![[University of Waterloo]](/images/logobars/goldbar.gif)
| Yesterday |
Thursday, June 16, 2005
|
Editor: Chris Redmond credmond@uwaterloo.ca |
![[Towers above him]](/images/2005/0616urquhart.jpg)
Urquhart unveiled his sculpture (right) as a highlight of Tuesday's campaign celebration in the Davis Centre. Its materials include metal, plexiglass and feathers, and it sits on a base that will be inscribed with names of the volunteers who helped carry on the campaign.
Sharon Lamont of the library office said the sculpture is sited near the exit to the library, where passers-by can see it from the Davis great hall "or at a more leisurely pace while sitting in the lounge chairs". She added that the Davis location is "temporary", as the sculpture is to be moved to the Dana Porter Library after renovations take place on the second floor there, another product of funding raised by the campaign. But that could be several years away.
During Tuesday's celebration, the sculpture competed for attention with balloons, pom-poms, a video screen, a procession of speakers, the chancellor and his BlackBerry, and four on-stage red cylinders representing the four "pillars" of Campaign Waterloo -- Attracting and rewarding talent; Enabling talent; Making room for talent; Creating a culture where talent will flourish.
And then there were the cheerleaders. Elizabeth Witmer, MPP for Kitchener-Waterloo, was among the fans of their high-in-the-air flips. "I really enjoyed the presentation by the cheerleaders, having been one," she said during her brief remarks, "but we never did anything like that!"
Photos of Tuesday's event are now available on the web -- some on the UW Graphics gallery, some on the Campaign Waterloo site.
Earlier in the day Tuesday, about 40 donors and UW people made an hour-and-a-half tour of the campus in a yellow school bus, seeing sites where Campaign funding has already made a difference. I was along for that hot bumpy ride, and will report tomorrow on some of what I heard.
![[Carter]](http://www.graphics.uwaterloo.ca/photo/archivesimages/20050223.jpg)
"Few individuals have contributed so selflessly and so much to make
the University of Waterloo a better place," says the citation for
Carter (left), noting that his earlier work as treasurer of St. Paul's,
his attendance at numerous convocation ceremonies to share
"his" students' success, and his involvement with the United Way, K-W
Extend-a-Family Organization and the K-W Community Foundation "are a
few examples of David's generosity and his belief in giving back to
the community". He is quoted as saying that accountants "have a financial
expertise not held by others that is so necessary for not-for-profit
organizations, and we have an obligation to share it with them.
Working with these agencies is fun and you never know who you will meet."
He was one of the accountancy school's most popular teachers, the citation goes on: "From the high school student considering accounting, to the freshman overwhelmed by the demands of first-year university, to the Master's student needing to make timely contact with the Institute of Chartered Accountants, David was always there with his time, support and advice."
It's the day for arts students to receive their degrees (as well as diplomas in such fields as human resource management, peace and conflict studies, "crime, deviance and regulation", and Spanish-English translation). Lucia Salazar, graduating with a degree in Spanish and political science, will speak as valedictorian on behalf of her classmates.
Convocation will also hear from Roberta Jamieson, chief executive officer of the National Aboriginal Foundation, former ombudsman of Ontario and former chief of the Six Nations of the Grand River, who is receiving an honorary degree to recognize her achievements in law, public service, and the status of Aboriginal people. She'll give the convocation address today. Also receiving an honorary degree is George Ramsay Cook, "pre-eminent historian of Canada", editor-in-chief of the Dictionary of Canadian Biography and influential writer on Canadian unity and French-English relations. (He was also the PhD supervisor of Gail Cuthbert Brandt, now UW's associate vice-president, academic.)
Distinguished Teacher Awards will be presented to two people from the arts faculty. One is Dan Andreae, social work instructor at Renison College, who "makes course material come alive and be relevant to each person in the classroom. Dan Andreae's skills as a teacher results in part from his willingness and ability to bring his professional experience to bear on his teaching," as he is past president of the Ontario Association of Social Workers.
The other DTA winner being honoured is Andrew Hunt of the department of history: "Student response to Professor Hunt's teaching has been unanimously enthusiastic, so much so that the Department has had to limit enrolment in all his courses."
The Governor General's Gold Medal, recognizing the outstanding PhD graduate at UW each year, will be presented to Jennifer Schulenberg, who received her doctorate in sociology at last fall's convocation. Her thesis work on the exercise of discretion by Canadian police when dealing with young offenders was supervised by soc professor Peter Carrington. Schulenberg has been doing a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Toronto and is now heading for Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, to become an assistant professor in the school of criminal justice.
UW also awards three Governor General's Silver Medals, recognizing outstanding work at the bachelor's level. One will be presented today, to Daniel Wong, who is receiving his BA in accountancy.
The alumni gold medal, for another top graduating student at the bachelor's level, will go to Beatrice Moos, receiving her degree in psychology. The Distinguished Teaching by a Registered Student Award will be presented to Rudolph Michaeli along with his PhD in German. Two students will be presented with the President's Circle Award for Volunteerism: Karen Carter (psychology and sociology) and Andrea Coren (psych).
Winners of the departmental awards for distinguished academic achievement are Jennifer Wan (accountancy), Cindy Phan (anthropology), Kyle Menken (classical studies), Jennifer Scullion (drama), Michael Smith (economics), Victoria Cheng (English), Barbara Hobot (fine arts), Amanda Dreyer (French), Agata Monkiewicz (German), Andrew Kobus (history), Bridget Whittle (mediaeval studies), Ruth Poproski (philosophy), Brendan Green (political science), Beatrice Moos (psychology), Esther Coalter (religious studies), Justine Gill (Russian), Lisa Bianchi (social development studies), Christine Mitchell (sociology), Lucia Salazar (Spanish), and Barbara Reiser (speech communication).
