Cancer research based in new centre: Propel

Two research centres will combine their staff today and officially launch a new organization with backing from UW and the Canadian Cancer Society. Propel, the Centre for Population Health Impact, takes over the staff and work of the Centre for Behavioural Research and Program Evaluation and the Population Health Research Group, both in UW's faculty of applied health sciences.

Propel "will recruit leaders in research, policy and practice from across Canada to join the fight against cancer and chronic disease," a news release says.

More than 40 UW scientists and staff are at work to prevent cancer and other chronic diseases, including diabetes, stroke, and heart and lung diseases, as well as improve the quality of life for people touched by cancer. Propel's initial focus is in the area of tobacco control, youth health, active living and healthy eating and quality of life for those affected by cancer.

"Strategic collaboration is at the core of how Propel will work, providing evidence to policy leaders, the Canadian Cancer Society, and advocates to help transform the health of populations in Canada and around the world," says Roy Cameron, CBRPE's executive director, who will now take on the same role for Propel.

The new centre is being launched with by-invitation seminars and an 11 a.m. opening ceremony today in the Lyle S. Hallman Institute wing of Matthews Hall. UW provost Feridun Hamdullahpur will be joined by dignitaries including Jimm Simon, chair of the board of the Canadian Cancer Society, and Michael Wosnick, the society's vice-president (research) and scientific director of its research institute.

The ceremony is followed by an open house from 12:30 to 2:00 this afternoon, also in the Lyle Hallman Institute.

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New plan for storm closing this winter

UW will make its own decisions about storm closing this winter, rather than always following the lead of the local public school board, the provost announced yesterday.

Says a memo issued campus-wide by provost Feridun Hamdullahpur: “UW’s weather/emergency closing guidelines have, for many years, mirrored those of the local school board: when the school board closed all its schools because of weather conditions, UW also closed.

“In recent years, there have been occasions when the school board’s decision to close because of weather conditions was not a decision appropriate for the UW campus.  As a result, UW is decoupling its closing decisions from those of the school board and will, in future, make its own determination as to whether weather conditions warrant closing.”

His memo goes on: “We understand the concerns that severe weather conditions can cause for members of our community and would stress that these new guidelines do not mean UW will never close due to such conditions. We would further provide assurance that our decisions will be informed by the first sentence of these guidelines: 'UW (and its Federated University and Affiliated Colleges) will close because of severe weather when normal operation would pose a significant danger to students, staff or faculty, or would prevent large numbers of them from coming to campus or returning safely to their homes.’

“We would also stress that, as stated in the guidelines, faculty, staff and students are responsible for determining when weather conditions make travel for them unsafe: 'When UW does not close in inclement weather, faculty, staff and students are reminded that they are responsible for determining when weather conditions make their travel unsafe and should consider public transportation because it may well be the safest option and cleared parking spaces may be in short supply’.”

The new guidelines are online, and Hamdullahpur asks faculty, staff and students “to review them, noting in particular the communications plans in the event of closing.”

Says the guideline document: “Notice of a campus closing will be posted on UW's homepage, normally by 7:00 a.m., remaining in effect until 7:00 a.m. or later the next day. Radio stations that can be expected to carry announcements include CKGL (570 AM), CKKW (1090 AM), CHYM (96.7 FM) and KOOL-FM (105.3 FM).

“‘Closed’ means: classes are not held; meetings and other scheduled events are cancelled; scheduled examinations are cancelled, to be rescheduled; deadlines for assignments and other submissions are postponed until the same hour on the next business day on which UW is not 'closed’; staff, other than those providing 'essential services,’ are not expected to be at work, but are paid for a normal day.

“A decision to 'close’ will be conveyed by the Provost to the Director of Communications & Public Affairs, who will arrange to: post details on UW's homepage, amend UW's automated telephone greeting, and notify local radio stations as necessary. The Provost, with assistance from C&PA, or others as required, will notify Executive Council, the Faculty and Staff Association Presidents and the student Presidents (Federation of Students, Graduate Student Association) who, in turn, will notify others under their jurisdiction. In such circumstances, individuals are to consult UW's homepage, tune in to a local radio station or call UW's Infoline (1-866-470-0910) to learn whether UW is closed.”

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Taking stock before Hallowe'en weekend

About that photo? Well, yes, it's “Break”, the fountain sculpture that stands at the southeast corner of the Math and Computer building; and no, it hasn't literally been painted orange. Electrical and computer engineering student Michael Seliske, who's a mainstay of the UW Photo Club, explains that the photograph “took about six people to do, using coloured filters on three flashes and the light-painting technique. It was taken with my camera but was equally spread out amongst everyone involved.”

