TORONTO – The School of Business & Economics at Wilfrid Laurier University is hosting an executive symposium in Toronto on the state of Canada-U.S. relations, featuring prominent experts Allan Gotlieb, Pamela Wallin and Stephen Handelman.

The three outspoken commentators will engage in a lively round-table discussion before an audience of top business and government leaders on April 11 at 3:00 p.m. at The National Club, 303 Bay St., in downtown Toronto.

The topic — A Continent Divided: The Uncertain Future of Canada-U.S. Relations — will address the need to develop a constructive, long-term strategy for improving relations with Canada’s most important economic and political partner.

“The management of the complex relationship between Canada and the United States is without question the most important external challenge confronting Canada today,” says Laurier dean of business and economics, Ginny Dybenko. “The Laurier School of Business & Economics is proud to help meet this challenge by sponsoring this symposium.”

Each of the panelists has keen, first-hand insights into Canada-U.S. relations. Gotlieb is an author and former senior diplomat who spent eight years as Canada’s ambassador to the U.S. Wallin, a former journalist who served as Canada’s consul general in New York from 2002 to 2006, is a senior advisor to the President of the Americas Society and the Council of the Americas. Handelman is a Canadian journalist and commentator on international affairs who writes for Time magazine and serves as managing editor of the journal, Americas Quarterly.

The Laurier School of Business & Economics, one of Canada’s most innovative business schools with campuses in Toronto and Waterloo, is hosting the event as part of its on-going commitment to foster positive international relations, especially in the area of trade and economics.

WATERLOO — Laurier president Dr. Robert Rosehart has been appointed Northwestern Ontario Economic Facilitator by the provincial government. His appointment was announced Thursday by Finance Minister Greg Sorbara as part of the government’s budget.



“His mandate will be to work with local people and businesses to help inspire a new generation of growth in the northwest,” Sorbara told the Legislature yesterday, adding that Rosehart “knows northwestern Ontario like few others.”

Rosehart, who was president of Lakehead University in Thunder Bay before coming to Laurier 10 years ago, chaired a commission in the 1980s that examined resource-based economies.

Northwestern Ontario, he said today, is an area “the size of France with the population of Kitchener.” The region’s economy, which is largely based on mining and forestry, has had challenges of late, particularly related to forestry.

A broad-based coalition of approximately 30 groups has come together in the northwest to look for ways to improve the economy. Its final report, entitled Forging the Future, will be completed in the next few months.

The Ontario government wants Rosehart to facilitate a number of meetings with stakeholders, including the federal and provincial governments and aboriginal communities. “Most of that will occur in the fall, after I’m finished here,” said Rosehart, whose second term as president of Laurier ends Aug. 30.

The province would like a final report by the end of 2007 so that recommendations can be examined in time for preparation of the province’s 2008 budget.

Rosehart said he had been looking at several career options to pursue after he leaves the president’s office at Laurier. The economic facilitator post is a good fit, he said. “I needed to find something I was passionate about. My own area of research is public policy related to regional economic development, so I’m returning to my area of research.”

Rosehart’s new appointment should have little impact on his remaining months at Laurier, he said. “I will do some consultations between now and August, but it’s a non-partisan activity,” he said, adding that he will keep a deliberately low profile during the run-up to the Oct. 10 provincial election.

The job will no doubt involve lots of travel. Northwestern Ontario is an area that runs from Manitoba eastward to a north-south line that runs roughly through Wawa.

Giving Women Opportunities to Achieve Economic Independence

BURLINGTON - Minister Responsible for Women's Issues Sandra Pupatello on March 27, announced more than $1.2 million to help low-income women develop new skills, find employment and achieve economic independence.

"This is a great time to be entering the skilled trades, as demand is high and will increase even more due to large numbers retiring from the industry," said Minister Pupatello. "That's why our government is investing in programs, like WIST, to create opportunities for women in fields where there is growing demand."

The Women in Skilled Trades program will fund five training programs across the province to help low-income women gain a foothold in the lucrative skilled trades sector. This year, women will receive instruction in trades such as welding, carpentry, landscaping, construction, industrial/metal working and mechanical/motive power at training institutions in Sudbury, Burlington, Waterloo, Thunder Bay, Dryden, Kenora and Hamilton.

The Centre for Skills Development and Training in Burlington received $200,095 in funding and is delivering an enhanced general carpentry program in partnership with the Residential Construction Council of Central Ontario, which has been a supporter of the centre's construction programs for many years. The program includes 30 weeks of in-class and on-the-job training, and a 16-week work placement.

"The Centre is thrilled once again to have the opportunity to deliver an enhanced general carpentry program under the Women in Skilled Trades initiative," said Kathy Mills, Chief Administrative Officer, Centre for Skills Development and Training. "We work closely with our construction industry partners to ensure that women graduate with the skills necessary to meet the demand for well-trained, well-qualified workers in the construction industry."

"The Centre makes a great contribution to the community by delivering the WIST program," said Kevin Flynn, MPP Oakville, who participated in today's announcement. "Congratulations to the students who are embarking on a new career and a path to economic independence."

Mike Holmes, star of Holmes on Homes and an employer of WIST graduates, participated in today's announcement, "As a contractor for over 20 years, I know how important it is to give people the proper training to do things right. I employ two WIST graduates who are excellent workers because of the great job the Centre does in preparing its students. Congratulations to the Ontario government for supporting this program and helping women get into the trades."

Including this year's funding, the McGuinty government has provided a total of more than $4.6 million since 2003 to train hundreds of women through the Women in Skilled Trades program.

<< Other government initiatives to promote women's economic independence include:

- Investing $2.7 million over two years to provide information technology training for low-income women

- Investing $4 million over two years to 10 Employment Training Pilot Programs that offer skills training, education, support and counselling to vulnerable women.

MCGUINTY GOVERNMENT INVESTS IN FIVE NEW TRAINING PROGRAMS FOR WOMEN IN THE SKILLED TRADES

The Women in Skilled Trades (WIST) program will provide $1.2 million for five training programs across the province to help low-income women prepare to work in the skilled trades sector, such as welding, carpentry, landscaping, construction, industrial/metal working and mechanical/motive power.

The program will be delivered at training institutions in Burlington, Hamilton, Sudbury, Thunder Bay, Dryden, Kenora and Waterloo.

- Burlington

The Centre for Skills Development and Training will receive $200,095 to deliver training to 22 women in enhanced general carpentry. The program includes 30 weeks of in-class and on-the- job training, and a 16-week work placement.

Contact information:
Ecaterina Jallad
The Centre for Skills Development and Training
860 Harrington Court
Burlington, ON L7N 3N4
Tel: (905) 333-3499 ext. 121
Fax: (905) 634-2775
Email: jallade@thecentre.on.ca

- Hamilton

AAT School Hamilton Inc. will receive $290,159 to deliver training in landscaping to 20 women in Hamilton. The program includes 30 weeks of in-class and on-the-job training, and a 10-week work placement.

Contact information:
Leslie Waychison
AAT School Hamilton Inc.
41 Stuart St.
Hamilton, ON L8L 1B5
Name: Leslie Waychison
Tel.: (905) 521-1121
Fax: (905) 521-8169
Email: lesliew@aat-school.ca

- Sudbury

Collège Boréal will receive $194,490 to deliver training in welding to 12 women in Sudbury. The program includes 30 weeks of in-class training and a 10-week work placement.

Contact information:
Anne Ouellette
Collège Boréal
21, boulevard Lasalle
Sudbury, ON P3A 6B1
Tel.: (705) 560-6673 ext. 3035
Fax: (705) 521-6007
Email: anne@borealc.on.ca

- Thunder Bay, Kenora and Dryden
Confederation College will receive $314,885 to deliver a multi-skills training program to 36 women in Thunder Bay, Kenora and Dryden. The women will be trained in fields including: construction, industrial/metal working and mechanical/motive
power. The program includes 22 weeks of in-class training and an
eight-week work placement.
Contact information:
Janet Arinobu
Confederation College
P.O. Box 398, 1450 Nakina Dr.
Thunder Bay, ON P7C 4W1
Tel.: (807) 475-6370
Fax: (807) 626-9584
Email: arinobu@confederationc.on.ca

- Waterloo

Conestoga College will receive $299,953 to deliver general carpentry training to 23 women in Waterloo. The program includes 28 weeks of in-class training and a 10-week work placement.

The University of Guelph — along with Ontario’s other universities — is waiting for details from the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (MTCU) about how the 2007 provincial budget announced Thursday will affect its funding.

The provincial budget included a one-time $210-million allocation to universities to deal with immediate cost pressures. But that money cannot be built into base funding, so it will not help U of G alleviate its structural deficit, said president Alastair Summerlee.

That funding was actually committed to universities by the federal government in last year’s budget, but it has been held up until now. “I am pleased that the province has successfully negotiated the release of this promised 2006 funding, as I know it was a challenge,” Summerlee said. “It will certainly be helpful in the short term, but the money will not be available to address our ongoing structural deficit.”

There were few details about other provincial dollars in Thursday’s budget, so how much money individual universities will receive is still unknown, which means U of G’s budget situation remains unclear, Summerlee said.

There was mention of future provincial announcements to support the research and innovation strategy and environmental issues. Details are expected to be released shortly. “We eagerly anticipate information on these further important initiatives in the hope that they, too, will provide base funds to address ongoing crucial issues,” Summerlee said.

The budget did confirm that U of G will receive nearly $6 million for the BioCar Initiative, a multi-university project that involves developing and delivering biomaterials for the automotive industry. Guelph’s role will include creating new industrial crops that can be turned into composite materials used to make interior automobile components.

But the budget did not specify how the province would handle the increases in provincial transfer payments to support higher education announced in the federal budget Monday.

Summerlee said the proximity of the two budgets made confirmation difficult for the province. “But we are looking forward to an increase in per-student spending that brings us up to the national average.” Ontario currently ranks last among the country’s 10 provinces.

“We are also looking for the transfer to become base funding, so it would allow us to address quality issues for our students,” he said.

U of G initial budget assumptions for 2007/2008 (which were made prior to both federal and provincial announcements and before decisions about enrolment and tuition) project a structural budget deficit of $19.7 million. Nearly every other university in Ontario is facing similar budget challenges.

Many universities, including U of G, also continue to seek relief from the Ontario government to address requirements for funding of pension plans. Currently, U of G must pay $47 million a year from the operating budget to its pension fund under provincial valuation requirements.

Because of the uncertainty about government funding, Guelph’s preliminary MTCU budget won't be presented to Board of Governors until June. Tuition proposals will be presented in the context of provisional budget assumptions at the board's April 18 meeting to provide an opportunity for discussion about tuition while most students are still on campus.

The president and provost have begun holding budget discussions with U of G colleges and will address various town hall gatherings, including ones on March 28 and April 17.

Several high profile government officials, corporate sector leaders and community group activists will be on hand for Building a Sustainable Future Day. Tony Genco, President and CEO of Downsview Park will speak to guests in the afternoon about living in sustainable communities. Special guests (see itinerary below) will officiate and speak at the Awards Ceremony in the afternoon. Student trophies were designed by environmental sculptor, Dawna Robertson, from Kleinburg, Ontario, who will provide demonstrations of soapstone carving at the event.

Students and education professionals from York Region District School Board; Centre for the Built Environment at Seneca College; and Indigenous Environmental Studies at Trent University will discuss living in a sustainable world; and the Sustainability Pavilion will feature displays and demonstrations on sustainable development in a modern world.

