Six members of the University of Guelph community have been named recipients of the YMCA-YWCA’s 2006 Women of Distinction Awards. The 11th annual awards ceremony was held Thursday at the River Run Centre, with several hundred people attending.

Forty-six women were nominated for their achievements in eight categories: arts and culture; business, labour, the professions and entrepreneurs; education, training and development; public service; science, technology and research; voluntary community service; wellness and health; and young woman of distinction. In addition, four women were honoured for lifetime achievement from among the various categories.

Virginia Gray, director of U of G’s Office of Open Learning, received a lifetime achievement award in education and training. Gray’s career in education spans more than 35 years, and under her leadership, Open Learning’s offerings have grown from 55 to 208 degree courses, and enrolment in distance courses has surpassed 17,000, with students coming from more than 50 countries. She also helped create the Science @ Guelph Experience (S@GE), which introduces students in grades 7 and 8 to science and university life.

Another lifetime achievement award went to Dr. Margo Mountjoy, a sports medicine physician who works with the University’s Health and Performance Centre. She was recognized for her voluntary community service and for being a local, national and international advocate for sports and fitness. A former competitive synchronized swimmer and the team physician for the Canadian Olympic synchronized swimming team, she is the first Canadian and the first women to serve as chair of the Fédération Internationale de Natation, the international federation that governs all aquatic sports. She is also the first female member of the International Olympic Committee’s Sports Medicine Committee.

Cyndy McLean, director of U of G’s Health and Performance Centre, received the award for voluntary community service award. She is a national ambassador for the Rick Hansen Foundation and was instrumental in bringing to Guelph the annual Wheels in Motion fundraising event, which has raised more than $40,000 in the past two years to help local residents with spinal cord injuries. McLean also volunteers to help families who have loved ones with disabilities and is an outspoken advocate of the need for education, research and improved accessibility.

“It was tragedy that brought me to the Rick Hansen Foundation,” said McLean, a former marathon runner and elite-level athlete who became paraplegic in 2003 after falling more than 100 feet off a cliff. But life-changing incidents can offer new beginnings, she said, adding that she now encourages the people she mentors to look at the roadblocks in their lives merely “as speed bumps.”

The science and technology award went to Prof. Moira Ferguson, chair of the Department of Integrative Biology. Ferguson, who is also a U of G graduate, is the first woman to chair a department in the College of Biological Science. She was recognized for her contributions as a scientist studying genetics and evolution, as an educator and for her service to the broader scientific community.

Cathy MacMillan, a 1991 BA graduate of Guelph, received the award for business, labour, the professions and entrepreneurs. She was lauded for being a role model for women in business as the owner and chief operating officer of MacMillan Marketing Group, which has a primarily female workforce. MacMillan is also active in numerous volunteer community groups.

Another U of G graduate, Philomena Bonis (B.Sc. ’86) was honoured in the education and training category. An award-winning teacher, she is known for encouraging students, especially girls, to follow non-traditional career paths. Bonis is the first public school teacher to be accepted into the prestigious International Space University in Pomona, Calif.

WATERLOO -- University of Waterloo student engineers will unveil this year's model of the competition-ready UW formula race car on Monday (May 15).

The event takes place between 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. at UW's "C" parking lot, near the intersection of University Avenue and Seagram Drive.

"Activities include a driving demonstration of the new model, a chance to meet the student designers and a barbecue," said Gareth Kenworthy, team leader for the UW Formula SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) Team.

Each year, a team of about 15 engineers designs, builds and tests an open-wheel race car from the ground up and to the limits of performance and weight. "The entire car is designed by students, with the exception of a few parts, like the engine which is sourced from a Honda CBR600 motorcycle," Kenworthy said.

The team will compete in the annual Formula SAE competition to be held May 17-21 in Pontiac, Mich. Considered the largest student-engineering competition in the world -- with 140 universities representing more than 11 countries -- the student teams aim to prove their designs in presentations and on-track racing.

The Formula SAE competition seeks to evaluate each car's design, cost, marketability and dynamic performance through a series of events testing each team's knowledge and ability.

Last year, UW's team placed fourth overall, a result current team members hope to surpass next week.

