August 1, 2002

Thursday, August 1, 2002

Students available for research jobs
Prof urges kids to exercise more
The talk of the campus

Editor:
Chris Redmond
credmond@uwaterloo.ca

A handbook for women in science and technology

QUICK POLL

Tuesday's question was, "How do you see exam season?" Replies as of yesterday morning:

The most important learning experience of the term -- 31

A chance to shine with very little effort -- 17

An ordeal that has very few benefits -- 150

Boring, a waste of time -- 23

Students available for research jobs

There's funding in the UW budget to underwrite about 30 student jobs in labs and other research areas this fall, and students are available to take the jobs. What's needed now, says the co-op and career services department, is faculty members who want some subsidized student help for the September-to-December term.

The jobs are being created under the "Undergraduate Research Internship" program, created last spring.

A memo from CECS explained it then: "The program is intended to provide both co-op and regular undergraduate students with research based employment, under the supervision of a faculty member (the employer), as early as possible in the student's undergraduate career. As an incentive, the University will provide funds to support the hiring of these students."

This term, for example, computer science student Kateryna Zolotkova has a job in the family studies lab in UW's psychology department, headed by psych professor Hildy Ross. Part of Zolotkova's work involves developing the lab's web site. She is also responsible for transcribing and analyzing videos of interviews with study participants and adapting the coding programs used to record data.

Meanwhile, Lucas Neil is one of four students working in the atmospheric environment lab, headed by chemistry professor Jim Sloan. (The others are Ryan Lau, Frank Imeson and Ricky Lam.) Neil is involved in building a Raman spectrometer for remote surface sensing, and reports that when he goes back to the classroom after his eight-month work term he will have Sloan as supervisor for his fourth-year research project.

This year's UW budget provides $1,200 towards each four-month student job -- a total of $108,000 in the 2002-03 fiscal year. The memo from the co-op and career services department gave more details:

"UW will provide $1,200 to support salary for each student up to a maximum of 90 students during the 2002/03 fiscal year."
"The employer is expected to supplement the salary so that the student earns, at a minimum, $4,800 for four months of employment."
"The positions created are expected to be incremental, i.e., beyond those currently in existence."

"We are looking for faculty to hire students for the fall term," says Olaf Naese in the co-op department, who urges any interested professors to get in touch with the appropriate contact people in CECS: Ruth Hawes (accounting and mathematics), Diane McKelvie (applied health sciences and science), Shirley Thompson (arts and environmental studies), and Janet Metz (engineering).

Prof urges kids to exercise more

"How much physical activity should children be doing?" asks Mike Sharratt, UW's dean of applied health sciences, and answers his question in the summer issue of News to You, published for alumni of the AHS faculty.

He's one of many faculty members whose expertise is quoted in the newsletter, edited by Betty Bax of the AHS staff. The theme of the current issue is children and youth, as they're affected by the kind of work done in the various units of AHS.

So Roger Mannell of recreation and leisure studies writes on "Are today's children over-scheduled?" Patricia Wainwright of health studies writes on "The importance of fat in a child's diet." Other articles deal with children's food intake, pressure in school, the use of a pedometer to motivate children to move, children's foot problems, and youth smoking.

[Activity Guide for children] Now what about physical activity? Sharratt notes that on April 6, federal health minister Anne McLellan launched a new Canadian Physical Activity Guide for Children and Youth -- a project for which Sharratt, in fact, was co-chair.

He writes: "The evidence is compelling that children and youth today are heavier (fatter) and less active than they were a decade ago. This trajectory will inevitably lead to more diabetes, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and a host of other health problems. Not surprisingly, this trend toward overweight and underactivity corresponds to substantial increases in sedentary TV, video, computer, and Internet pursuits, accompanied by high-calorie/low-nutrition foods.

