November 12, 2002

Tuesday, November 12, 2002

So far, 58 per cent have jobs
Open house was a success
'Fasting has been prescribed'
Other notes and events today

Editor:
Chris Redmond
credmond@uwaterloo.ca

United Way reaches target
The bright yellow happy faces went up on United Way thermometers across campus yesterday, as the annual charity drive surpassed its $150,000 goal.
"We made it!" said the e-mail announcement from Tricia Corrin in the United Way office. Yes, it took a little longer than the scheduled end of the campaign on October 31, but the gifts and pledges did come in. As of yesterday afternoon the figure was $150,675.
The money goes to support some 80 programs run by local agencies. The on-campus campaign is part of the United Way of Kitchener-Waterloo and Area, which will seek to collect more than $5 million across the community this year.
Givings up to yesterday had come from 457 staff and faculty members and 109 retirees, as well as a few students and the proceeds of special events held across campus during October.

So far, 58 per cent have jobs

"We have our work cut out for us," says Olaf Naese of the co-op and career services department as he reports on the job situation for the winter term.

As of November 7, the department reports, 4,295 co-op students were scheduled to be on a work term for January through April. As "initial interview phase" job matches were done last week, 2,490 co-op students were listed with jobs -- representing a 58 per cent employment rate. Last year at the same time the percentage employed was 63.9.

A forum for co-op students will be held Thursday at 4:30 (Rod Coutts Engineering Lecture Hall room 103). Says an invitation from the co-op department: "Learn about current and upcoming changes in CECS, including the new online system. Ask CECS reps any questions about co-op, offer suggestions, etc."
Says Naese: "Over the past few terms, jobs for co-op students in IT areas of engineering and math were the most difficult to find. Students from these two faculties represent 67 per cent of those still needing employment for January.

"While conditions remain problematic for engineering and math IT students, those from the other programs are now experiencing fewer jobs as well. Although news about the Canadian economy appears to be somewhat positive, this has not developed into enough jobs for our co-op students."

For the 1,805 students who are still without employment, the "continuous interview phase" will provide more opportunities. Job postings began November 1 and continue until November 21. Employer interviews are going on again this week.

The employment figures don't include architecture students, who are matched with jobs separately. Of the 169 students in architecture scheduled to be on a work term in the winter, 43.2 per cent have employment. There are 96 architecture students who still need jobs.

During the initial phase, the co-op department had 2,238 jobs to list -- a drop of more than 20 per cent from last year's figure of 2,852. The drop was most extreme, some 36 per cent, for jobs in math, but it extended over all faculties. "We do expect more jobs to arrive over the coming months," says Naese, saying that in uncertain times, many employers are "waiting to see what their budget picture looks like closer to the work term".

[Student at table]
New study space: "The renovations on the first floor of the Dana Porter Library are now complete," says a note in the library's online newsletter. "Students and other patrons have a comfortable new study space with access to ethernet drops and power for laptops. The area also contains the Library's newspaper collection, providing self-serve access to a selection of the most important newspapers in Canada and the world. In a climate-controlled room leading from the north side of the lounge, the extensive microfilm and microfiche collection has at last been given a 'permanent' home, adjoining a new viewing area for film and fiche printers. A service point has also been created for staff to assist users with questions and to provide general circulation services."

Open house was a success -- from Heather MacKenzie of the UW visitors' centre

You @ Waterloo Day on Saturday was a success and the best one that we've had to date. I am estimating that there was somewhere between 4,000 and 4,500 students and their families on campus on Saturday and everyone was full of compliments about how well everything was organized and what a great day they had here at UW.

The visitors arrived in the morning and were met by an outstanding team of 50 student volunteers in the parking lots and were escorted to the Student Life Centre where they were met by recruitment staff and Ambassadors who helped them plan their day. In the SLC for the first time we had beautiful faculty booths set up using the Universities' Fair panels -- they made a grand and awesome first impression for our visitors.

After that, the students and their parents visited with the Recruitment experts and others at the academic booths and went to exciting and informative Faculty academic sessions. I've already had positive feedback about how dynamic and interesting the various program sessions were. Visitors also had the opportunity to speak to representatives from co-op at the co-op booth or hear Linda Davis present information about the co-op experience at Waterloo at one of two sessions during the day.

