October 15, 2002

Tuesday, October 15, 2002

Monthly news edited for alumni
Johnston talks knowledge in Korea
Wellness program helps cancer patients
Warriors face Slovenia; other events

Editor:
Chris Redmond
credmond@uwaterloo.ca

Double cohort! And enrolment growth! (National Post)

[Women's watch]

Monthly news edited for alumni

Waterloo alumni are getting word of new activities on campus, not to mention "seven unique reunions" that they can attend during Homecoming next month, in the second issue of an electronic newsletter that's just been launched.

"The new e-newsletter @UWaterloo was launched in late September," says alumni officer Jude Doble, pointing to its home on the alumni affairs web site. The October issue was published late last week.

She says the office of alumni affairs e-mailed 25,000 alumni announcing the launch of @UWaterloo, giving them the opportunity to subscribe. "Over 6,000 alumni have so far subscribed to @UWaterloo, which is designed to keep people in touch with the people, events and developments at Waterloo. Each issue will offer links to items of interest such as upcoming events, alumni services, alumni and student achievements and recent UW accomplishments. Alumni and any interested UW community members can easily subscribe, and they can select if they prefer to receive @UWaterloo in html or plain text format." Current and past issues can also be seen any time on the web.

The October issue has three main stories about campus happenings -- including Jacob Sivak's research chair in optometry, expected to lead to more humane ways of testing drugs and cosmetics -- and a promotion of Homecoming, November 1-2, which will include the Naismith Classic basketball tournament and a range of other events.

In addition, Doble notes, there's an Alumni Achievement section "where alumni can submit their personal success or achievement stories. Each month an alumnus will be profiled in @UWaterloo, as a way to share the interesting accomplishments and developments UW alumni are making in the world."

And the newsletters reminds alumni about services and merchandise available to them -- this month including two styles of UW wristwatch.

['We make a difference']

Johnston talks knowledge in Korea

UW president David Johnston heads for Korea this week, to take part in the third World Knowledge Forum, being held in Seoul October 15-18.

Theme of the World Knowledge Forum 2002 is "Knowledge in a World of Risk: A Compass Towards Global Prosperity".

He will be making two presentations at the conference on Wednesday. First, he's a panelist for the World Knowledge Corps Summit, at which he will speak about the Digital Opportunity Trust, a Canadian-based international non-government organization whose objectives are to enhance the information/communications technology capacity and expertise of developing nations. His presentation is titled "Bridging the Knowledge Gap".

His second presentation focuses on UW itself, and is titled "Excellence through Innovation: the Waterloo Way". The graphic at left is from his PowerPoint presentation about UW's strengths and distinctiveness.

Wellness program helps cancer patients -- from the UW news bureau

A new program being offered at UW is proving beneficial to cancer patients who undergo chemotherapy treatment, which traditionally is unpleasant for patients and can have some negative side effects including fatigue, weakness, nausea, psychological distress, weight gain/loss, depression and a lowering of aerobic capacity. Some patients have found the treatments so severe they have asked their doctors to stop them.

Story in Friday's Record
The idea of the new program, offered through UW Fitness, is to minimize negative impacts on the lives of patients and thus improve their quality of life. The key to this improvement is physical activity. Chemotherapy patients come to UW Fitness, where they enter a program they have dubbed "UW Well-Fit". The physical activity takes place in a special exercise room in the Lyle Hallman Institute for Health Promotion.

Patients get a careful assessment by Well-Fit staff and begin a twice-a-week, 10-week exercise program that includes treadmill, stationary cycling, functional strength training and flexibility training. Each session lasts an hour.

Well-Fit clients and staff are finding that the program is helping patients cope much more easily with the rigours of their chemotherapy. Says one client: "I now have more energy and strength to perform my daily tasks. I continue to exercise at home because I feel confident about what is safe to do. From an emotional perspective, I feel healthier as exercising lifts my spirits and allows me to gain some control over my well being."

The director of the program, Caryl Russell, holds a UW master's degree in kinesiology. Lori Kraemer, a UW kinesiology alumna and professional fitness and lifestyles consultant, trains the participants.

Mike Sharratt, dean of UW's faculty of applied health sciences, facilitated setting up UW Well-Fit and helped to find funding for it, as well as doing liaison with the medical profession in Kitchener-Waterloo, particularly oncologists and medical administrators at Grand River Regional Cancer Centre.

Well-Fit is part research (to verify that it works and how to implement the program) and part community service (helping patients deal with their conditions better). It is also part educational because the AHS faculty provides an opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students to assist with the program.

"We do not see ourselves as competing with commercial fitness centres in the community because they traditionally are not involved with clients undergoing treatment which requires specific intervention and medical monitoring," Russell says. She adds: "To date we have had 18 clients come through the program. We started slowly, trying to make sure it works. We are now getting constant phone calls about it, so the word is getting around that it is helpful."