In attendance:

WATERLOO — Dr. David Docherty, dean of Laurier’s Faculty of Arts, has been appointed to the board of directors of Knowledge Ontario.

Funded by the Ontario government with a one-time grant of $8 million, Knowledge Ontario is a collaboration of libraries, cultural heritage organizations and educational institutions, which aims to support learning through public access to a collection of electronic resources. At Laurier, these resources are being incorporated into the relevant areas of the library's website, and include many full-text databases.

Docherty was nominated to the board by Sharon Brown, university librarian, for his “keen interest in politics, knowledge of the Canadian political scene, and fund-raising experience.” The Ontario Council of University Libraries, a sponsor of Knowledge Ontario, selected Docherty as one of two board members appointed to represent the university sector, along with Gwen Ebbett, chief librarian at the University of Windsor.

"I am thrilled to participate in this important venture,” says Docherty. “Knowledge Ontario is engaged in important educational outreach to Ontarians with a series of innovative and cutting-edge strategies. I look forward to serving on the board."

Promising. That’s how University of Guelph officials are describing the federal budget released Monday. It contained increases in provincial transfer payments to support higher education and more money for research-granting agencies and infrastructure.

“We are very pleased that post-secondary education was front and centre in the budget,” said Maureen Mancuso, provost and vice-president (academic).

“The federal government recognizes the important role that universities and research play for Canadians, and we are now looking to the provincial government to follow through on these investments.”

The provincial budget is set to be released Thursday. Based on the federal announcement, U of G is specifically looking for an increase in per-student spending, as Ontario currently ranks last among the country’s 10 provinces. “We would like to see the provincial funding increased to a level that at least brings us up to the national average,” Mancuso said.

She also wants to see the province match the national investments that are made to university research through federal granting councils like the Canada Foundation for Innovation.

In addition, U of G is looking for the provincial government to invest more money in infrastructure and deferred maintenance.

“Our expectations are reasonable and appropriate,” Mancuso said. “Support from the provincial government is crucial as Ontario universities continue to face challenges of ensuring quality and accessibility.”

WATERLOO - The University of Waterloo seeking to raise awareness of diverse cultures on campus will hold the fifth annual International Celebrations Week (ICW), beginning Friday and ending March 30.

The week will provide an informative, educational and entertaining look into unique aspects of many different nationalities, as well as promote internationalization at UW. It was organized by a committee of staff and students.

"International Celebrations Week is an opportunity for students, staff and faculty to celebrate the diverse cultures that can be found across campus," says Heather FitzGerald, director of student life at the university.

The week begins on Friday with a Warrior Weekends, an event offering students opportunities for social interactions by providing a variety of accessible programs to enhance student life and develop leadership.

On Sunday, from 2 to 7 p.m, campus recreation will be hosting a HUG-a-thon at Columbia Icefield on the north campus, complete with a yoga-thon, kick-a-thon and spin-a-thon.

"Students will support Helping for a United Good in its quest to educate people about different cultures and faiths as well as get some exercise while they are at it," FitzGerald says.

UW's food services will be serving different types of food -- ranging from Greek to Chinese cuisine -- every day of the week, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Renison College will be hosting a free coffee break each day from 2 to 3 p.m. with the exception of Thursday, when the college will offer a tea break from 2 to 5 p.m. Everyone is invited and there will be a different theme each day. St. Paul's College will hold a tea party on Friday, March 30.

On Thursday, March 29, the Federation of Students will be hosting the annual ICW Cultural Caravan in great hall of the student life centre. The event features performances from various entertaining acts, from 5:30 to 9 p.m.

"Students can get a glimpse into the diverse cultures that make up UW's global community at the Cultural Caravan," FitzGerald says.

For a complete list of scheduled activities and events, visit link or contact Heather FitzGerald at the student life office, 519-888-4567 ext. 36876.

Teaching business to turn a profit by thinking green is the topic of the University of Guelph’s seventh annual Kenneth Hammond Lecture on Environment, Energy and Resources.

Titled “The Business Case for Sustainability,” the free public lecture will be given by corporate sustainability expert and author Bob Willard March 22 at 7 p.m. at the River Run Centre.

Willard spent 34 years at IBM, including 20 years in management. Since taking early retirement in 2000, he has worked full time helping businesses to avoid risks and pursue opportunities in sustainability.

“Executives do not have to be transformed into tree-hugging environmental activists to reap the benefits of sustainability,” says promotional material for his 2000 book, The Sustainability Advantage, which discusses cases for corporate sustainability strategies. “Good environmental and social programs make good business sense.”

Willard isalso the author of The Next Sustainability Wave: Building Boardroom Buy-in published in 2005, which discusses how to persuade executives and board members to adopt sustainable business strategies.

This year’s Hammond lecture is sponsored by the new Guelph Institute for the Environment (GIE), which is part of the Faculty of Environmental Sciences at the University of Guelph. The GIE is intended to connect scientists, policy-makers and community partners to improve environmental policy.

The annual Hammond lecture series began in 2000 and is named for Kenneth Hammond, a former member of U of G’s Board of Governors and an advocate for environmental and resource issues and environmental education.

Now he is also known as the latest recipient of the Laurier Faculty of Social Work’s Graduate Honour Award.

The award is given each year to a Laurier social work graduate who demonstrates outstanding achievement in social work practice, policy development, advocacy and volunteerism. The recipient must also show involvement with the faculty, professional associations and social-service agencies.

“It is a great honour to receive this award,” says Andreae, who graduated with an MSW from Laurier in 1980. “I am most appreciative of the education I received at Laurier’s Faculty of Social Work; it helped to launch my career. Friends I made at Laurier are still friends today, so I appreciate the sense of community Laurier provides.”

To Marnie Morrow, who administers the award, Andreae was a natural choice. "Dr. Andreae exudes a high level of energy and excitement about all that social work represents. His participation in the field has spanned very clinical work in areas such as sleep disorders and Alzheimer's disease, to consulting and policy work; his ability to balance these perspectives makes him a great advocate for the profession."

Andreae holds a number of honours for his contributions to social work, health care, policy development and education. He was awarded the 1992 Governor General’s Medal for his contribution to the Alzheimer Society and the Ontario Association of Social Workers. He received the Canadian Association of Social Work Award for Ontario in 1999. In 2001, he was selected Laurier’s Alumnus of the Year.

According to Leona Chase, who nominated Andreae for the Faculty of Social Work’s Graduate Honour Award, his wide range of contributions to the field make him a worthy recipient. “I have long known and admired his many outstanding contributions to the social work profession,” she wrote in her nomination letter. “Dr. Andreae…continues to be an avid ambassador for, and a credit to, Wilfrid Laurier University.”

Andreae is currently the president of the Ontario Association of Social Workers (a position he also held from 1993-2000) and chair of its government relations committee. He also teaches in the Faculty of Social Sciences at Renison College.

He is the co-founder and co-chair (along with Dr. Frank Turner) of the Social Work Doctor’s Colloquium and the Social Work Doctor’s Institute. He served as the executive director of a health education agency that started the National Eating Disorder Information Centre at Toronto Hospital. The Alzheimer Society for Metropolitan Toronto began the Wandering Person Registry under his tenure as executive director.

As well as honouring the work of an individual, the Graduate Honour Award promotes social work’s role in the community and recognizes Laurier’s Faculty of Social Work as a leader in the field of social work education and training. Previous award winners include: Marg Notar, Angela Hovey, Judy Finlay, Gebrehiwot Berihun and Pauline King.

The award is part of the Faculty of Social Work’s celebration of National Social Work Week, which is celebrated annually across Canada during the month of March.

http://sustainablecontest.cement.ca:

Several high profile government officials, corporate sector leaders and community group activists will be on hand for Building a Sustainable Future Day. Tony Genco, President and CEO of Downsview Park will speak to guests in the afternoon about living in sustainable communities. Special guests (see itinerary below) will officiate and speak at the Awards Ceremony in the afternoon. Student trophies were designed by environmental sculptor, Dawna Robertson, from Kleinburg, Ontario, who will provide demonstrations of soapstone carving at the event.

Students and education professionals from York Region District School Board; Centre for the Built Environment at Seneca College; and Indigenous Environmental Studies at Trent University will discuss living in a sustainable world; and the Sustainability Pavilion will feature displays and demonstrations on sustainable development in a modern world.

WHEN: Monday, April 2nd, 2007

TIME: 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM, with the Awards Ceremony at 2:30 PM (see itinerary below)

WHERE:Seneca College Markham Campus (see map below)

WHO:
* Donna Cansfield, Ontario Minister of Transportation

* John Wilkinson, Parliamentary Assistant to the Ontario Minister of the Environment

* Ernie Parsons, Parliamentary Assistant to the Ontario Minister of Community and Social Services, Chair, Ontario Cement Caucus

* Wayne Dawson, V.P. Ontario Region, Cement Association of Canada

* Bill Humber, Chair of the Centre for the Built Environment, Seneca College

* Dawna Robertson, Environmental Sculptor, Kleinburg, Ontario

* Tony Genco, President and CEO of Downsview Park

* Linda Irvine, Manager, Parks and Open Space Development, Town of Markham

* Dan Longboat, Director of Indigenous Environmental Studies Programme, Trent University

WATERLOO - The University of Waterloo will host robot enthusiasts from high schools across Ontario next week in the first round of an international robotics competition.

The FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition challenges teams of high school students and their mentors from around the world to solve a common problem in a six-week period using a standard parts kit and common set of rules.

This year, teams are building robots to play a game where the objective is to score points by hanging inflatable tubes on a large rack. Also, at the end of the match, some robots will turn into ramps that their partners can climb to score extra points.

The Waterloo regional competition, open to the public, will be held Thursday through Saturday (March 22-24) in UW's physical activities complex. Admission is free.

"Through FIRST, kids realize that building a robot can be fun and cool," says Rob Gorbet, a UW professor of electrical and computer engineering who helped bring the event to the Waterloo campus. "It gives them very real role models, from outside the worlds of professional sports and entertainment. It's about opening their eyes to careers in math, engineering, science and technology -- and it works."

"There is nothing like the clashes you see on the robo-warrior programs," adds Ian Mackenzie, a one-time student participant and current planning committee chair for FIRST Robotics Waterloo Regional. "This is really about making science, math, engineering and technology as cool for kids as sports are today."

Mackenzie said a total of 29 teams involving more than 600 students will participate in the event -- 26 from Ontario, along with two teams from Michigan and one from Florida. Among the teams is one from Jacob Hespeler secondary school in Cambridge and another from St. Marys district collegiate and vocational institute in St. Marys, Ont.

UW is one of two Canadian venues hosting a regional FIRST competition in 2007. The other Canadian regional takes place March 29-31 at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga.

The annual contest draws over 1,300 teams in regional competitions in Canada, the United States, Israel and Brazil. The final championship will be held April 12-14 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

The competitions are high-tech spectator sporting events, the result of brainstorming, real-world teamwork and mentoring. Referees oversee the competition and judges present awards to teams for design, technology, sportsmanship and commitment.

"The energy, pace and excitement of the competition will make it fun for the whole family," Gorbet says.

Major sponsors for the Waterloo regional competition include Research In Motion, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada, Government of Ontario, the University of Waterloo and the GM Foundation.

