a shadow

The Shadow (Student Hosts And Designates Of Waterloo) Program works by pairing up new international students with a student volunteer who has been at UW for a year or longer. "A Shadow," says Ryan, "is a student volunteer who is familiar with the campus and surrounding area and would like to help international students become more familiar with a new culture and a new academic and social setting. Shadows help international students through the transitional period during the first few weeks at the university and offer friendship throughout the semester by maintaining regular contact. Understanding and friendship can help international students feel comfortable in a new social and academic environment."

The relationship is about "encouragement, understanding and friendship", she says. Shadows don't, "of course", get involved in providing financial support, accommodation or transportation. "If the international student you are paired up with is concerned with such issues, you and the International Student Advisor can help the student find the appropriate office or service. As a Shadow, you can help international students become more aware of the resources and services that the campus and local community has to offer. You might help choose the right kind of winter clothing, or help with the search for accommodation. International students may wish to know how the transit system works here, where to shop for groceries, or how and where to open a bank account."

Involvement in the Shadow program can give volunteers -- either Canadians or international students who have been here for a while -- the opportunity to develop new friendships and an understanding of different cultures. Shadows and the students they're matched with can decide just how much time to spend together, and how to spend it.

Anyone interested in becoming involved in the Shadow program can complete an application form through the international student office on the second floor of Needles Hall.

The last weekend of September

Friday . . .

• Philosophy colloquium by Chris Eliasmith, "Bringing Representation and Dynamics Together Again: A New Direction for Cognitive Science", 2:30 p.m., Humanities 334.
• Next in the fall series of tourism lectures, "Tourism Sustainability: Planning for the Future", by Judie Cukier of environmental studies, 2:30, Environmental Studies I room 132.
• "TGIF" at the University Club, 4:30 to 7:30: nachos, wings, burgers and a pleasant Friday afternoon view.
• A general meeting of Imprint Publications, the corporation that produces the student newspaper Imprint, 5:30 p.m., Student Life Centre room 116. (All undergraduate students who have paid the Imprint fee are eligible to attend and vote.)
• East Coast Night at the Grad House, beginning at 9:00: "Maritime home cooking will be offered, along with East Coast music and fun at East Coast prices. Everyone is welcome."
• Homecoming weekend for Wilfrid Laurier University, including a parade and football game tomorrow. The weekend also includes a Saturday evening reception and dinner for 1951 graduates of Waterloo College -- which is in a way the forerunner of UW just as much as of Laurier.

Saturday . . .

• "The Whole Kit 'n' Kaboodle" day-long workshop on career planning, from résumé writing to interview skills (information is available from the career resource centre in Needles Hall).
• UW's second programming contest of the term, in preparation for the international ACM contest this winter.
• A reunion of 1981 alumni from the school of urban and regional planning (as it was then called), starting with lunch at the University Club.

Sunday . . .

• The finals of the Black Knight squash tournament, always a major event in the campus recreation calendar (qualifying rounds on Saturday).
• The Downey Tennisfest, an annual event for staff, faculty and friends, at the Waterloo Tennis Club.
• A sport we don't often see on campus: cricket, in an invitational sponsored by the Association of Caribbean Students, to be played starting at 11:30 on the field north of the Math and Computer building.

Sports this weekend . . .

• The Waterloo Invitational cross-country tournament, starting at 1:00 Saturday on the north campus.
• Also on Saturday, baseball, with the Warriors hosting Western for a double-header (1:00 at Jack Couch Park); women's tennis against Laurier, from 9 a.m. at the Waterloo Tennis Club.
• On Sunday, swimming versus Brock and Toronto, from 9 a.m. in the Physical Activities Complex pool; soccer versus McMaster on the Columbia Field, with the women's teams playing at 1 p.m., the men at 3 p.m.
• Off campus, golfers at Laurier today; field hockey at Toronto tomorrow; football at Western tomorrow; women's rugby at Toronto tomorrow; men's tennis at McMaster tomorrow.

And Monday . . .

The Sikh Student Association will hold its once-a-term langar on on Monday. A langar is a meal free to all, Sikhs and non-Sikhs alike, on equal terms. Monday's meal will be served from 11:00 to 3:00 in the Student Life Centre.

CAR