Remembering Christopher Moran

by Feridun Hamdullahpur, President and Vice-Chancellor.

On January 7, University of Waterloo student Christopher Moran, 20, passed away. Christopher was struck by a motor vehicle on December 21 and tragically succumbed to his injuries.

On behalf of the University of Waterloo, I extend our sincere condolences to Chris’s family, friends, and colleagues. Our entire University of Waterloo family is deeply saddened by this profound loss.

A student of our School of Architecture in Cambridge, Chris was popular, capable, and a dear friend to many. His fellow students, particularly those in Chris’s year of study, are shocked by Chris’s passing, as are we all.

I remind those students, as well as any others who may be struggling, to contact our Counselling Services team at 519-888-4567 ext. 32655. Our counsellors and our entire University are here for you.

Flags at the University of Waterloo’s main campus will be lowered to half-mast on January 18, when Chris’s family and friends gather in his hometown of Ottawa to celebrate his life.

We hold Chris’s loved ones in our hearts and minds at this difficult time.

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CECA releases results of employer survey

by Olaf Naese.

Co-operative Education and Career Action (CECA) recently conducted a survey of co-op education employers to allow us to better understand their opinions on the use of webcams and conducting interviews outside of normal business hours.

We found the feedback interesting and thought that we would share the results with you in the infographics below:

Click on the images to enlarge.

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Staff reps needed for nominating committees

In accordance with Policy 45 - The Dean of a Faculty, the Secretariat is preparing to constitute nominating committees for the Dean of Applied Health Sciences, the Dean of Mathematics, and the Dean of Science.

Nominations are requested for:

• One staff member elected by and from the regular staff of the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences;
• One staff member elected by and from the regular staff of the Faculty of Mathematics; and
• One staff member elected by and from the regular staff of the Faculty of Science.

At least three 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., Wednesday, February 5. Elections will follow if necessary.

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Didactic drips distilled from the daily deluge

"Thousands of undergraduates signed up to join one of the clubs, services, or societies supported by the Federation of Students during the Fall Welcome Week 2013," writes the Federation of Students' Jacqueline Martinz. "This semester, Clubs, Services, and Societies’ Days will be held on January 16 and 17 in the SLC Great Hall."

During the two-day event, undergraduates will have yet another chance to explore the options available for them to get involved on campus. Over 150 clubs are supported by the Feds, and if students are unable to find one that meets their needs, resources are available to help them start a new club.

Clubs, Services, and Societies’ Days are a part of Winter Welcome Week 2014, which continues today with an Olympics (of sorts) consisting of a basketball shootout, hockey shootout, iHockey, and a Tug of War in the Student Life Centre atrium from 11:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. In addition, tobogganing will be happening at the CIF hill on the far side of Columbia Street. Attendees will enjoy free pizza provided by Panago Pizza.

Also today, entrepreneurial speaker Joel Baskin will be speaking from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in AL 113 on his experiences starting companies and agencies, as well as working in the music industry as a booking agent.

And it's not Christmas in July, it's NYE 2.0 for those who missed their chance to properly celebrate New Years Eve. This 19+ event will be taking place in the Bombshelter Pub from 7:00 p.m. to 11:59 p.m. Wait, 11:59? No countdown to midnight? Tickets for the event are on sale at the Feds office.

The full schedule of events is available online.

Tonight, Velocity Alpha (formerly VeloCity Campus) is hosting Velocity Alpha: Idea Generation featuring speaker Tom Price from 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. in EV3 4412. Don't forget to register for pizza.

Spaces are still available for Staff and Faculty yoga classes, which are held Fridays from 12:05 p.m. to 12:55 p.m. in EV1 353. Classes are $10 per Friday. For more information please contact Sandra Gibson, manager of health education at Health Services.

Waterloo's Chronic Disease Prevention Initiative is hosting Professor Martin Cooke, associate professor in the Department of Sociology and Legal Studies and the School of Public Health and Health Systems, for an event entitled "Opportunities for Chronic Disease Prevention Research using the Research Data Centre," on Monday, January 20, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. in DC 1304.

The Research Data Centre in question is the South Western Ontario Research Data Centre (SWORDC, which is a great acronym), is located at the University of Waterloo, and permits access to the confidential micro-records of Statistics Canada surveys. Monday's session will describe the centre and the datasets that are available for addressing questions relevant to chronic disease and their common underlying risk factors.  Data sources regarding specific at-risk populations and opportunities to measure change will be highlighted.

Lunch will be provided, so be sure to register by Thursday, January 16.

Are you a future CS grad? Then why not head out to the Future CS Grad Night, which will be held tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. in MC 5136.

As you'll recall, the University of Waterloo is participating as a Hub for the Great Canadian Appathon, a video game "hackathon" that is taking place from Friday, January 17 to Sunday, January 19.

Participants will compete to build a mobile game within 48 hours, with $35,000 in cash and prizes, as well as the chance to have said game published, on the line. People looking for a team to join can use a matchmaking tool.

Space for University of Waterloo participants has been reserved in the Partner area of the Communitech Hub for teams to use during the event.

The registration deadline is 12:00 p.m. on Friday, January 17.

Later this year, the University of Waterloo will also be hosting the Canadian Open Data Experience (CODE) appathon, which will take place from February 28 to March 2. The top 15 teams from the Great Canadian Appathon will be invited to participate as VIPs in the CODE event.

CODE, an app-coding scramble in a similar vein to the GCA, will see participants develop applications using federal government data from its open data portal. The applications produced by participants will need to conform to a theme that will be announced just minutes before the event begins.

The Waterloo Stratford Campus will be acting as a CODE hub.

On Monday, January 20 from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m., the fourth floor of EIT will be without electrical power as renovations are carried out in Room 4129. Plant Operations recommends that computer equipment should be shut down before people leave for the weekend.

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