To learn more about FIRST Robotics, visit link The Canadian site includes information on registering, as well as photos and video from past competitions.

- Entrepreneurs have the chance to win $100,000 in cash -

Rochester, New York, and Waterloo - Wilfrid Laurier University, the University of Waterloo, Conestoga College and the University of Guelph – partners in the LaunchPad $50K Venture Creation Competition - along with economic development and university partners in Buffalo, N.Y., Ithaca, N.Y., and Rochester, N.Y., are pleased to announce the first-ever Golden Horseshoe Business Challenge.

The competition will take place from 12 noon to 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 31, at Casa Larga Vineyards, 2287 Turk Hill Road, in Fairport, just outside of Rochester, N.Y. The event is open to the public; the cost to attend is $35.

The Golden Horseshoe Business Challenge is targeted toward entrepreneurs in Western New York and Ontario, Canada — Rochester, Buffalo and Ithaca in Western New York, as well as Waterloo, Kitchener, and Guelph in Ontario. The first-place winner will receive $100,000 in cash to help implement the winning business plan. Judges will include a select group of venture capitalists.

Special thanks go to event sponsors Mark S. Ain, CEO and Chairman of payroll firm Kronos Inc. and a prominent alumnus of the University of Rochester William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration; New York State Sen. Joseph E. Robach; and the Finger Lakes Partnership WIRED program.

“This is an excellent opportunity to reach out and support entrepreneurs in Western New York and Southwestern Ontario, and provide them with the one, true resource they need the most— access to start-up funding,” said Duncan Moore, Vice Provost of Entrepreneurship at the University of Rochester. “Organizations from Southwestern Ontario and Western New York are coming together on cross-border initiatives and recognizing the true potential for economic growth in our broader region. The Golden Horseshoe Business Challenge is the perfect example of that ongoing cross-border collaboration.”

Participants in the Golden Horseshoe Business Challenge must first compete at the regional level. The 2007 LaunchPad $50K Venture Creation Competition will take place in Waterloo on May 9. The deadline for registration is March 16. The top two teams from the LaunchPad $50K Venture Creation Competition will have the chance to compete in the Golden Horseshoe Business Challenge on May 31.

“LaunchPad $50K Venture Creation Competition is designed to assist and support the creation of businesses in Southwestern Ontario,” said Geoff Malleck, LaunchPad $50K Faculty Advisor, Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Economics, and Associate Director for Student Development at the Center for Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology (CBET) at the University of Waterloo. “We are proud to be involved in the first-ever Golden Horseshoe Business Challenge which will give participants additional support at this critical stage in launching their business.”

Founded in 2005, the LaunchPad $50K Venture Creation Competition encourages and supports students, alumni, and others in the formation and development of viable, sustainable, and scalable businesses. The competition is a result of the partnership between Wilfrid Laurier University, the University of Waterloo, Conestoga College, and the University of Guelph. The winners of LaunchPad $50K are required to start their business at the end of the competition.

University of Guelph fine art professor Gerta Moray was so determined to tell the story of Emily Carr’s relationship with First Nations people and native art that she not only wrote the book but also raised the money to have it published.

In the course of her research, Moray visited nearly every First Nations community where Carr had sketched, including abandoned Haida villages accessible only by boat. She compiled a complete catalogue of the pioneering artist’s ‘Indian’ works as the groundwork for her book Unsettling Encounters: First Nations Imagery in the Art of Emily Carr. She also spoke with native elders and with contemporary First Nations scholars and artists.

Moray’s hard work and dedication paid off this week when her book was shortlisted for the British Columbia Award for Canadian Non-Fiction, the country’s largest prize for literary non-fiction writing.

Other authors nominated are Marian Botsford Fraser for Requiem for My Brother, Noah Richler for This Is My Country, What's Yours? A Literary Atlas of Canada and Dragan Todorovic for The Book of Revenge: A Blues for Yugoslavia. The winner of the third annual award, which carries a $25,000 cash prize, will be announced in Vancouver April 19.

“Emily Carr’s stature as an early modern artist is equal to that of Georgia O’Keeffe,” said Moray, who joined U of G in 1989 and has been researching and writing about Carr since 1986.

“It was time to go beyond the image of her as a crazy eccentric created by her puzzled provincial contemporaries. I wanted to place her with precision among the international currents of colonial image making and modernist primitivism, while also revealing her engagement with local developments in Canada and British Columbia.”

Carr, who lived from 1871 to 1945, is regarded as one of Canada's pre-eminent artists and a pioneer in creating the basis for a national Canadian art. She's known for her late Post-Impressionist style and her vivid depictions of native American people and their carvings, artifacts and villages.

Although Carr has been the subject of two biographies, many art history publications and countless catalogues, films, plays and books, Moray’s book is the first to investigate in depth Carr's commitment to First Nations people and the native art she depicted in her drawings, sketches and paintings.

Moray raised the money needed by the University of British Columbia Press to fund the book mostly from foundations and sponsors of the arts. Academic publishers lack the capital funds to print large illustrated art history books, so Canadian foundations and patrons have to be enlisted, she says.

The book includes maps; photographs of Carr, her family and the First Nations communities she visited; and nearly 100 colour illustrations of her paintings.

“We are thrilled to see Gerta's research getting the kind of national attention it so obviously deserves,” said John Kissick, director of the School of Fine Art and Music. “Being a finalist for such a prestigious prize — especially given that her book is essentially a scholarly publication — speaks volumes about Gerta's consummate skills as a writer and gift as a researcher.”

WATERLOO -- In marking national co-operative education week, the University of Waterloo will celebrate the achievements of six top co-op students next Wednesday, including one who has performed innovative work in cancer research.

Kristin Harris, a third-year (3B) health studies and gerontology student, will be given prestigious national, provincial and university awards at a campus ceremony on March 21. Harris, a graduate of Bluevale Collegiate Institute in Waterloo, will receive student-of-the-year awards from the Canadian Association for Co-operative Education (CAFCE) and Education at Work Ontario (EWO).

As well, UW's co-operative education and career services department will present six UW co-op student-of-the-year awards to top representatives from the faculties of applied health sciences, arts, engineering, environmental studies, mathematics and science. The awards recognize their contributions to work-term employers and co-op education, along with academic achievements and volunteer activities.

"We are delighted that for the second year in a row, the University of Waterloo has been recognized both provincially and nationally for the high calibre of our co-op students," said Peggy Jarvie, executive director of co-operative education and career services. "This is the first time that the award has been granted to the same person in both categories."

Harris, who will also get the applied health sciences student-of-the-year award and UW's 50th anniversary co-op student award, has earned international acclaim for her significant research at the Toronto Sunnybrook Regional Cancer Centre. Her work on a Bone Metastases Module required her to travel to Portugal and England to present her research both orally and through poster sessions.

She has authored and co-authored more than 24 medical papers, while peer-editing manuscripts and reviewing grant applications.

Harris was honoured with the Early Career Investigator award at the International Society for Quality of Life Research held in Lisbon, Portugal. The award is normally granted to doctors in the early years of their profession.

Harris will get a gift certificate and recognition plaque for each UW award, on top of a cash prize and plaque from CAFCE and EWO. She will also be given the Emery/Dufault award, a scholarship presented with the CAFCE award. Plaques detailing her accomplishments will be displayed in the lobby of the William M. Tatham Centre.

The other recipients of the UW co-op student-of-the-year awards are:

* Science: Kathryn Dorman, 3B science and business. Dorman completed her fourth outstanding work term at Mount Sinai Hospital's Surgical Skills Centre by travelling to Ethiopia to help set up a surgical lab. While there, Katie organized a mini Objective Structured Assessment of Technical Skills test in order to assess the basic surgical skills of 20 surgical residents and 10 surgical faculty members.

* Mathematics: Fiona Ng, 3B actuarial science and finance. While at Statistics Canada, Ng unearthed 3,000 problem cases located within the operating and statistical structures of her department using statistical analysis. As well, she made a comparative analysis of the new GST figures, checking them with past records in order to uncover discrepancies.

* Environmental Studies: Katherine Howes, 4B environment and business. As a program developer in the waste management section at Bruce Power Inc, Howes implemented a site-wide compost program, a first at a nuclear power plant, which will save the company two to seven years in landfill lifespan.

* Engineering: Simon Lancaster-Larocque, 3B mechanical engineering. While on his work term, Lancaster-Larocque submitted four patents for inventions designed at Research In Motion, including a revolutionary Testing Clip that uses reverse polarity magnets instead of springs, making the diagnostics process easier and more efficient.

* Arts: Carolyn Fitton, 2A arts and business. Fitton acted as a product marketer at Sybase iAnywhere, generating almost $6,000 in sales, and over $13,000 in forecast sales. She also prepared customer success stories, video scripts, monthly field briefing reports and a monthly newsletter.

As well, the following students will get honourable mentions for their accomplishments: Leah Mattheus, 3B applied health studies; Caustan de Riggs, 3B environment and business; Patrick McVeigh, 3B physics; and Orlando Marquez, 3B software engineering.

The University of Waterloo, which launched co-operative education in Canada, is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a series of events throughout 2007. UW has adopted the Spirit of Why Not? as its anniversary theme. Based on a line by George Bernard Shaw, the theme reflects the spirit of aspiration that has propelled UW to date and will continue to drive the university in the coming decade.

Alan Shepard, the University of Guelph’s associate vice-president (academic), has been appointed provost and vice-president academic at Ryerson University. The appointment is effective July 1.

“This is a tremendous gain for Ryerson, but a loss for the University of Guelph,” says provost Maureen Mancuso. “We are sorry to see Alan go, but excited for him. This is a prestigious appointment, which is a positive reflection both of our University and of Alan’s accomplishments as AVPA. We wish him great success in his new position.”

Mancuso commended Shepard for his passion for education and commitment to students and colleagues, as well as his achievements as AVPA. “Most notable is his work on the 21st-Century Curriculum Committee.”

Shepard joined U of G in 2002 as a professor and director of the School of English and Theatre Studies (SETS). He was appointed AVPA in June 2005.

“It’s going to be very hard to leave Guelph,” Shepard says. “This University is truly committed to providing students with an enriching learning experience, and I have worked with some incredible people. In particular, I want to thank the College of Arts and SETS, which welcomed me so warmly, and the dedicated members of the 21st Century committee.”

Before moving to Guelph, Shepard was on the faculty of Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas, where he chaired the English department. His academic interests include early modern literature, contemporary theatre, and the teaching of writing, academic ethics and curriculum development. He received a bachelor of arts degree from St. Olaf College and a PhD in English from the University of Virginia.

Mancuso will be appointing an acting AVPA later this month.

TORONTO - New research into what elementary teachers do during a typical workweek sheds light on the many components of a teacher's day, especially the teaching related work that takes place in addition to classroom teaching. A study by the Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association (OECTA) shows that during a typical workweek, which now averages 55.7 hours, full time elementary teachers spend an average of 30.5 hours on essential, out of class, teaching-related work.

The research shows that elementary teachers feel that their workload does not allow them to give individual students the time and attention that they deserve. Almost 94 per cent of the elementary teachers surveyed reported feeling 'stressed' by their growing workload. Seventy per cent say that meeting the individual needs of an increasing number of special needs students in their classes is contributing to their workload. They also report that teaching split grades (59 per cent) and increases in curriculum-related expectations (54 per cent) are significant contributing factors to their increasing workload and stress levels.

