October 28, 2004

Thursday, October 28, 2004

Students praise architecture building
Campaign 'momentum' after $260 million
Some notes and today's events

Editor:
Chris Redmond
credmond@uwaterloo.ca

[Limestone over the water]

Windows of the Musagetes Architecture Library look east across the Grand River in the downtown Galt section of Cambridge. Photo by Barbara Elve.

Students praise architecture building -- by Barbara Elve

UW architecture students are giving their new facility in Cambridge high marks -- despite the din of ongoing renovations that hasn't yet died down in the former Riverside Silk Mill on the banks of the Grand River.

"It's miles away from what we had in Waterloo," quips master's student Thomas Kenniff. His first impression: "The space is fantastic; the light is fantastic." The sun flows through industrial-size widows, with most student studio space taking advantage of the softer light on the north and east sides of the building.

"Natural light is always better for a working environment," says Kenniff. "It creates happier people and a livelier space" -- especially for the undergraduates, who spend long hours in the studios.

"There are some deficiencies," he admits, noting the absence of any water fountains in the building. While the school's library is well stocked with architecture books, Kenniff will miss the opportunity to browse the stacks in the on-campus facilities, where a serendipitous discovery could lead to a new direction in research. And there are the challenges of finding reasonable rental accommodation and accessing student services.

Ultimate achievement: a women's competitive team fielded by the Ultimate Club, which in turn is sponsored by the campus recreation program, took part in a national tournament in Hamilton last weekend. The Waterloo women finished second, losing by one point to the University of Alberta. The team's web site doesn't bother to define Ultimate, but I think we're talking about a form of frisbee that "mixes the best features of sports such as Soccer, Basketball, American Football and Netball".

"There'll be a long period of adjustment," he predicts.

But the move opens up "the possibility of establishing a new community -- school-wise and with the town of Galt." Kenniff looks forward to "finally being part of a town," an experience he felt was more difficult on the main campus, encircled by the Ring Road. "We might be losing campus life, but we're getting something more we didn't have in Waterloo."

"It's a really beautiful space," agrees Heather Brown, checking out the library with other third-year students Leona Dobbie and Lauren Barhydt.

Barhydt appreciates how the building "consolidates resources," no longer requiring students to be "shoved around in any old space." She has vivid memories of the Green Room, the main classroom in the old Environmental Studies building on the main campus, as dark, cold (or hot), with loud mechanical noises.

While the new facility is still a work in progress, with some classes being conducted off site, Dobbie doesn't mind. "For the few weeks we have to put up with growing pains, it will be well worth it."

"Everyone is in the same boat," adds Brown. "We're all OK with that."

Yet to be resolved are the difficulties of finding transportation to the main campus and decent housing in Cambridge. "Landlords are not quite ready," says Barhydt.

Maryam Karimi, a second-year student, heads out to the public library across Queen's Square to connect to the Internet, since some of the computer hookups have yet to be completed in the new space. Still, she finds the architecture building "amazing. Everything is perfect. I really like the library," she says, adding the new school is more spacious, more comfortable and better organized.

Campaign 'momentum' after $260 million

Gifts to Campaign Waterloo are nudging up against the original five-year goal, $260 million, and campaign organizers are starting to talk about what happens next, the UW board of governors was told on Tuesday.

Laura Talbot-Allan, UW's vice-president (university relations), said the campaign stands at $228 million, or 87 per cent of the target, with almost three years to go before the deadline of UW's 50th birthday in July 2007. "Calls pending" could add another $24 million to that total.

"We've made almost 500 out of 2,000 major gift calls that were on the list," Talbot-Allan said. And while there's no doubt some of the easy targets have been tried already, it also seems likely that there are big dollars to be had from individuals and companies that haven't yet been formally approached for a Campaign gift.

"There's still some significant possibilities out there," said Bob Harding, the Brascan executive who is chair of the UW board of governors and of Campaign Waterloo.

As a result, Talbot-Allan said, volunteers (such as alumni leaders) and development staff have been discussing the "post-260-million strategy" for fund-raising over the next three years. She said there will likely be a "celebration" at some point in 2005 when the $260 million figure is definitely reached, but then fund-raisers want to keep the "momentum" going to continue building UW.

The leadership has been talking about "new and extended priorities", she said, and asking the provost and deans to make some decisions about what they'd like to see private-sector money raised for.

While the overall target is near, only about half the money raised to date is directly tied to priorities that were on the original project list, the vice-president said. In part, that's because "some new things have evolved" and attracted major gifts. For example, when Campaign Waterloo was getting rolling, nobody anticipated the Institute for Quantum Computing, which brought in a $33 million gift earlier this year, or the School of Pharmacy.