"Highlights of this year's design are a well integrated tubular steel space frame that mounts a re-designed suspension, which has improved stiffness and control," Kenworthy said.

"The engine is custom dyno-tuned to use electronically controlled, variable intake runner lengths and staged fuel injection for improved power. A bespoke lightweight limited slip differential provides better control over wheel spin."

Kenworthy said the innovations could not be possible without the team's sponsors. "Their support is greatly appreciated," he said.

Broadcasting - Radio and Television has long been a popular program at Conestoga. Offered at the Doon campus in Kitchener, it explores many aspects of the broadcasting profession: news and entertainment, on-air performance, programming, mobile production, regulations, sales, camera operation and videography, editing and management. Senior-level students specialize in either radio or television, and all students in the program gain considerable experience at Conestoga's television studio and at 88.3 CJIQ-FM, Conestoga's radio station that has a signal that covers most of southwestern Ontario. Many students add to the value of their studies by working part-time in the broadcasting industry during their period of enrolment.

Beginning in the fall of 2006, the program will be restructured into two programs, each two years in length. One will be titled Broadcasting - Radio, the other will be Broadcasting - Television. This decision has been made for several reasons: the increasing level of specialization required in each broadcasting field; the opportunity for students to choose their specialization and complete their studies sooner, in order to start their careers sooner; and the increased ease of linking to related university programs that allow advanced standing for diploma graduates.

Winners of multiple awards are:

* Christina Marshall of Eden Mills --

The $250 Carl A. Pollock Memorial Award (sponsored by Electrohome Ltd.) for the highest academic standing in the second year of program studies and the $250 Broadcaster of the Year Award (CTV/CKCO-TV) for outstanding talent and excellence in programming and production;

* Ken Milmine of Kitchener --

The $500 Betty Thompson Memorial Bursary (CTV/CKCO-TV) for community involvement through volunteer work and the $250 Broadcasting Faculty Award (CHUM Radio) for outstanding support of the program's teaching team;

* Matt Schichter of Waterloo --

The $500 John Larke Memorial Award (CHYM-FM/CKGL 570 News) to pursue further broadcasting-related education and the $300 K.A. MacKenzie Memorial Award (former faculty colleagues and friends) for innovative use of technology;

* Jennifer Vallee of Kitchener --

The $250 Creative Writing Award (CJCS/107.7 MIX-FM) for excellence and variety in commercial writing and the $250 Community Programming Award (FM 98.5 CKWR) for radio production related to community activities or stories.

Winners of individual awards are:

* Mark Araujo of Ayr --

The $250 Station Manager's Award (Rogers Television) for excellence in production of local television during field placement with Rogers;

* Jamie Gibson of Cambridge --

The $250 third-year Announcer of the Year Award (CHYM-FM) for progress and excellence in announcing;

* Daniella Huber of Plattsville --

The $250 Promotion Award (106.7 KICX-FM) for achievement in developing a specific promotional campaign within a predetermined budget;

* Jeff Johnson of Drumbo --

The $250 Newsperson of the Year Award (CJOY/MAGIC-FM) for enterprise and expertise in news reporting;

* Nikki Konarski of Waterloo --

The $250 91.5 The Beat Student Achievement Award (CanWest Global) for significant academic improvement demonstrated during the second year of program studies;

* Adam Krulicki of Kitchener --

The $250 second-year Announcer of the Year Award (CHYM-FM) for progress and excellence in announcing;

* Matt Pancer of Kitchener --

The $500 Award for Excellence in Radio Programming (CHUM Radio) in recognition of demonstrated advanced skills in documentary or magazine-format programming;

* Barry Rooke of Guelph --

The $250 Radio Production Award (107.7 MIX-FM) for demonstrated individual ability in creative commercial production;

* Randy Sachs of Dobbinton --

The $250 first-year Announcer of the Year Award (CHYM-FM) for progress and excellence in announcing;

* Steve Vanderheide of Kitchener --

The $500 Pat Fitzgerald Award (CKCO-TV staff) for collegiality with respect to other students through demonstration of motivation, goodwill, patience and consideration;

* Tim Vanderspek of Waterloo --

The $250 Award of Contribution (Rogers Television) in recognition of a student volunteer on field placement with Rogers who demonstrates outstanding commitment to local television;

* Lyndsey Woolcock of Kitchener --

The $500 Christopher-Allen Rawnsley Award (SONY of Canada) for the demonstration of exceptional visual production skills.