"The new Canadian message is two-pronged: increase physical activity by at least 30 minutes more than you are currently doing AND decrease by at least 30 minutes the time spent on TV, computer, etc. Over the subsequent five months of participation by children and youth, these guidelines gradually expand to at least 90 minutes per day. Our expert scientific committee (which includes Dr. Oded Bar Or from McMaster Hospital and Dr. Larry Brawley from UW's Kinesiology) also recommends that at least one-third of the increase in physical activity involve vigorous activity to challenge the cardiovascular system.

"The launch of the Guide by Health Canada involves two stages, with the initial release held on April 6th, corresponding with World Health Day. The second phase will be unveiled this fall and will include strategies for teachers and parents to assist children and youth in the first step toward changing their activity profiles.

"This Canadian project highlights the critical need to respond to the alarming trends in the health of our children through the early reshaping of negative lifestyle habits."

The talk of the campus

Getting tired of all these smog alerts?

Gerard Boychuk of UW's political science department wrote the first of some 40 background papers that are being released by the federal Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada. His study is titled "The Changing Political and Economic Environment of Health Care in Canada", and looks, says the commission's web site, "at linkages between political preoccupations with balanced budgets, debt reduction and/or reduced taxes over the past decade and their impact on the long-term sustainability of the health care system." Says Boychuk at one point in his study: "The existence of a fiscal crisis of health care in Canada is not evident in current expenditure patterns."

The athletics department gained a new staff member this week, with the hiring of Jason Grieve as the Warrior women's volleyball coach. He'll be among the small number of coaches who will be full-time staff in the department, carrying administrative duties for other teams whose coaches are part-timers. Said the department's announcement: "Jason comes to Waterloo from Saskatchewan with an impressive list of qualifications and experience. Jason has spent the last two years as the technical director of the Saskatchewan Volleyball Association and under 18 Team Saskatchewan head coach. Jason has also been a Team Canada regional scout for women's volleyball. Jason's coaching accomplishments with Team Saskatchewan include 5th place finish at the 2001 Canada Summer Games, 2nd place finish at the 2000 National Team Cup Challenge, and 3rd place finish at the 2000 under 18 Club Nationals. Jason also worked as an assistant coach with the University of Alberta Pandas and guided the Northern Alberta Juvenile Pandas to a 3rd place finish at the 1998 CCAA championships."

Last week's Gazette noted that Amos Lakos, one of UW's librarians since 1977, was retiring as of August 1. Technically true, but not the whole story: he's heading for California, where he will start work as head of the reference and instructional services department in the Young Research Library at the University of California at Los Angeles.

Chris Di Lullo, vice-president (administration and finance) of the Federation of Students, says things are moving ahead well on a planned training program for the staff of the Feds' pubs, the Bombshelter and Federation Hall. "BarSafe," he writes, "is a collaborative effort that involves the entire UW community. The efforts put forward by the bar management, Counselling services, Police services, Ethics, Health services, as well as members of the administration (Catharine Scott and Bud Walker) have ensured this program will be a success." There was a practice training session yesterday afternoon at Fed Hall, he says, and the actual training day will be Saturday, September 14, when more than 80 part-time staff members will get the full program. "Our hope is this program will help ensure that our licensed establishments continue to be safe, friendly environments where students can take a break from the pressures of everyday university life."

There's news for the friends -- and I gather they are many -- of Millie the duck, who makes her home near the Health Services building and gained particular fame when she was profiled in Imprint last winter. "Millie has not been feeling well lately," writes Nancy O'Neil from the Student Life Centre, "and many staff and students have commented on her condition." Result: she (the duck, not the assistant manager of the SLC) has gone for a stay at a University of Guelph veterinary clinic. "She is expected to be back by the end of the week," O'Neil promises.

CAR

TODAY IN UW HISTORY
August 1, 1965: Alfred Kunz is named director of music at UW. August 1, 1978: UW adopts a "records management policy", Policy 12, defining how long different kinds of paperwork must be kept on file.