[The Addikted Sessions tonight at Fed Hall]

Some notes and today's events

The Canadian Islamic Congress announced yesterday that Mohamed Elmasry, the UW professor who has been in the national news following his comments about Israelis and Palestinians on a TV talk show last week, had offered his resignation as president of the CIC. The congress's board turned down the resignation, the statement says, but did accept an apology "for the way I expressed myself last week on the Michael Coren Show . . . for the distress I caused . . . for any public remarks I made which offended Canada's Muslim, Jewish, Palestinian, and Arab communities and Canadians at large." The CIC board said Elmasry has made a 30-year contribution to social justice and Muslim communities, and "one unintentional mistake does not wipe out an exemplary record." An article in today's Globe and Mail reports on reaction, and points out that other groups including the Muslim Canadian Congress are questioning the CIC's claim to speak for all the estimated 600,000 Muslims in this country.

"Bridging the Gap", the third annual Adaptive Technology Fair, is under way today in the Davis Centre lounge. It's a combination of displays (9:30 to 4:30) and presentations, including one at 9:45 by my colleague Jesse Rodgers of communications and public affairs, talking about "web accessibility". (Does your web site make sense to people who can't see pictures? Lots at UW don't.) Other talks will deal with vision loss, "creating an inclusive classroom", the use of tablet computers, and technical devices for students with hearing loss. The day is jointly sponsored by the office for persons with disabilities and the information systems and technology department. Details are on the web. The event is free for students, faculty and staff, unless they're planning to stay all day and have lunch, in which case there's a $25 registration fee.

WHEN AND WHERE

Blood donor clinic today 10 to 4, Friday 10 to 3, Monday 10 to 4, Student Life Centre.

'Selling Your Skills' career workshop 10:30, Tatham Centre room 1208.

'Pre-Homecoming Kick Off' 11:00 to 2:00, Student Life Centre: performances by Dramaturg, UW dance team, hip-hop, other groups.

Copy centres Carbon Copy (CEIT building) and Express Copy (Dana Porter Library) will be closed noon to 1 p.m. today.

Career night for drama and speech communication students ("Fast Forward"), Thursday 7 to 10, Festival Room, South Campus Hall.

Issues in Native Communities lecture series: Dan and Mary-Lou Smoke, "Representations of Aboriginal People in the Media", 8 p.m., MacKirdy Hall, St. Paul's United College.

Tourism lecture series: Keith Dewar, University of New Brunswick, "Do You Want New York Fries with Your Beijing Duck? Food, Place Names, and Tourism Destinations", Friday 9:30 a.m., PAS room 1229.

Dress down day Friday for the United Way campaign.

Hallowe'en luncheon Friday 11:30 to 2:00, University Club, $13.95, reservations ext. 3801.

Hallowe'en costume contest sponsored by Math Society, Friday 12:30, Math and Computer third floor -- participants from all faculties welcome. Candy for all.

St. Jerome's lecture: theologian Sallie McFague, "Christians, Economics and Planetary Living", Friday 7:30, Siegfried Hall, St. Jerome's University.

Chicago alumni dinner: UW hosts 18th annual All-Canadian University Alumni Dinner, Friday evening at Chicago Athletic Association, details online.

You @ Waterloo Day for future students and their families, Saturday 9 to 3, details online.

At Tuesday's meeting, the UW board of governors spent some time talking about long-range planning issues -- including a suggestion, which apparently came up in a focus group of board members and other external friends, that the university should buy a chunk of land, somewhere in Waterloo Region, for a possible future second (or third or fourth) campus. Getting around the Region is going to be easier some day with the arrival of rapid transit, the board was reminded. And while that service may be several years off, it'll be easier by this time next year to shuttle between the main campus and the architecture building in Cambridge, said Ken Seiling, chair of Waterloo Region and a member of the UW board. He said express buses running the length of the Region's spine -- from the "Galt" downtown in Cambridge to somewhere in north Waterloo -- are planned by next fall.

Also at the board meeting, provost Amit Chakma said enthusiastic things about the Centre for Family Medicine, to be established in connection with UW's health sciences campus in downtown Kitchener. It will be a headquarters for local physicians to supervise part of the training of medical students from Western and McMaster. In a community that's underserviced by family doctors, local leaders are hoping that some of the students who come to town for their training will stay in the area after they graduate. Rather than waiting for the planned campus to open, which could be in 2007, the centre will begin operation next year, Chakma said. "We are in the process," he added, "of negotiating a lease for the ground floor of Victoria School," on Duke Street in the downtown area, as a temporary home for the centre.

[Fast Forward logo] Students in the drama and speech communication department will hold "Fast Forward", their annual "intimate and interactive career night", this evening from 7 to 10 in the Festival Room, South Campus Hall. It's an opportunity to hear speakers and network with people working in communications, broadcasting, education, theatre, human resources, "and comedy", organizers promise. Special guest for the evening: Jen Goodhue of Second City and Comedy Inc.

Nominations are due by tomorrow for this year's President's Circle Awards for Volunteerism. . . . Harold Frey, who has worked as a biological technician in the UW physics department since 1982, officially retires November 1. . . . The fall term final exam schedule is now available on the web. . . .

CAR

Communications and Public Affairs, University of Waterloo
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(519) 888-4567 ext. 3004
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