"Until workload is addressed and made more manageable, students will pay a price for the fact that elementary teachers do not always have enough time for each of them," says OECTA president Donna Marie Kennedy. "Teachers struggle to find enough time for planning and teaching all of their students. Unfortunately, without sacrificing their personal lives, their workload does not allow the teachers to do an excellent job in a reasonable number of hours each week."

Researchers spoke to 1767 elementary teachers from across Ontario about work-related activities at school and outside of school, on weekdays, evenings, weekends and vacations.

The research, conducted by James Matsui Research Inc. in October 2006, shows that teachers spend much of their out of class time preparing lessons, developing individual education plans for students with unique needs, marking, preparing report cards, working with students out of class, volunteering for extracurricular programs, meeting with parents, attending staff meetings and collaborating with colleagues, supervising students and receiving professional development.

In response to an open-ended question about how to address the workload issues, teachers suggest reducing class size, providing more support for students with special needs, curtailing the rate of curriculum change and reviewing the curriculum expectations.

"Addressing teacher workload is an essential step toward improving student achievement and OECTA members care deeply about helping students achieve," says Donna Marie Kennedy.

CALGARY - Elementary schools in Alberta's two major cities dominate the top spots in the Report Card on Alberta's Elementary Schools: 2007 Edition, released by independent research organization The Fraser Institute.

The Report Card on Alberta's Elementary Schools: 2007 Edition rates 705 public, private, separate and charter elementary schools from across Alberta based on seven key indicators derived from province-wide tests of reading, writing, and mathematics skills administered by Alberta Education.

This annual report card compiles data from these indicators into easily read charts that allow anyone to analyze and compare the performance of individual schools. Parents consult the report card when they are choosing a school and use it as an annual audit of how their children's school is doing academically.

"Unlike a simple snapshot, the report card shows parents how each school has done in academics over a number of years, allowing them to judge the school's ongoing performance," said Peter Cowley, the Institute's Director of School Performance Studies and co-author of the report card.

"Teachers and administrators can also use the report card to compare results for their schools with those of other schools whose students share personal or family characteristics. Seeing what other schools have accomplished can make a useful contribution to each school's on-going improvement efforts."

Of the 25 highest-rated schools, all but five are in either Calgary or Edmonton. Calgary leads the way with 14 elementary schools in the top 20 while Edmonton has six. St. Albert placed two schools in the top 20 while Okotoks, Sherwood Park, and Strathmore each had one. Eleven of the schools are public, nine are private, four are separate and one is a charter school. <<

The top-ranked elementary schools:
1 Clear Water Academy Calgary
1 Webber Calgary
1 Windsor Park Edmonton
1 Suzuki Charter Edmonton
5 Sunalta Calgary
6 Strathcona-Tweedsmuir Okotoks
6 Grandview Heights Edmonton
8 Nellie McClung Calgary
8 Calgary Waldorf Calgary
10 Glenmore Christian Calgary
10 Hillhurst Calgary
10 Sacred Heart Strathmore
10 Patricia Heights Edmonton
14 Glen Allan Sherwood Park
18 Calgary Jewish Academy Calgary
18 Keenooshayo St. Albert
20 Tempo Edmonton
20 Monsignor E. L. Doyle Calgary
20 Calgary French & International Calgary
20 George H Luck Edmonton
20 Alex Ferguson Calgary
20 River Valley Calgary

The concept is a step closer to reality today with the announcement that the provincial government is investing nearly $6 million in the BioCar Initiative, a multi-university project led by the University of Guelph.

It involves 16 scientists at Guelph and the universities of Toronto, Waterloo and Windsor. They are combining their research strengths and efforts to improve the development and delivery capacity of biomaterials for the automotive industry.

“The BioCar initiative aligns some of the most distinctive innovation capacity in Ontario,” said Alan Wildeman, vice-president (research). “It involves a consortium of universities working with two of the largest industries in Ontario, the automotive industry and the agricultural industry. This combination provides an unprecedented opportunity for the province to be seen as a major contributor to the global biobased industrial revolution that is occurring.”

Support for the project will come from the Ontario Research Fund's Research Excellence Program and was announced today in Toronto by Premier Dalton McGuinty, minister of research and innovation.

Guelph’s role will include creating new industrial crops that can be turned into composite materials used to make interior automobile components.

“It’s a whole new way of looking at agriculture and a whole new relationship between the sector and Ontario’s economy,” said plant agriculture professor Larry Erickson, one of the lead researchers. “It opens the door for a lot more approaches and utilization of crops. Now, agriculture is more than meat and potatoes; it’s car parts, building materials, fuel and more.”

It’s been known for years that plant material can be used to make components in the manufacturing process, but it’s only recently that society recognized the need to do this commercially.

For the past 100 years, research efforts and resources have not been focused on using crops in this way because there’s been an abundant supply of low-cost petroleum, said Erickson. “All of that has changed now, we have to catch up and make up for lost time and develop alternative technology.”

The BioCar project literally starts in the field, with Guelph looking at the raw agricultural materials and studying crop genetics. It then moves to processing and separating the biological feedstock in collaboration with the University of Toronto, to engineering composite resins and polymers for application to automotive parts at Waterloo, to finally incorporating the new products into automobiles at Windsor.

“Talk about a value-added chain of research,” said Erickson. “The BioCar Initiative is a continual stream of research and development with incremental improvements made at each point in the value chain. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”

He added that research into new bioproducts has often been challenging because currently, these new materials are not economically competitive with synthetic products. But the four universities joining together and creating an integrated, scientific team changes things.

Mohini Sain, a University of Toronto researcher, is the co-principal investigator for the project. Other key Guelph researchers involved are Ian Tetlow, Michael Emes, Istvan Rajcan, Peter Pauls and Gary Ablett.

Urge Toronto Centre Liberals not to Nominate Bob Rae

TORONTO - Bob Rae, a champion of higher tuition fees and deeper debt for Ontario's students, is an unpalatable candidate for the Liberals in the riding of Toronto Centre, according to the Canadian Federation of Students. Both George Brown College and Ryerson University have campuses in the riding and many students from Toronto's eight colleges and universities live in Toronto Centre.

"Bob Rae has been a disaster for affordable education," said Jesse Greener, Ontario Chairperson for the Canadian Federation of Students. "His record on post-secondary education speaks for itself and his most recent campaign to deregulate tuition fees hasn't won him any friends among students and their families."

In 2004, Rae was commissioned by the Ontario Liberal government to review post-secondary education. His Review fell into controversy from the outset when Rae made public statements indicating his desire to see unregulated tuition fee increases before even beginning consultations.

"Rae has only ever had one conclusion on his mind, so it was no surprise that he has consistently ignored student and community input and implemented an elitist vision for post-secondary education," said Greener. "What we didn't expect was that he would bring this bias so blatantly to his public duties."

As advisor to Premier Dalton McGuinty, Bob Rae urged the government to cancel Ontario's popular tuition fee freeze and drafted the blueprint for the Reaching Higher plan for tuition fee increases as high as 36% over 4 years.

"More than 80% of Canadians think tuition fees are already too high and it's clear that Bob Rae's plans for higher education are out of touch with the vast majority of voters," said Greener. "At a time when access to post-secondary education is crucial for the economic success of our country, Bob Rae would be a disaster representing any university riding."

"We're putting Bob Rae on notice that students will go door-to-door, if that's what it takes to stop him," said Greener.

WATERLOO – Three Wilfrid Laurier University undergraduate finance students — Greg Dean, Steve Groff and Mike Stewart — won the recent inaugural University of Ottawa Finance Society Case Competition.

The competition provided students with the opportunity to demonstrate the finance knowledge, skills and competencies needed to excel in this highly competitive industry.

Student teams were given a specified amount of time on the day of the event to complete their respective cases. They then had 30 minutes to present their findings and solutions to judges. The finals were held during an evening reception before a panel of judges, including a representative of the largest asset manager in the world, Barclays Global Investors.

“We are delighted about this wonderful performance by Laurier business students,” says Laurier dean of business and economics, Ginny Dybenko. “Laurier business students consistently excel at case-study competitions largely due to our unique and integrated business program and innovative teaching methods. Laurier is all about excellence in everything we do.”

WATERLOO — George Thom, a long-time member of Laurier’s security department and the man who used his talents in calligraphy to hand-letter the degrees and diplomas of thousands of graduates over the years, died Feb. 28. He was 86.

Thom, born in Scotland in 1920, came to Canada in 1947 after serving in the Royal Air Force.

A carpenter by trade, he worked on construction and at the mines in Matheson and Elliot Lake. He started as a security officer in the mine at Elliot Lake, but decided to go underground to work as a carpenter.

“He said that was his worst decision ever, and proof that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side” said Rick Cousineau, supervisor of community safety and security, who worked with Thom for 13 years.

Thom came to Waterloo Lutheran University in 1968 and retired as a supervisor in 1986.

“He was a very kind man, very involved in the university,” said Cousineau. “He was a dedicated officer, a personable guy who would take time for anything. He was very interested in athletics, and went to Laurier football games and hockey games long after his retirement.”

Thom was a skilled trim carpenter and liked doing odd jobs, Cousineau said, but he was particularly noted for his calligraphy.

“His log books were all done in calligraphy,” said Cousineau. “He would do it as fast as you could write.”

This talent came in very handy around convocation, when he would collect “piles” of diplomas to hand-letter. “He did that for quite a few years,” said Cousineau. “He was still doing it in 1993,” well after he retired.

Predeceased by his wife, Iva, Thom is survived by his four children, Barbara, Anne, Robert and Pat, and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Interment has occurred. A memorial service to celebrate Thom’s life will be held in the chapel of the Erb & Good Family Funeral Home, 171 King St. S., Waterloo, on Sunday, March 4, at 2 p.m.

Fraud: Recognize It. Report It. Stop It.

OTTAWA - Canadians need to be more vigilant in the fight against fraud, senior law enforcement and government officials are warning.

"Sophisticated scams are being invented daily. Whether it's Internet or mail fraud, deceptive telemarketing or identity theft, fraud is a serious problem," said Competition Commissioner Sheridan Scott. "It can steal Canadians' money, their identity and even their self-respect. Law enforcement agencies cannot investigate, press charges and prosecute scamsters unless Canadians help us by reporting these crimes."

The Fraud Prevention Forum encourages consumers during Fraud Prevention Month and throughout the year to recognize the signs, report them to the authorities and stop fraud.

"All of us -- individuals, businesses and government -- share a responsibility to work harder to stop the explosion of identity theft," said Jennifer Stoddart, Privacy Commissioner. "This costly crime claims thousands of victims each year. The theft of someone's identity may be the ultimate invasion of privacy."

Throughout Fraud Prevention Month, Forum members will participate in a number of activities across the country, including Scam Jams, which are anti-fraud events hosted by Better Business Bureaus, and the Second Annual Fraud Prevention Community Shred, a one-day shredding event in 20 cities across Canada on March 31.

"We know Canadians are very concerned about fraud and how they can protect themselves," said RCMP Assistant Commissioner Raf Souccar. "We also know that education just might be our single strongest weapon against fraud. All citizens have a responsibility to educate themselves. This means taking fraud seriously, and learning to recognize fraudulent activity. It also means reporting instances of fraud to the authorities."

Each year, thousands of Canadians fall victim to fraud, which undermines consumer confidence and drains billions of dollars from the economy.