![[Burbidge]](/images/2005/0701burbidge.jpg)
The economics
department gets a new chair as of July 1. John Burbidge, a
specialist in public finance and labour economics, takes over
that role, succeeding James Brox.
|
Staff elect two members on the 36-person board, which is the university's top governing body. Mark Walker of the registrar's office finished a three-year term on April 30, while Catherine Fry of the conflict management and human rights office has another year to go in her term.
Nominations are now requested to fill the vacant seat on the board, for a term that will run through April 30, 2008. "Full-time staff members who are Canadian citizens are eligible for nomination," a memo from the university secretariat says. "At least five nominators are required in each case. Completed nomination forms should be submitted to the Secretariat, Needles Hall, Room 3060, no later than 3:00 p.m., Thursday, June 30, 2005."
Meanwhile, three faculty seats on the board came vacant this spring, and were filled, according to law, by election from members of the university senate. The new board representatives are Bill Power (chemistry), James Skidmore (Germanic and Slavic studies), and Ralph Smith (biology).
New student members of the board -- also elected from the senate -- are John Andersen, president of the Federation of Students; Jonathan Fishbein, undergraduate senator from engineering; Paul Lehmann, undergraduate senator from arts; and Michael Makahnouk, president of the Graduate Student Association.
Two new Ontario government appointees to the board have been announced:
Earlier, four new "community-at-large" members of the board -- the ones chosen by the board itself -- were announced. They are John Manley, former deputy prime minister of Canada and now counsel to the law firm of McCarthy Tetrault LLP; Ian McPhee, a technological advisor who's been closely associated with UW spinoff companies and has served on the board before; Rob Caldwell, managing director of the investment firm First Associates, also returning the board of governors; and Bill Tatham of XJ Partners Inc.
| WHEN AND WHERE |
|
Renison College pre-Convocation service, 10:30, Theatre of the
Arts, followed by luncheon at the college.
Boggan burgers for sale to support UW concrete toboggan team, 11:00 to 1:00, Carl Pollock Hall main entrance. Chemical engineering seminar: Said Elnashaie, University of British Columbia, "Novel Designs/Modes of Operation for Efficient Production of the Clean Fuels", 11:30, Doug Wright Engineering room 2517. Faculty of science graduation reception for MSc and PhD students graduating in science, to honour recipients of the Dean of Science Award and W. B. Pearson Medal, 2:00, Biology I room 266. Math Society movies: "The Pacifier" 7:00, "Terminator 2: Judgement Day" 9:00, Math and Computer room 2066, free. Co-op job rankings for fall term jobs open Friday 6 a.m. on JobMine, close Sunday night. Carol Vogt speaks on "Past, Present and Future" as she retires from information systems and technology, Friday 8:45, Math and Computer room 2009. Cellnet (Cell-Factory Bioprocessing Research Network) annual general meeting Friday at UW. Ninetieth Convocation: Friday 2:00 for science, Saturday 10:00 for mathematics, Saturday 2:00 for engineering. J. W. Graham Medal Seminar: Garth Gibson, Panasas Inc., "The Path from Physical RAID to Virtual Object Storage," Friday 2:30, Davis Centre room 1302. Mayor's Celebration of the Arts Friday evening, Architecture building, Cambridge, details online. |
Officials have issued a revised version of the guidelines on when UW's flags are lowered to half-staff to mark the death of a student, staff member or professor, or for other reasons such as national mourning. Wording has been edited, says Karen Jack of the university secretariat; there's a new section saying that UW will follow the federal government's lead when flags are lowered across the country. Also in writing for the first time: flags will be lowered to half-staff from 11 a.m. to noon each Remembrance Day. "Judgments re lowering the flag will be made by the Provost," the guidelines say, and inquiries should be directed to the secretariat.
![[Wetherup in uniform]](/images/2005/0616wetherup.jpg)
I wrote
a couple
of weeks ago about a UW staff member -- Aaron Wilson
of central stores -- who was a mainstay of the Toronto Rock, winner of
the National Lacrosse League championship this year. What I didn't know
at the time was that a second staff member also figured in the team.
Phil Wetherup, whose daytime life is in the student awards office in
Needles Hall, has a secret identity as the Rock's backup goalie. An
NLL player for five years now, he joined the Rock this season, moving over
from the team they eventually defeated for the championship, the
Arizona Sting.
Here's a note of possible interest from a retired faculty member, aimed mostly at other faculty who are, or used to be, United States citizens: "Even if you have become a Canadian citizen or been living outside the US for many years, you may still be able to vote in the US federal elections for President, senators and representatives. Unless you publicly renounced your US citizenship you are probably eligible to vote with absentee ballots. Laws vary from state to state." For information on laws, state by state, he suggests the Democrats Abroad web site.
Parking lot D underneath Needles Hall has reopened after driveway work and installation of a new (green) kiosk. . . . The Warrior men's golf team finished fifth at the Canadian University and College Championship in Duncan, British Columbia. . . . Something new at the Campus TechShop in the Student Life Centre is "a beautiful line of ladies' laptop carrying cases in various price points and styles", and this month $10 from each sale goes to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. . . .
CAR