Today — payday and the last working day in October for most staff and faculty members — should also be the last day of the on-campus United Way campaign. At last report the campaign, which provides support for some 40 community charitable and service agencies, was nearing its $200,000 goal but hadn't yet arrived. While we await news of how the donations and pledges are adding up, here's an announcement from the campaign leadership: "To encourage the campus community to contribute to this year's United Way Campaign, we will be holding two special prize draws for our donors. One name will be selected randomly from among our new donors — people who did not contribute to the Campaign in 2008 — to win a gift certificate for University Retail Services. And one name will be drawn randomly from among all repeat and ongoing donors to receive a gift certificate for the University Club. To be included, send us your donation for the 2009 United Way Campaign no later than Friday, November 6. If you misplaced your pledge form, contact Russell MacKay in the UW United Way office at ext. 33840. Show you care, and share!”

The UW staff association held its annual general meeting yesterday morning, with the traditional arrangements including early morning refreshments provided by Johnson Insurance, with which the association sponsors a group discount plan. I haven't yet heard any announcements resulting from the meeting, and there's one piece of news that is guaranteed not to be coming: the name of a new president for the association. That's because the procedures were changed last year so that the president serves a two-year term, and the current leader, Doug Dye of the UW safety office, is only half way through that period.

Imprint is due out this morning and should have extensive reporting on Wednesday's noontime “town hall meeting” in the Student Life Centre, at which students had a chance to get briefed about “student space” issues and ask questions. “Student space” is the blanket term for the needs and opportunities associated with, among other things, the proposed student services building and Health Services expansion that will be the subject of a fee referendum next month. For undergraduates, who face the prospect of $59.50 per term in additional fees for the two construction projects, a key question is whether they'll be getting their money's worth, and why the financial burden is theirs to carry. Such issues were raised in questions by the roughly 60 students taking an active part in Wednesday's meeting, and had also come up the previous day at the quarterly meeting of the UW board of governors, which gave its approval to the siting of the student services building if it goes ahead. Federation of Students president Allan Babor spoke briefly at that meeting, saying that in comments he had heard to date, “Students were trying to understand why there wasn’t funding from the government for buildings like this, why the university isn't contributing 100 per cent of these costs when there's a perception that student services are a necessity. Students essentially are saying, why are we paying for this?”

Professional geologist and Waterloo grad James D. Reimer will share his experiences and views on energy supply in Canada with students today. Reimer's public lecture is entitled “North American Shale Gas — A True Game Changer: What are the implications for our future?” He will speak about exploration and production careers, and the future of energy supply for the earth sciences in Canada. “Mr. Reimer will give students a real world perspective on the oil and gas industry and where it's headed,” says Rosie Triebner, senior development officer in the faculty of science. Throughout his career, Reimer has had project involvement in western Canada, the Beaufort Sea, Atlantic Canada, and Latin America.The executive vice-president of Result Energy Inc., he has been credited with the co-discovery of the large Ring-Border gas field in British Columbia and is involved with shale gas development in Horn River Basin, also in BC. Reimer was also named a UW Science Alumnus of Honour in 2007.

A team of Waterloo students will take part in the International Genetically Engineered Machines competition this weekend at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The event challenges undergraduate teams to draw from a toolbox of DNA “parts” or construct their own components to design and produce a genetic program to run in living cells. More than 110 teams have been working on their projects since the beginning of summer. Waterloo’s team, one of the most experienced Canadian groups at the event, includes more than 20 students from the faculties of engineering, mathematics and science. Their project is entitled Chromobricks: A Platform for Chromosome Engineering with BioBricks. “We will be focusing on chromosome engineering,” says Harsh Parikh, fourth-year biochemistry student. “Right now in synthetic biology, chromosome engineering is labour-intensive and we’re limited in what we can do. This project will make things a bit easier with biobricks, which are like Lego pieces of DNA.” Last May, Waterloo hosted a gathering of all Ontario teams participating in iGEM, marking the first time any of the provincial teams had met, and this weekend Waterloo will be coordinating a meeting for all Canadian participants. “This meeting will allow the Canadian students to meet and have a chance to speak with some industry leaders,” says Leah Kocsis, third-year science and business student, and the team’s human practices and outreach leader. It’s all “a tremendous opportunity for students,” says Nasra Aidarus, fourth-year biochemistry student. “It allows you to get the type of experience you may not normally have before graduate studies.”

Finally . . . surely you didn't think you could get through a whole Daily Bulletin without a mention of the H1N1 flu, especially when it's making national headlines. I'll just mention that vaccination clinics organized by Waterloo Region public health start tomorrow — and that UW's own health services clinic made the front page of today's Record with a story about vaccinations given over the past couple of days.

CAR

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