On May 9, 2006 Mayor Kate Quarrie congratulated Conestoga College on yesterday’s announcement by Chris Bentley, Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities that confirmed support for the school’s co-op/ apprenticeship/ diploma program and committed $11.5 million in funding for skilled trades to colleges across Ontario over the next four years.

The growth of this innovative apprenticeship curriculum will expand the millwright program at Conestoga College’s Guelph campus. Students will have the to opportunity make contacts with prospective employers that could be converted to full-time apprenticeships. Employers will see the tax credits for training new apprentices and the ability to see them working before taking them on as a full-time apprentice. The net result is a growing number of youth involved in Ontario’s economy.

"Given the importance of skilled trades in our economy, I am pleased that Conestoga’s Guelph campus will play such a key role in training and supplying apprentices to employers the area and the province."

WATERLOO - Canada's Nobel Prize Laureate John Polanyi is among the speakers sharing their visions of nanotechnology at the 2006 Ontario Nano Symposium to be held May 19 at the University of Waterloo.

The all-day event seeks to build and strengthen local nanotechnology research communities, as well as spawn new collaborations, said Flora Li, one of the graduate student organizers. She added that the event will offer information about UW's new nanotechnology initiatives.

"The Ontario Nano Symposium will provide an excellent opportunity for students and researchers from across the province to present their work in the area of nanoscience and nanotechnology," said Li, also a member of the Giga-to-Nano Electronics Laboratory at UW. "It will allow for an exchange of ideas and create an environment for collaborative work with fellow researchers."

Polanyi, a professor of chemistry at the University of Toronto, will give a talk on the Nanoscale Printing Press. A researcher exploring the molecular motions in chemical reactions in gases and at surfaces, Polanyi received the 1986 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Other featured speakers include: Peter Grutter, director of the NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council) Nano Innovative Platform; Jim Webb, director of the Steacie Institute for Molecular Sciences; and Gehan Amaratunga, a professor at the University of Cambridge in Britain, who heads the Electrical Power and Energy Conversion Research Group.

Organizers expect to attract scientists and researchers from diverse backgrounds, including physics, biology, chemistry, engineering and medicine. The event will consist of invited talks by speakers at the forefront of research, poster presentations, along with a panel discussion.

Nanotechnology is a branch of science and engineering devoted to the design and production of atom-sized structures in order to produce breakthrough properties.

For example, the next generation of electronic devices may contain smaller and faster circuits built from single strands of carbon nanotubes, or powerful drugs may be delivered precisely to targeted areas in the body by means of customized carrier molecules.

The symposium, organized by graduate students in the electrical and computer engineering department, is supported by the NSERC Nano Innovative Platform, Ontario Centres of Excellence and UW.

Challenges, say members of the City of Waterloo Town and Gown Committee, that can be addressed through collaboration and through an ongoing and collective focus on providing a happy, healthy and safe community. Although the Town and Gown Committee has existed in Waterloo for many years, and in many different forms, 2005 marks the first year that the committee has opted to create a report highlighting the many ways this group has worked together to affect change and foster a spirit of collective and inclusive resolution.

Explains Kaye Crawford, Chair of Waterloo’s Town and Gown Committee and Manager, Community Relations, for the City of Waterloo, “This report provides the first comprehensive list of programs, activities and initiatives that town and gown stakeholders have put their energy towards over the past school year. As we head into the next school year, it will be an excellent foundation for our committee because we can look back on our past successes, as opposed to starting from scratch every time.”

Working on the Town and Gown committee are representatives from the universities, the college, area municipalities, the region, local residents, students and police. The report highlights the areas of education and prevention, policing, planning and by-law enforcement, licensed establishments and community relations.

“There have been some real successes in Waterloo” says Crawford, “and they aren’t all focused on responding to complaints. We’ve developed a welcome bag program that asks permanent residents to pass on information about Waterloo to new students, worked together to unveil the Veterans’ Green Parkette.”