"The damage from economic crimes may extend far beyond the financial loss incurred by the immediate victim. These crimes undermine the financial health of our entire country. When you learn to spot and report counterfeit money, marketing scams, and other forms of fraud, you do more than protect yourself: you foil criminals and help ensure a safe marketplace for all Canadians," said David Dodge, Governor, Bank of Canada.

The Fraud Prevention Forum, which is chaired by the Competition Bureau, is a concerned group of private sector firms, consumer and volunteer groups, and government and law enforcement agencies committed to fighting fraud aimed at consumers and businesses.

If a scam artist contacts you, or if you've been defrauded, call PhoneBusters, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Call Centre, at 1-888-495-8501.

For a complete list of Fraud Prevention Forum partners or a list of Tips to Protect Yourself from Fraud, please visit www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/fraud.

Toronto – Ontario’s apprenticeship program must become easier to access, more responsive to the needs of small business and more accountable to the public if the province is to address a looming crisis in trades and a shortage of skilled workers, according to a report released today by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).

CFIB surveyed small- and medium-sized business owners and their apprentices last fall. Business owners and young people say the rigid journeyperson/apprentice ratios fixed by the government limit or prevent companies from taking on apprentices. Regulations require employers to employ a certain number of journeypersons in the business to be eligible to train apprentices – sometimes as high as seven journeypersons for each apprentice. Almost one third of small business owners indicate that ratios are a major obstacle to apprenticeship training.

“Our members also raised serious concerns with the Provincial Apprenticeship Committees that oversee this program,” CFIB’s Ontario vice-president, Judith Andrew, said. “These committees operate in near-secrecy and have little or no contact with small businesses.”

View Report

Investment Improves Learning Experience Of Students, Boosts Local Economy

MIDLAND - The McGuinty government is investing over $2.4 million in a better learning environment for college and university students in the Simcoe County area through new building and facility upgrades, Training, Colleges and Universities Minister Chris Bentley announced February 27, 2007.

"By enhancing the physical space at Georgian's Skilled Trades Centre, we're improving the quality of postsecondary education and giving students the tools they need to succeed," said Bentley. "In addition to investing in skilled trades and apprenticeship programs, we're also generating economic activity in the Simcoe County area."

Georgian College will receive $1.9 million to support its Skilled Trades Centre in Midland, which has experienced significant enrolment growth for apprenticeship programs. Skilled trade programs will be consolidated at the Midland campus so that resources and facilities are used more effectively, and students will have better access to state of the art equipment. Georgian will also receive $521,360 in facilities renewal funding to upgrade essential infrastructure.

"The announcement by Minister Bentley today is not only of great significance to Georgian College, it is also of paramount importance to Midland/Penetanguishene and throughout the County of Simcoe," said Brian Tamblyn, Georgian College President and CEO. "This substantial investment in skills training by the Ontario government will come as welcome news to industry and employers from across the region that have long identified access to more skilled workers as one of their critical requirements for future growth and success."

In 2006-07, the government is providing Ontario's colleges and universities with a total of $40 million through the Facilities Renewal Program, to help refurbish classrooms and laboratories, improve energy efficiency and complete renovations to ensure buildings are accessible and safe.

The additional $1.9 million for Georgian College is part of a one-time, $30 million investment to support the construction of new facilities and promote energy efficiency. This funding is part of the McGuinty government's $190 million economic stimulus package, which was developed in response to the province's current period of slower-than-anticipated economic growth.

WATERLOO - More than 20 students stand to benefit from new scholarships, awards and bursaries to be offered by the University of Waterloo, starting next September.

UW's senate was briefed Monday about the university's new undergraduate awards for 2007-08 for entering first-year students and upper-year students, as well as student athletes.

"At the University of Waterloo, we're working to ensure that lack of money doesn't get in the way of a student's success," says Gail Cuthbert Brandt, associate vice-president academic. "These new awards will help to cover the costs of a university education."

UW's new entrance scholarships, awards and bursaries are as follows:

* Robert Kerton Entrance Scholarship in Arts One scholarship, valued at up to $3,000, will be awarded annually to an outstanding student entering first-year honours arts or honours arts and business in the faculty of arts. The scholarship honours Kerton's contribution to the faculty of arts when the economics professor served as dean from 1999 to 2006.

* SNC-Lavalin Entrance Scholarships Five entrance scholarships, valued at $4,000 each, will be presented annually to outstanding students entering first-year in the civil, environmental or geological engineering programs in the faculty of engineering.

* William D. Packham Undergraduate Entrance Scholarships Several scholarships, valued at $4,000 each, will be given to students based on admission average, extracurricular achievement and results of the Euclid Contest in mathematics. William D. Packham (BMath 1978) established a fund for outstanding first-year students entering mathematics chartered accountancy program or the business administration (Wilfrid Laurier University)/Mathematics (UW) double degree program at UW.

* Joan Swanson Memorial Scholarship One scholarship, valued at $1,000, will be handed annually to an undergraduate student entering first-year in the faculty of environmental studies. This fund is made possible by a donation from Wendy Campbell in memory of her mother.

Upper-year scholarships/awards/bursaries:

* D. George Dunseith Scholarship One scholarship, valued at up to $1,000, will be awarded annually to an outstanding third- or fourth-year undergraduate student enrolled in the school of planning in the faculty of environmental studies. The fund is made possible by a donation from Habitat for Humanity Canada.

* SNC-Lavalin Scholarships Two scholarships, valued at $3,500 each, will be given annually to outstanding fourth-year students in civil, environmental or geological engineering, who have a strong academic record and demonstrated leadership abilities through volunteer or extracurricular involvement.

* SNC-Lavalin Fourth-Year Design Project Awards Six awards, valued at $500 each, will be presented annually to undergraduate students in civil, environmental or geological engineering, who have completed an outstanding fourth-year design project.

Athletic awards:

* Benoit and Sylvia Drouin Athletic Excellence Award One or more awards, valued at a minimum of $500 each, will be handed annually to student-athletes who are members of UW's football team. These awards recognize athletic talent, along with contributions to Warrior athletics and to team and school. The fund is made possible by a donation from Benoit and Sylvia Drouin.

* Norman McClean Men's Hockey Athletic Excellence Award One award, valued at $1,000, will be given annually to a student-athlete who is a member of the men's hockey team. The award recognizes athletic talent, along with contributions to Warrior Athletics and to team and school. The fund is made possible by a donation from Don and Rosemarie McClean in honour of Norman McClean.

International experience scholarships/awards/bursaries:

* Provost's International Volunteer Award A number of awards, valued at $1,000 each, will be available each term to undergraduate students in any faculty with strong academic standing who wish to participate in an international/volunteer/work experience. The international placement must be with a non-government organization partnered with the Canadian International Development Agency.

WATERLOO - The University of Waterloo, thanks to a $4-million donation from a national foundation, will set up a special centre to apply innovative research to solve pressing social problems in Canada.

UW signed today a five-year agreement with the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation to become a partner in the Montreal-based foundation's social innovation strategy.

As part of the agreement, UW will establish a Centre for Social Innovation, along with a chair for Social Innovation Generation at Waterloo (SiG at Waterloo). Work will be carried out in the areas of education, inclusion in a diverse society and the environment.

For example, researchers will explore the isolation of people with disabilities, as well as how to involve citizens in efforts to address climate change.

UW worked with leading local organizations and foundations to attract the social innovation initiative, including Paul Born, president of the Tamarack Institute for Community Engagement, who has a long-term relationship with the McConnell Foundation. Among others also working on the proposal were Hulene Montgomery of the Hallman Foundation, John Colangeli of Lutherwood and Joy Roberts of the Centre for International Governance Innovation.

The McConnell Foundation viewed the broad community engagement as a positive sign of the support for academic-community engagement in Waterloo Region.

The initiative will stimulate research on national problems and train graduate students in the field of social innovation and knowledge mobilization -- which involves sharing university research findings with the wider community in order to influence policy, practice and everyday life.

"We pride ourselves on being a different kind of university, rooted in the very best academic traditions of the academy, but with an exceptional commitment to engagement with our community and nation," says UW president David Johnston. "Clearly, the McConnell Foundation's initiatives and goals fit with our devotion to improving our country and our world."

Ken Coates, dean of arts, adds that social innovation is a key initiative for the faculty of arts and UW.

"We have so much to contribute and the community is anxious for our suggestions," Coates says. "This partnership will help us redefine the role of social sciences and humanities scholarship for the 21st century."

The agreement says the McConnell Foundation and UW "share a commitment to the mobilization of knowledge to meet societal needs and believe that SiG at Waterloo can make a major contribution to building capacity for social innovation in Canada."

The foundation is making a $10-million, five-year commitment to a major effort to strengthen social innovation in Canada.

The aim of the McConnell-UW social innovation generation consortium is to encourage broad social change by creating a supportive environment for social entrepreneurship. Also involved is the PLAN Institute for Caring Citizenship in Vancouver.

Cross-cutting themes that the social innovation initiative intends to address include:

* Increasing the availability of funding for social innovation in Canada.

* Exploring how innovative, community-based open source technology can enhance learning and strengthen social change networks.

* Developing capacities to work across sectors and to continuously innovate.

While the consortium is geographically spread out, its activities will be tightly integrated. Responsibilities have been distributed as follows:

* SiG at McConnell: The McConnell Foundation will deepen its work on dissemination and the scaling-up of a number of promising social innovations across Canada. The foundation will also document and exchange what it is learning with other interested funders, practitioners, researchers and policy-makers.

* SiG at Waterloo: UW will design and lead academic programs aimed at strengthening the capacity for social innovation, as well as develop new methodologies to engage researchers and practitioners across the country in collaborative work to find and test innovative solutions to social problems.

* SiG at PLAN Institute: PLAN Institute is an entrepreneurial non-profit in Vancouver with considerable expertise in the area of policy and systems change relating to people with disabilities and their families. PLAN will continue with its disability focus, sharing its expertise in levering policy change with organizations working on other social issues.

The event is called Explore Conestoga.

These visitors -- who have already applied for admission -- and their families are the guests of Conestoga. Explore Conestoga will give them the opportunity to attend sessions in the specific academic areas in which they have the greatest interest, as well as provide general information about college life and the services available to students at Conestoga.

Depending on these areas of interest and the schedule of program-specific sessions, applicants may be at Conestoga on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. The workshop schedule has been arranged so that individual sessions will not be crowded, in order to provide the best atmosphere for questions-and-answers, and discussions with faculty and staff.

Sessions are scheduled on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Doon campus in Kitchener, while sessions at the campuses in Guelph and Waterloo (for academic programs offered at those campuses) are on Sunday only.

The Friday and Saturday sessions at Doon deal mainly with academic programs in health sciences, community services, and media and liberal studies. The emphasis on Sunday morning is on business programs, while Sunday afternoon activities focus on engineering and information technology. Guelph activities are on Sunday morning (10:30 a.m.-12 noon) and feature an open house for visitors to tour trades and technology areas, including apprenticeship facilities, in addition to the full-time diploma programs offered. Waterloo sessions take place on Sunday afternoon (1:30-3:30 p.m.) and likewise include trades/technology/apprenticeship open house activities.

Prof. Craig Pearson has been seconded to the executive offices for a two-year period starting March 6 to focus on building academic programs and partnerships with China. This new position was recommended in a report by deans to the president in 2005.