The visitors also had the opportunity to take campus tours led by Student Ambassadors where they were able to see a lecture hall as well as visit a University College. The visitors were also able to see any of the UW residences throughout the day. I was told that everyone was made to feel very welcome wherever they were on campus (and the free food at the colleges made people feel extra great!).

This truly was a co-ordinated effort of many people around the campus and wouldn't have been such a success without reps from the faculties, University colleges, co-op, parking, food services, UW residences, retail services, disabilities, Feds, and the SLC staff.

'Fasting has been prescribed'

As the month of Ramadan continues, Muslims at UW, like those around the world, abstain from food and water (as well as other physical pleasures) during the day, and rejoice in spiritual growth when darkness falls.

"O you who believe!" the Quran summons them. "Fasting has been prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, so that you may learn self-restraint."

[In the name of God] This year's Ramadan fast -- November 6 through December 5 -- falls in a season when daylight hours are short and the weather is cool, making fasting a little easier. Today, for example, sunrise is at 7:08 a.m. and sunset at 5:01 p.m.

Mudie's cafeteria in Village I is opening at 4:45 each morning during Ramadan to provide early breakfast -- before morning prayers -- to Muslims living in residence. When the long day is over and it's time for "iftar", the breaking of the fast, members of the Muslim Students' Association are gathering each day in the clubs room in the Student Life Centre to share the traditional food for iftar: dates.

Potluck iftars will be held each Wednesday during Ramadan, and as always there are daily prayer times, both in the SLC and in the Waterloo Masjid, the mosque on Erb Street a short distance from campus.

The fast "is performed to learn discipline, self-restraint and generosity, while obeying God's commandments", says a statement provided by the MSA to explain the holy season. "Fasting (along with the declaration of faith, daily prayers, charity, and pilgrimage to Mecca) is one of the 'five pillars' of Islam."

"The fast of Ramadan offers people of all faiths an opportunity to learn more about Islam and about the Islamic community in Canada," says Riad Saloojee, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (Canada), an Ottawa-based Islamic advocacy group.

Riyad Khan, president of the MSA this term, notes that the association will sponsor a "campus-wide fast" on November 18 (next Monday). "One of the main reasons for fasting," he points out, "is to call attention to those who go hungry every day, not as an exercise of religious expression, but as a fact of life." So the one-day fast will be a fund-raiser for the House of Friendship social agency, with a goal of collecting $500. "Local businesses," said Khan, "will donate two dollars for each student that agrees to fast."

Other notes and events today

First of all, my apologies for announcing one of today's events a day early. It's today at noon, not yesterday, that Eric McCormack, English professor at St. Jerome's University, will read from his new book, The Dutch Wife, at the UW bookstore. The reading starts at noon, and McCormack will be available to sign copies afterwards. The Dutch Wife, as I was saying yesterday, "follows a son's quest to uncover the secrets of the two men in his mother's life. It's a story of choices, diversity and the relationship between a parent and child. This bewitching and exotic tale of love, loss and identity has also been selected as a featured title in this year's Books for Everybody catalogue."

Free flu shots continue to be available: health services staff are set up for that purpose in the Student Life Centre today, tomorrow and Thursday, from 10:30 to 5:30.

A workshop on time management, sponsored by the teaching resources and continuing education office, runs today from 12:00 to 1:30. Last-minute information -- which you might need, if you need the workshop -- should be available from TRACE at ext. 3132.

Career services, meanwhile, presents "Selling Your Skills" today: a workshop for students taking interviews. It starts at 2:30, and sign-up is online.

Meetings today: the senate graduate council, 10:30, Needles Hall room 3004; the arts faculty council, 3:45, Humanities room 373.

At 7:00 tonight, you've got your choice of attractions:

Fed Flicks in Federation Hall (also at 9:00) featuring "The Fast and the Furious" and "XXX". Admission: $5.
Students from Ecuador and Mexico will talk about sustainable and community development in their homelands, in a session sponsored by the Waterloo Public Interest Research Group -- Davis Centre room 1304.
The Jean-Luc Godard film "Weekend", screened in East Campus Hall room 1220.

Or, if you were invited, you might be at a preview performance of the drama department's fall production, "A Midsummer Night's Dream", in the Theatre of the Arts. VIPs and alumni were invited to the show by the dean of arts. Public performances are tomorrow through Saturday -- tickets, 888-4908.

CAR

TODAY IN UW HISTORY
November 12, 1964: The board of governors approves a 1965-66 salary minimum of $7,600 for assistant professors.