A new initiative for the committee this past year was the Door Knocker Program, a program headed by Waterloo Regional Police Service that brought together enforcement officials from the police, the city and the campus in a door-to-door campaign in neighbourhoods near the university to welcome newcomers and give out information about living in Waterloo.

“We are doing lots of really good work,” said Wilfrid Laurier University Dean of Students David McMurray, who chaired the subcommittee that wrote the report. “Until you put all of the information together, it’s hard to get a clear picture of all of the things that are being done to better address the concerns and issues of people living close to the universities. This report reflects the many ways the Town and Gown Committee is working not only to understand the issues, but to be part of a solution.”

In addition to the local committee, the City of Waterloo also supports a provincial initiative for town and gown communities focused on sharing information across Ontario. Through a new website and a symposia held each year, all stakeholders have an opportunity to learn about trends and successes from each other. For more information see www.tgao.ca.

The newly formed Town and Gown Association of Ontario will host its fourth symposium in Brantford on May 11 and 12, 2006, focusing on ‘Building an Educated Community’. The evening dinner and key note address, featuring former Ontario premier Bob Rae, is open to the public. Tickets can be obtained through townandgown@wlu.ca.

WATERLOO – The Link, a student-run association for Laurier business undergraduates, and the Laurier school of business and economics have partnered to present the fourth annual Leadership in Business conference, an opportunity for Grade 11 and 12 students from across Ontario to experience business studies at Laurier.

The four-day conference will be run Thursday, May 11 through to Sunday, May 14. Participating students will spend three nights in Macdonald residence and take part in a case simulation and experience university life. In addition, participants will have the chance to interact with industry leaders, Laurier alumni, fellow high-school students, and university students, staff and faculty.

“Our purpose is to connect past, present and future students of Laurier,” says Darren Quinton, president of The Link. “The high-school students can come and experience business at Laurier and meet successful alumni, which will hopefully aid them when they’re thinking about a career.”

The theme for the weekend is financial management. The students will be divided into groups headed by Laurier undergraduates and participate in academic sessions and workshops and work through their case simulation, which they will present on the last day of the conference. A gala dinner will feature keynote speaker Laurier alumnus Dennis Kavelman, chief financial officer of Research In Motion, who was recently named by The Globe and Mail as one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40.

“The conference has grown since its first year,” says Quinton, who remembers participating in the original Leadership in Business conference when he was in high school. “The sessions are bigger and the calibre of guest speakers is elevated.”

Established in April 2002, The Link is a student-run association with a mandate to create a cohesive business community and offer opportunities for students to be involved both creatively and academically outside of the classroom. The Link also partners with the school of business and economics to host a speaker series, which has presented notables such as Angela Mondou, a renowned entrepreneur and creator of ICE Leadership, and David Chilton, author of the bestseller The Wealthy Barber and a Laurier alumnus.

This investment supports construction of a $34-million, 54,000-square- foot facility on the corner of King and Victoria streets. Besides classrooms and state-of-the-art technology for the medical students, there will be a family medicine teaching clinic. This facility will be co-located with UW’s School of Pharmacy, which is currently under construction.

“This Region has a tradition of making community investments which set it apart from many others “ said Regional Chair Ken Seiling. “In the area of health care, it has long seen the value of supporting health care capital projects. This is one that will be looked on in future years as a key investment that was pivotal to the future health and prosperity of our people.”

The Ontario government has put $8 million towards the capital costs. It will also pay the operating costs of the satellite medical school, estimated at $70 million over the next 10 years.

The McMaster satellite medical school will start with 15 students in September 2007 and grow to a complement of 90 within seven years. Physicians will be recruited to Waterloo Region to teach them and, by 2012, more than 140 students and residents will have a medical experience in Waterloo Region each year.

Gerry Thompson, associate vice-president of strategic initiatives at UW said: “These changes will have a noticeable effect in alleviating the shortage of physicians in this area.”

The Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, the second-largest medical school in Ontario, produces physicians faster than other schools -- in three years rather than four. The school is world- renowned for its innovations in teaching doctors using a small group, problem-based learning style with early exposure to patients and community focus.