As a result of his new appointment, Pearson has withdrawn from consideration for a second term as dean of the Ontario Agricultural College. The OAC Dean Review Committee will now become a search committee. Prof. Mary Buhr, currently associate dean (academic), will serve as interim OAC dean, effective immediately, until a new dean is appointed.

Pearson says he has “immensely enjoyed” his term as dean. “OAC has superb faculty, students and staff, as I said when the college was ranked seventh in the world for its contributions to agriculture and food research over the past decade. This new position, however, gives me an opportunity to work towards internationalization of the whole University, something I have strongly advocated.”

Prof. Maureen Mancuso, vice-president (academic), says Pearson has made significant contributions to OAC during the past five years.

“In particular, his work to create a multi-campus university and to revise OAC as four interacting communities of interest will prove to be of lasting benefit to the University.”

High school students thinking green will have a chance to pocket some green at the University of Guelph’s first-ever wind energy design competition.

Competitors must design an energy-generating wind turbine to be tested in a wind tunnel on campus. The winning team will be the one whose windmill produces the highest average power output (judges will also consider design functionality, weight, stability and presentation).

Organizers in the School of Engineering expect up to 250 students from across Ontario to take part in the WindENG competition. Registration deadline for the contest is Feb. 28. Registered teams will be mailed a competition package including a DC motor and starter materials.

Entries will be judged on campus March 17 as part of College Royal, the University's annual student-run open house. The top three teams will win cash and merchandise prizes worth $2,000 for first place, $1,000 for second place and $500 for third place.

“Harnessing wind energy is an exciting prospect for providing solutions to our province's energy needs,” said Prof. Warren Stiver, NSERC Chair in Environmental Design Engineering at U of G. “The objective of this competition is to promote interest in environmentally sound alternative energy solutions and foster engineering design skills.”

WATERLOO - Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield will help the faculty of engineering at the University of Waterloo celebrate 50 years of success. Hadfield, who spent time as a graduate engineering student at Waterloo in the 1980s, will next week deliver the keynote address at a gala celebration.

Engineering was the first program when UW began its operations in July 1957. Half a century and more than 27,000 graduates later, the UW's faculty of engineering is celebrating its birthday during National Engineering Week.

"I am looking forward to the 50th anniversary celebration to meet with students and staff both past and present and to learn about the continuing groundbreaking invention being done within Waterloo's walls," says Hadfield. "Engineering research has been key in Canada's exploration of the unknown, both on the ground and in space.

"Waterloo has been a dominant influence in technology innovation, application and achievement. That unparalleled combination drew me to Waterloo as a grad student, and the quality of the experience has helped me ever since."

The anniversary celebration will be held on Thursday, March 1, at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto. Sponsorships and tickets are still available for the event, which will include a reception and dinner in the hotel's Canadian Room.

The master of ceremonies will be Michael Higgins, a former president of St. Jerome's University, which is located on the UW campus. Higgins left his St. Jerome's position last year to become president of St. Thomas University in Fredericton, New Brunswick.

UW president David Johnston will also speak about a dynamic vision for Waterloo, along with a review of some of the university's past and current outstanding achievements. As well, Adel Sedra, current dean of engineering, will share his vision of engineering and the future developments in the faculty's strategic plan.

A committee of engineering staff and alumni has been working for more than a year on the event, which will feature Waterloo's student teams and their innovative vehicles. All profits raised by the event will be used to support future team activities.

Special guests will be recognized at the event, including former engineering deans and engineering alumni achievement medal winners.

UW, which opened July 1, 1957, will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a series of events throughout 2007. As its anniversary theme, Waterloo has adopted the Spirit of Why Not? Based on a line by George Bernard Shaw, the theme reflects the spirit of aspiration that has propelled UW to date and will continue to drive the university in the coming decade.

Guelph - The challenge of linking science and public policy is the topic of a Feb. 28 public lecture that will be presented by David Anderson, former federal environment minister and the new director of the Guelph Institute for the Environment.

Anderson will speak at 5:30 p.m. in Room 1714 of the Lifetime Learning Centre. The talk, which is free and open to the University community and general public, is part of the Ontario Agricultural College’s Public Lecture Series.

Anderson spent more than a decade in the federal cabinet, including seven years as minister of the science-based departments of Fisheries and Oceans and Environment. He also served as president of the Governing Council of the United Nations’ Environmental Program.

His lecture also marks the opening of Guelph’s new environment institute, which will link critical research on water, food, health and the environment, and connect University research with policy-makers at all three levels of government.

The institute will help launch discussions about environmental issues, establish ties with non-governmental organizations. It is also intended to help feed U of G environmental research into policy development at the provincial, national and international levels.

Working with an associate director and a manager, Anderson will spend one week each month on campus.

First elected to Ottawa in 1968, Anderson established Parliament’s first Environment Committee two years later. In 1972, he switched from federal to provincial politics, winning both a seat in the B.C. Legislature and the leadership of the B.C. Liberal Party.

After leaving politics in 1976, he taught at the University of Victoria’s School of Public Administration and spent 17 years as an environmental consultant. Re-elected as a Liberal MP in 1993, he served more than a decade as a cabinet minister in the Chrétien and Martin governments. During his years in office, Parliament passed the Species-at-Risk Act and Canada ratified the Kyoto Protocol to the Rio Convention on Climate Change. Anderson chose not to run in the 2006 election.

WATERLOO - A former premier of British Columbia will share insights on innovative and environmentally sustainable cities and offer creative solutions during a public talk next week at the University of Waterloo.

Mike Harcourt, UW's 2007 TD Canada Trust/Walter Bean Visiting Professor in the Environment, will deliver a lecture entitled, Canada's Cities: Competitive and Sustainable? The event, open to the public, will be held Tuesday, Feb. 27 at 3:30 p.m. in the Humanities Theatre, J. G. Hagey Hall of the Humanities.

In his talk, Harcourt will offer some tangible solutions aimed at improving the creativity, innovative capacity and environmental sustainability of Canadian communities. As well, he will describe a strategy of 'double devolution,' which calls for a radical shift in responsibility, resources and decision-making from the highest levels of government to the most local level.

"Governments are not responding to global change rapidly enough to meet issues confronting our cities and towns, including urban sprawl, climate change and increasing poverty," says Mark Seasons, associate dean of UW's faculty of environmental studies and a planning professor. "Canada has the worst environmental footprint of any country and our communities are not moving toward environmental sustainability."

He adds that Harcourt will offer creative solutions for citizens and leaders to consider as they tackle the urgent problems facing cities and towns.

The TD Canada Trust/Walter Bean Visiting Professorship in the Environment provides students with an opportunity to study with ranking experts active in the fields in which they plan to work.

During his stay at UW -- from Feb. 26 to March 1 and March 12 to 16 -- Harcourt will be based in the faculty of environmental studies and will teach graduate and undergraduate students.

Next Monday, Harcourt, who has done extensive work on medium-sized cities, will be briefed by Waterloo Region planners on the area's innovative growth management strategy.

A former mayor of Vancouver, Harcourt served as B.C. premier from 1991 to 1996. By focusing on conservation and sustainable development, he helped Canada's westernmost province earn its reputation as one of the most livable places in the world.

Harcourt was past chair of the External Advisory Committee on Cities and Communities, appointed by former prime minister Paul Martin. He also was a member of the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy from 1996 to 2004, serving on the executive committee and chairing the urban sustainability program.

A recipient of the Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service in 2005, Harcourt was presented with the Canadian Urban Institute's Jane Jacobs Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006.

The UW visiting professorship was founded in 1992 by the late Walter Bean, who was president of Waterloo Trust until its merger with Canada Trust in 1968 (today it is TD Canada Trust). The professorship seeks to promote a legacy of community involvement and commitment to youth, education and community, and involves UW's faculties of environmental studies, engineering and science.

On Tuesday, TD Canada Trust representatives will present a $150,000 cheque, the final instalment of a $1-million pledge for the professorship. The professorship attracts researchers with international reputations in engineering, science and environmental studies to give lectures and teach classes, along with meeting faculty members and students.

Previous visiting lecturers include Steve Hrudey, a leading expert on environmental health risks; Frank Schwartz, a top researcher on contaminant hydrogeology and groundwater geochemistry; Jorg Imberger, an expert on water flows and water resources; and David Schindler, a renowned researcher in freshwater environmental science.

Learn More, See the Bats and Birds

Building on earlier groundbreaking research, University of Guelph researchers now provide evidence of 15 overlooked species of North American birds and six new species of bats using DNA barcoding, a technique that identifies living things by genetics rather than appearance.

The findings of Elizabeth Clare, Kevin Kerr and Paul Herbert, all of the Department of Integrative Biology, and researchers from Rockefeller University, the Canadian Wildlife Service, the Smithsonian Institution and the Royal Ontario Museum were published today in two separate studies in the journal Molecular Ecology Notes.

For the bird study, Hebert and his colleagues examined 643 species — 93 per cent of the known breeding species in the United States and Canada. In addition to discovering 15 new species, they found 14 pairs of North American bird species with separate identities that are, in fact, DNA twins. They also found three DNA triplets and eight gull species that are virtually identical. In all, 2,500 specimens were examined.

“Now with the vast majority of birds on the continent barcoded, it’s hard to argue that barcoding might work for the easy stuff but miss the difficult cases of closely related taxa,” said Hebert.

For the bat study, the researchers analyzed 87 species from Guyana, discovering six new species. It was a surprisingly high percentage, given that the bats of the South American country have been subjected to intensive taxonomic work, Hebert said.

“We wanted to give barcoding the toughest possible test. In doing so, we discovered a number of overlooked bats.” Among the new species is a bat that feasts on frogs and looks identical to charismatically unattractive Trachops cirrhosus.

Hebert, who is director of the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario, was the first scientist to propose that a short DNA sequence from a gene found in all animals can be used to identify species. He called the system “DNA barcoding,” analogous to how retail products are tagged in supermarkets to allow quick identification of millions of items.

One advantage is that barcoding can identify species from bits and pieces. Hebert and the other scientists hope to eventually establish a public reference library that includes DNA barcodes of known and newly discovered plants and animal species, as well as a public online database of DNA bar-code sequences.

“Our job is to reveal how many species there are on the planet and provide really simple tools to tell one species from another,” he said.

So far, the Barcode of Life Data System has catalogued more than 25,000 species of all types. When fully established, the database will help quickly identify undesirable animal or plant material in food; detect regulated species in the marketplace; help reconstruct food cycles by identifying fragments in stomachs; and assist plant science by identifying roots from soil layers.

“What it will effectively mean is that researchers will find a barcode linked to just about anything encountered anywhere on the planet,” Hebert said.

Deloitte and Touche’s financial audit revealed that $9,200 was received and disbursed by the federation on WATSA’s behalf during the 10-year period. WATSA raised $7,500 and the federation provided the balance.

Approximately 60 percent of disbursements were for the rental of on- campus facilities. The balance covered a donation to the non-profit Tamil Children’s Endowment Fund as well as reimbursement of individual expenses and small-dollar items.

WATSA received no funds directly from UW. Direct payments to individuals related to normal course transactions for bursaries, scholarships, engineering endowment funds and student awards.

The committee reviewing work experience overseas endorsed the university’s assessment and pre-approval process for the small number self-employment work terms abroad. The committee stressed the importance of ensuring that all procedures -- which include a designated contact person and on-site visit -- are rigorously followed and suggested ways of ensuring compliance.