Mark your calendar
October 21-24 -- Blood donor clinic, Student Life Centre
October 24 -- Drama department "Silversides event"
October 26 -- Fall convocation
October 29 -- Board of governors meeting; dinner honouring retiring chancellor Val O'Donovan
November 1-2 -- Homecoming, Naismith basketball tournament
November 4-9 -- East Asian festival at Renison College
November 8 -- Auction and Celebration of Native Art, St. Paul's United College
November 13-16 -- Drama department stages "A Midsummer Night's Dream"
November 21 -- Engineering student awards banquet
November 21-22 -- Hagey Lectures by John Stanford
November 28-29 -- Staff association annual craft sale
November 29-30 -- Fine arts department miniature art sale

Warriors face Slovenia; other events

The Warrior hockey team will have an international flavour tonight when Waterloo takes on the Slovenia National Junior Team in a pre-season exhibition game at Columbia Icefield.

The under-20 Slovenian team is making Waterloo one of four stops this week on a Canadian tour, a warm-up to December's World Hockey Championships (Group One), being held in Slovenia. Darko Kristan, a representative of Slovenia hockey in Canada, says the purpose of this seven-day tour is to "learn from the best" and experience the physical component prominent in North American hockey. However, the team will be missing their three top players, who are playing Junior hockey and unable to leave their respective teams.

Waterloo might have a large home ice advantage with their fresh legs and eagerness to start their hockey season on the right note. Dave Cressman, the Warrior head coach, is excited about the opportunity to play a European team. "If they are anything like most European teams they will be very skilled," Cressman says. "I believe that you get better by playing with and against better talent, and we are looking forward to the challenge." He also adds that "this will be a unique memory for our players, something that they probably never would have been able to experience."

Cressman himself and Kristan worked together to organize this international exhibition game. They had met while Kristan's son was visiting Waterloo as a prospective student.

Cressman is hoping the game will give the Warriors the confidence they need to show that they can compete in a tough OUA Far West Division that includes last year's CIS champion Western Mustangs. The Warriors have added a number of skilled players this year in hopes of reaching the playoffs. (The regular OUA season starts with a Saturday afternoon home game against Windsor.)

Game time is 7:30 tonight at the Icefield. Tickets are $7 for adults, $4 for non-Waterloo students and free for Waterloo students.

Also scheduled: Postings go up today listing winter term co-op jobs for students in the architecture and teaching programs, as interviews for students in other programs continue.

The senate graduate council will meet at 10:30 in Needles Hall room 3001.

The Waterloo Public Interest Research Group today presents something called "From Resistance to Revolution", described as "a touring discussion of holistic politics and organizing". It'll stop at 12:30 at the Student Life Centre (multipurpose room), and tonight at "The Spot" in downtown Kitchener. Says WPIRG: "Please join Briana Herman-Brand and Jeremy Louzao, two activists traveling across the US and Canada."

Tonight: "The City of Waterloo, in partnership with Dr. Alan Morgan, invites you to attend the official unveiling of Geology Audio Signs and a hike on the West Side Trail." Things start at 5 p.m. on the trail location just off Columbia Street west of Erbsville Road. Morgan, of UW's department of earth sciences, has helped to create what are being billed as "the first audio signs in Waterloo Region".

Fed Flicks, tonight at Federation Hall, offer "Insomnia" and "Misery" -- gee, sounds like a real upper. The low-budget event starts at 7:00.

Tomorrow will be "Professional and Post-Degree Day", sponsored by career services: representatives of (at last count) 44 universities from across Canada and beyond will be at UW to talk about their professional and graduate programs -- social work, law, business, veterinary medicine, health technology and so on. Things will be set up in the Student Life Centre from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. I'll say a little more about this event tomorrow.

Coincidentally, tomorrow also brings the MBA and law school fair held this time every year -- 4 to 7 p.m. tomorrow at the Paul Martin Centre, Wilfrid Laurier University.

Building up to the "symposium on systematic racism" scheduled for this Saturday, the Waterloo Public Interest Research Group will hold a second advance workshop tomorrow, from 9:30 to 12:30, in the Student Life Centre. Information: 888-4882.

And tomorrow brings a talk in the smarter health series sponsored by the InfraNet Project and the Education Program for Health Informatics Professionals. The talk is "Integrating the Health Record", by Andrew Szende of the Hospital for Sick Children and Pat Billard of IBM; it's scheduled for 3:00 tomorrow in Davis Centre room 1302.

CAR

TODAY IN UW HISTORY
October 15, 1977: The student group "Radio Waterloo" goes on the air for the first time as CKMS-FM.