The university will monitor effectiveness of the process on an ongoing basis. After three years, it will review the number of self- employed, out-of-country co-op work terms to determine the effectiveness of the measures.

The committee also recommended that the university establish clear requirements on pre-departure training for all students studying or working overseas. Once developed, the training will be required of all students participating in university-sanctioned international activities.

The first four U of G employees to take part in Leave for Change, an international volunteer program where people spend their vacations making a difference abroad, have been selected.

They are: Frebis Hoffmeyer of the College of Management and Economics, Wayne Johnston of the U of G Library, Michael Levy of the Office of Research and Sean Yo of Computing and Communications Services.

Levy’s volunteer stint will take him to Shawake, Botswana, to work on a website design assignment. Johnston and Yo are both headed for Nepal, where they’ll work with the Nepal Fair Trade Group. Hoffmeyer is also going to Nepal, to help the Federation of Community Forest Users with a database to organize their records.

Guelph is the first university in English-speaking Canada to participate in Leave for Change, which is run through Uniterra, an international initiative created by the World University Service of Canada and Centre d’étude et de coopération internationale.

President Alastair Summerlee says the selection of U of G’s first four Leave for Change participants is exciting news and something the entire University should celebrate.

“These four employees have an incredible opportunity to make a difference in communities halfway around the world, and it will undoubtedly be an amazing professional and personal experience,” he says.

“While taking part in their respective assignments, they will be gaining valuable new skills and understanding, and they will bring that new knowledge back to Guelph to share with the community so we can all benefit.”

There was no shortage of employees willing to volunteer their services when they were invited to participate in Leave for Change, says Martha Harley, assistant vice-president (human resources), whose office oversaw the application and selection process led by Uniterra.

“It is typical of the Guelph spirit that there were more applicants than places available,” says Harley, “so candidates actually had to be interviewed for these positions. It was exciting to see that kind of response and made the whole process very rewarding for those of us working behind the scenes.”

Hoffmeyer says that she is excited about the trip to Nepal, her first to the region. She says she has a genuine interest in understanding how other cultures perceive the world and their role in it. She’ll have the opportunity to do just that — not only by working with the Federation of Community Forest Users but also by living with a Nepalese family.

“It’s a perfect way to help them achieve their goals and for me to gain understanding of how our actions in Canada affect other parts of the world and to know how I should make changes to the way I live at home,” she says.

Kitchener – Thursday, February 15, 2007 is Heritage Day at the St. Joseph campus of the St. Louis Adult Learning Centre.

Heritage Day is a celebration and sharing of cultures, countries and pride. More than 150 adult English-as-a- Second-Language (ESL) students representing approximately 35 different countries will display arts, crafts, costumes, and national flags -- and share ethnic food, stories and information about their country of heritage.

The celebration has been an annual event at the St. Joseph campus for over a decade.

The St. Louis Adult Learning and Continuing Education Centres currently serve more than 1,000 adult ESL learners at five locations across Waterloo Region.

The St. Louis ESL program -- and celebrations such as Heritage Day -- are fine examples of the Waterloo Catholic District School Board’s commitment to providing a quality, inclusive, adult learning experience for people of all faiths and cultures.

WHERE: 160 Courtland Avenue Kitchener
WHEN: Thursday, February 15, 2007 – 9:30 am - 12 noon
WHO: More than 150 adult ESL students and six teaching staff

TORONTO- Thirty-seven elementary schools tied for the top spot in the Report Card on Ontario's Elementary Schools: 2007 Edition, released February 11, 2007, by independent research organization The Fraser Institute.

The Report Card on Ontario's Elementary Schools: 2007 Edition rates 2,812 English and French, public and separate elementary schools from across Ontario based on nine key indicators derived from province-wide tests of reading, writing, and mathematics skills administered by the province's Education Quality and Accountability Office. A small number of private schools are also included.

This annual report card, available at Ontario's Elementry School Report Card, is an easily accessible public document that allows anyone to analyze and compare the performance of individual schools. Parents consult the report card when they are choosing a school and use it as an annual audit of how their children's school is doing academically.

"The report card shows parents how each school is doing in academics, not just in one year, but, most importantly, over a number of years," said Peter Cowley, the Institute's Director of School Performance Studies and co-author of the report card.

"The report card also enables teachers and administrators as well as parents to compare results for their schools with those of other similar schools across the province. By demonstrating what can be accomplished, such comparisons can make a useful contribution to each school's on-going improvement efforts."

Of the 37 top-rated schools, 24 are in the Greater Toronto area with 16 in the City of Toronto. Nine of the schools are in Southwestern Ontario, three in Eastern Ontario, and one in the North Central region. Eighteen of the schools are public, 17 are separate and two are private.

The 37 top-ranked elementary schools (in alphabetical order): <<

Académie de la Moraine - Richmond Hill
Arbor Glen - Toronto
Bayview Glen - Thornhill
Bellewood - Windsor
Bishop Strachan - Toronto
Cornell - Toronto
Courcelette - Toronto
Denlow - Toronto
Frère André - London
Gregory A Hogan - Sarnia
Harrison - Toronto
Hillmount - Toronto
Jeanne Sauvé - Stratford
Kennedy - Toronto
La Source - Orléans
Milliken - Toronto
Monseigneur Jean Noel - Windsor
Oneida Central - Caledonia
Rippleton - Toronto
Roy H Crosby - Markham
Sainte-Marguerite-Bourgeoys - Markham
Saint-Jean-Baptiste - L'Orignal
Sathya Sai - Toronto
Seneca Hill - Toronto
St Clement - Toronto
St James - Tottenham
St Jude - London
St Justin Martyr - Unionville
St Martin of Tours - Stoney Creek
St Michael's Choir - Toronto
St Padre Pio - Woodbridge
St Rose of Lima - Mississauga
St Sylvester - Toronto
Transfiguration of our Lord - Toronto
University Heights - London
William Berczy - Unionville
Winston Churchill - Kingston
>>

The complete report card, including detailed results on all 2,812 schools, is available at www.fraserinstitute.ca.

The Fraser Institute is an independent research and educational organization based in Canada. Our mission is to measure, study, and communicate the impact of competitive markets and government intervention on the welfare of individuals. We do not accept grants from governments or contracts for research. Visit www.fraserinstitute.ca

The Jane M. Klausman Women in Business Scholarship is open to women enrolled in an undergraduate degree in business (2nd or 3rd year), leading to a business management career.

The program is designed to encourage undergraduate women to enter careers and to seek leadership positions in business-related field in their communities and throughout the world. The goal is to provide opportunities for women to influence business decisions that positively affect women, by increasing the number of women in executive positions in the field of business management.

More information including the application can be found on the local Zonta website zontakw.com

Enhancing the University of Guelph’s leading role in environmental sciences research, teaching and policy support is the goal of a new, major environmental institute being launched this month - February 2007.

The Guelph Institute for the Environment (GIE) will be headed part time by former federal environment minister and conservationist David Anderson, who also served as president of the Governing Council of the United Nations’ Environmental Program.

The Guelph institute will link critical research on water, food, health and the environment, and connect University research with policy-makers at all three levels of government, said Prof. Stew Hilts, chair of the Department of Land Resource Science and acting associate dean of the Faculty of Environmental Sciences.

“Environmental science is applied science. We’ve got problems to deal with,” said Hilts, referring to such challenges as climate change, loss of species diversity and land-use planning.

The institute will help launch discussions about environmental issues, establish ties with non-governmental organizations. It is also intended to help feed U of G environmental research into policy development at the provincial, national and international levels.

The institute will be launched Feb. 28. To mark the occasion, Anderson will give a public lecture Feb. 28 on “Linking Public Policy to Science: The Challenges” at 5:30 p.m. in Room 1714 of the Lifetime Learning Centre. The lecture is also part of the Ontario Agricultural College’s Public Lecture Series.

As director, Anderson will spend one week each month on campus, working with an associate director and a manager. Anderson said he views the institute as a critical tool for sharing scientific information with policy-makers at various levels. “How does the scientific work get fed into the system? It’s often less structured than you’d expect.”

Referring to more than a decade he spent in the federal cabinet, including seven years as minister of the science-based departments of Fisheries and Oceans and Environment, Anderson said: “We weren’t always working as effectively as we could have with science people from the university community.”

Anderson said he believes Prime Minister Stephen Harper now recognizes that he must reconsider his previous position in light of the “overwhelming consensus” among scientists about the climate effects of human-induced greenhouse gases. “As a policy-maker, you don’t have the political authority or the moral right to ignore the high level of agreement and the clear advice the scientific community has provided.”

Drawing on his wide-ranging political experience and his background in environmental consulting and public administration, Anderson plans to help Guelph take on a stronger role in environmental policy-making. His job, he said, will be “to make contact with policy-makers to ensure that the research done here receives appropriate consideration in the policy process.”

OAC dean Craig Pearson said he’s delighted that Anderson has joined the University and excited about the possibilities for the institute.

First elected to Ottawa in 1968, Anderson established Parliament’s first Environment Committee two years later. In 1972, he switched from federal to provincial politics, winning both a seat in the B.C. Legislature and the leadership of the B.C. Liberal Party.

After leaving politics in 1976, he taught at the University of Victoria’s School of Public Administration and spent 17 years as an environmental consultant. Re-elected as a Liberal MP in 1993, he served more than a decade as a cabinet minister in the Chrétien and Martin governments. He spent two years as minister of fisheries and oceans before becoming minister of the environment.

During his five years in the latter portfolio, Parliament passed the Species-at-Risk Act and Canada ratified the Kyoto Protocol to the Rio Convention on Climate Change. Anderson chose not to run in the 2006 election.

Starting an education savings plan can influence expectations - NEED A SOURCE?

TORONTO - According to a Statistics Canada study released today, lower parental expectations is one of the reasons attributed to the gap in university attendance between youth from higher- and lower-income families, while financial constraints is cited as much less of a barrier. Yet starting an education savings plan early in a child's life can positively influence a child's and parent's expectations of pursuing college or university, says education savings provider Canadian Scholarship Trust Foundation (C.S.T.).

Starting to save for a child's post-secondary education at an early age can change the dialogue around the kitchen table and motivate a child to pursue higher education. According to a previous Statistics Canada survey, young Canadians who felt that their parents expected them to go on to post-secondary education were more likely to do so than those who felt their parents did not expect them to go - 67 per cent compared to 34 per cent.

Low-income families can easily start an education savings plan through the federal government's Canada Learning Bond (CLB). The CLB provides up to $2,000 for the post-secondary education of children in lower income families. Canadian children born January 1, 2004 or later who are eligible for the National Child Benefit Supplement (NCBS) are eligible for the CLB (this generally applies to families with a total annual income under $35,000).

Peter Lewis, Vice President, Canadian Scholarship Trust Foundation, is available to comment on how parents of low-income families can influence a child's predisposition to pursue post-secondary education and how to take advantage of government education savings incentives.

The Canadian Scholarship Trust Foundation, founded in 1960, is the oldest and largest provider of Registered Education Savings Plans (RESPs) in Canada with more than $2 billion in assets under administration. Its mission is to promote the benefits of higher education and improve access by reducing financial barriers and providing wide distribution of RESPs

The gap in university attendance between youth from higher- and lower-income families is largely related to differences in academic performance at age 15 and parental influences, and to a lesser degree financial constraints, according to a new study.

In 2003, under one-third (31%) of 19-year-old youth from families in the bottom 25% of the income distribution had attended university. In contrast, one-half (50%) of young people of the same age from families at the top of the income distribution had attended university.

The study found only weak evidence that financial constraints were a direct barrier to attending university.

Instead, it found that the gap is almost entirely associated with differences in academic performance and parental influences. In fact, about 84% of the gap was related to differences in the characteristics of youth from different economic backgrounds, that is, their academic performance, parents' level of education, parental expectations, high school attended, and so on.

In contrast, only 12% of the gap in university attendance was related to the higher incidence of being "financially constrained" among lower-income youth.

Weaker academic performance among lower-income youth accounted for just over one-third (34%) of the gap. Specifically, young people from more disadvantaged backgrounds had a poorer performance on a standardized reading test and reported lower overall school marks at age 15.

An additional 30% of the gap was related to the lower levels of education of the parents of lower-income youth. About 12% was associated with the lower educational expectations placed upon lower-income youth by their parents. Other student characteristics played more moderate roles, accounting for a further 8% of the gap collectively.

These results suggest that the income divide in university participation is largely the result of factors that are present well before most youth begin to consider university.

Youth from higher- and lower-income families had very different characteristics

Young people from different economic backgrounds had very different characteristics, according to the study.

For example, only 18% of youth from families in the bottom 25% of the income distribution scored in the top 25% on the standardized reading test. In contrast, 33% of youth from families in the top income quartile did so.

Lower-income youth also fared more poorly in school, as only 36% of them reported overall marks of 80% or higher. In contrast, virtually one-half (49%) of higher-income youth fell in the same category for their overall marks.

Young people from different economic backgrounds also had very different parental influences. For example, only 16% of lower-income youth had a parent who possessed a university degree. Among higher-income youth, just over one-half (51%) had a parent with a university degree.

The study also found that youth from lower-income families had lower expectations placed upon them. Although as many as 62% had parents who expected them to complete a university degree, this was well behind the 79% of higher-income youth in the same situation.

Lower-income youth also attended high schools where students had lower odds of pursuing university.

All of these factors — performance on the standardized reading test, overall school marks, parental education, parental expectations, and high school attended — were strongly associated with university attendance.

Overall, differences in these factors accounted for most of the gap in university attendance between students from different economic backgrounds.

The study also found that lower-income youth had lower levels of self-esteem and control over their life, were more likely to live with only one parent, attached less importance to schooling in shaping their likely future career success, and had fewer friends who planned on pursuing further education after high school.

However, these factors were not associated with university attendance once academic performance, parental education, and parental expectations were taken into account.

Family income may pose a range of barriers to attending university

Lower family income may pose a range of barriers to attending university.

First, differences in academic performance at age 15 across the income distribution may themselves be the result of differences in family income. Families with more financial resources typically spend more money on books for children, take their children to museums, spend more on daycare in the early years, locate in neighbourhoods with better schools, and provide a more school-oriented home environment from early ages.

These actions may result in higher performance on standardized and scholastic tests, at age 15 where this study began, and thus, a higher probability of attending university in the future.

Second, even if they want to attend university, and have the grades to do so, students may be faced with another barrier that is related to their family's financial position: financial constraints.

However, the evidence presented in this study casts some doubt on the widespread existence of financial constraints in Canada.

In fact, only 8.5% of all youth report that money was a factor in their decision not to attend university.

Although more lower-income youth (13.4%) than higher-income youth (5.9%) reported money as a factor, this difference only accounted for a small proportion of the overall gap in university attendance, once academic performance and parental influences were taken into account.

Similar research in the United States also found very little evidence of financial constraints being the main barrier.

Despite the weak evidence on financial constraints, there are two important caveats to keep in mind. First, even if financial constraints do not pose a significant barrier for the population of youth as a whole, they may matter for certain groups of students in some instances.

For example, previous research has shown that growing up out-of-commuting distance to a university poses a barrier to attending, and this effect is stronger among youth from lower-income families. This is likely related to the added costs associated with moving out of the parental home to attend (more than $5,000 per academic year, on average).

Second, even if financial constraints appear in this study to be of minor importance, it is important to note that this is still conditional on the existing post-secondary financial aid system.

What the findings of the study do suggest is that in order to better understand why some youth attend university while others do not, future research will need to consider factors prior to age 15 (where this study began).

The study "Why are youth from lower-income families less likely to attend university? Evidence from academic abilities, parental influences and financial constraints"

Note to readers

This release is based on the research study "Why are youth from lower-income families less likely to attend university? Evidence from academic abilities, parental influences and financial constraints" available today.

The study used data from the Youth in Transition Survey (YITS), Cohort A. The survey followed young people starting when they were 15 years old in 1999 to the age of 19 in 2003. Information collected when they were 15 includes overall school marks, parental education and parental expectations. Information on their university participation was collected when they were 19.

Students were also administered standardized tests in reading, mathematics, and science when they were 15.

These tests were conducted as part of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), a collaborative effort among member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Canada and 40 other countries participated in PISA 2003.

The study also classified students as being "financially constrained" if they did not attend university despite wanting to do so and reported that their financial situation was standing in their way of going on to university.

* An investment of at least $1.5 billion over two years into state-of-the-art equipment and infrastructure integral to providing advanced applied education to students, adult learners and corporate trainees, and

* $150 million annually for applied research leading to commercialization focused on creating industrial, commercial and economic benefits for Canadians.

“There is a direct link between what the study says Canada needs and what our members are offering to over 500,000 Canadians each year,” Maloney says.

“Our competitors, including India, China and Ireland, have used education strategically to create their competitive advantage. With our limited population base, we need to play the game very well, applying our focus and resources as carefully and precisely as possible. This is a national issue that requires leadership from the federal government.”

Conestoga and Polytechnics Canada

Conestoga is one of eight members of Polytechnics Canada. The other institutions are: British Columbia Institute of Technology, Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, SAIT Polytechnic, Humber Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, Sheridan Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, George Brown College and Seneca College.

Polytechnic education is career-focused applied education that spans trades through to advanced degrees, delivered in an environment where students receive hands-on training that enables them to more readily apply their skills.

All polytechnics offer:

* Four-year applied bachelor’s degrees

* Joint bachelor’s degrees with universities

* Three-year advanced diplomas

* Two-year diplomas

* Apprenticeship programs

* Postgraduate certificates

* Continuing education programs

* Post-secondary certificate programs

* Specialized corporate and government training

* Online learning and distance education.

The advantage of polytechnics is in their three-pillared approach: strength in academic offerings, strength in industry connections and strength in applied research.

Applied research provides students with practical learning situations and produces outcomes that further economic success and employment opportunities.

Examples of applied research in progress at Conestoga include:

* Time and temperature study of plastic-injected moulded part manufacturing systems to improve cost and environmental savings

* Creation of the first-ever automated process for the manufacture of gloves for the industrial, commercial and tourist markets

* Enhancement of the ability to design healthy buildings, through use of specialized computer equipment and programs as well as lab and field test equipment that will more accurately predict the service life of building materials and components.

Will lead Canada's third-largest university through 50th anniversary in 2009

TORONTO - The Chair of the Board of Governors of York University, Marshall M. Cohen, today announced the appointment of Dr. Mamdouh Shoukri as York's 7th President and Vice-Chancellor. The appointment was enthusiastically welcomed this evening at a meeting of the Board of Governors of the University.

"We are absolutely delighted to announce the appointment of Dr. Shoukri, who is a proven leader, academic and researcher," said Cohen. "Dr. Shoukri joins York from McMaster University where he has shown himself to be a skilled administrator, diplomat and visionary. We are delighted that he has accepted our offer to lead this dynamic institution."

Dr. Shoukri is currently the Vice-President Research and International Affairs at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario and is a member of the Ontario Research and Innovation Council (ORIC). Previously, Dr. Shoukri worked in various capacities with the Research Division of Ontario Hydro, before becoming a faculty member at McMaster and, later, Dean of Engineering. (Biography attached.)

"I am very excited by this new challenge which is without doubt the greatest of my career," said Dr. Shoukri. "I watched York grow to become Canada's third-largest university and it is racing ahead. I consider myself to be very privileged to be given this opportunity at this important juncture in York's history."

"York is a vibrant and thriving academic institution which will benefit greatly from Dr. Shoukri's experience and vision," said York's outgoing President Dr. Lorna Marsden. "The past decade has been tremendously satisfying for me, and I wish Dr. Shoukri the same satisfaction in his new role. He is clearly a first-class academic and is the perfect person to champion York's mission with its heavy emphasis on interdisciplinary research and teaching. Dr. Shoukri will also have the opportunity to lead York through its 50th anniversary in 2009."

Dr. Peter George, President of McMaster University commented: "Mamdouh is a proven leader in fostering dynamic academic environments where research and innovation flourish. He is a splendid and supportive colleague and all of us at McMaster wish him every success at York."

Dr. Shoukri assumes his new role officially on July 1, 2007. He will be installed formally in the Fall term of 2007. Working arrangements during the transition period will be discussed between York and McMaster in the coming weeks.

The Presidential Search Committee was chaired by Marshall Cohen and was composed of 14 members, with seven members being nominated by the Board of Governors and seven by the Senate. The committee included senators, governors, faculty, students and staff. After wide consultation with the York University community regarding the process and the profile for the position, the candidate search process itself was conducted confidentially by the committee. (See http://www.yorku.ca/secretariat/Presidential_Search/pres_home.htm for more information on the process.)

Access Undermined Despite Aggressive PR Campaign

TORONTO - Toronto-Students are angry that the McGuinty government is still pushing forward with its plans for indefinite tuition fee increases of up to 8% per year. Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities Chris Bentley held a media conference February 5, 2007, at the Bloor Collegiate Institute announcing token measures to streamline applications for financial aid.

"Students are disappointed that the Ministry is launching yet another self-congratulatory media conference to distract the public from the detrimental effects of its Reaching Higher framework for higher tuition fees," said Jesse Greener, Ontario Chairperson for the Canadian Federation of Students. "It is absurd for McGuinty to pedal bureaucratic government initiatives as real improvements to access when at the same time they plan to continue dramatic tuition fee increases."

Today's Ministry announcement took place at the Bloor Collegiate Institute in downtown Toronto, an area where financial barriers to post-secondary education are acutely felt according to Maria Rodrigues School Board Trustee for Ward 9 in that area.

"I think 20-36% fee increases on a regular four-year degree, sends exactly the wrong message to high school students who are hoping to go on to college or university," said Trustee Rodrigues. "Many high school students actually chose to dropout out because high tuition fees have already put the dream of college or university out of their minds."

"Despite McGuinty's rhetoric, student financial assistance will not mitigate the harmful impact of tuition fee hikes. If tuition fees rise by even 5% each year, then for every dollar allocated to student assistance, more than $1.30 will be clawed back through tuition fee increases," said Greener. "In effect, students will be borrowing to finance their own student aid programme."

According to the Canadian Federation of Students' detailed analysis, even if debt is capped at $7,000 per year, a student borrowing the maximum for a four-year programme will graduate with $28,000 in debt or $3,000 more than the current average debt for a four-year programme of $25,000.

"Students can see through the McGuinty government's PR campaign and continue to plan to raise public awareness about its Mike Harris-style tuition fee policy," said Greener. "Thousands of students will be present on February 7 to hold this government accountable for its track record of high tuition fees and high student debt."