“The Region of Waterloo has proved its reputation for innovation and vision again with its support of this unique opportunity to locate the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine with a school of pharmacy,” said Dr. John Kelton, dean and vice-president of the Faculty of Health Sciences at McMaster University and dean of the medical school. “This will be specifically beneficial to the community, as well as the province and Canada.

“We’ve been honoured by the warm welcome we’ve received from everyone in the Region of Waterloo.” The innovative project builds on Kitchener's $30-million commitment and gift of land to the University of Waterloo. The UW Health Sciences Campus is expected to attract a wide range of health professionals and address the need for expertise in health technology, health informatics, biosciences, population studies and biomedical engineering, while filling the urgent demand for more pharmacists and doctors in Ontario.

“Our partners are McMaster and the region, and we at the University of Waterloo, are committed to seeking excellence in all that we do,” said David Johnston, president of the University of Waterloo. “This innovative partnership demonstrates what a community can accomplish when its members seek to turn a unique situation into an opportunity.”

Among the benefits for the community in Waterloo Region:

* Locating a satellite medical school in Waterloo Region will improve attraction and retention of doctors to an under-serviced community. It is known that a high percentage of physicians tend to practice where they are trained.

* McMaster University will offer its students a choice of campus based on preference and geographic background.

* The development of a primary care clinic and specialist clinics across the Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) will improve community access to an integrated spectrum of health care services.

* UW and McMaster are ready to collaborate in several integrated teaching opportunities, including some joint learning of the medical and pharmacy students.

* A dynamic community with innovative thinking as its hallmark, along with a rapidly growing population, will allow for transformation of research advances and knowledge into health benefits, economic opportunities and improved health care.

One of the University of Guelph’s most prominent graduates, world-renowned economist John Kenneth Galbraith, died Saturday at age 97. Known for his humanitarian approach to economic and political thinking, Galbraith was a Harvard University professor and served as an adviser to Democratic presidents from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Bill Clinton.

“John Kenneth Galbraith was one of the greatest liberal thinkers of all times and his contributions to the University, to Canada and to the entire world are phenomenal,” says U of G president Alastair Summerlee.

“He was known not only for his amazing encyclopaedic intellect and commitment to knowledge, but also for being a conscience and a voice of reason at times of great unrest and uncertainty. He became an intellectual giant, but always remembered his roots and was a dedicated friend and supporter of the University.”

Galbraith, who was born on a farm in Iona Station, Ont., in 1908, attended Guelph’s Ontario Agriculture College, earning an associate diploma in 1929 and a bachelor’s of science degree in 1931. As a U of G student, he devoted some of his energy to organizing the University’s annual open house, College Royal. In fact, it was Galbraith who first proposed the event be publicized so that people from the farm community could attend.

He later moved to the United States, earning a PhD in agricultural economics from the University of California and enjoying a distinguished career as a professor of economics at Princeton University and Harvard University. Many of his books became bestsellers and have been translated into almost every major language. He also served as John F. Kennedy’s ambassador to India and was awarded the Order of Canada in 1997.

Galbraith helped support various University of Guelph campaigns, most recently by agreeing to be an honorary patron of the Science Complex campaign. The University’s John Kenneth Galbraith Scholarship in Economics is established in his name.

“In John Kenneth Galbraith’s writings, the future of humanity always plays a central role,” president Summerlee says. “The University of Guelph shares his outlook and remains committed to providing learning environments like the one that helped produce a thinker of Galbraith’s calibre.”

Comprehensive, senior-level projects display a wide range of skills and applications. What you know is important, but how you use it is everything.
Senior-level Conestoga College students from more than a dozen programs will demonstrate and explain their comprehensive projects in a trade show/information fair setting on Friday, May 5 at Conestoga's Doon campus in Kitchener.

The event, from 1-5 p.m. (with the presentation of excellence awards immediately afterwards), is at the Conestoga Recreation Centre. Tech@Work is free of charge and open to the public as well as to business, industrial and educational representatives.

All projects are student-developed and student-produced, and reflect a full integration of skills gained during their years of study and co-op experiences in business and industry. The projects are student-driven in all aspects: concept, research, feasibility studies, consultation with professionals in the field, development, problem identification and resolution, costing and budget development, production and full documentation.

The projects include items such as: a BlackBerry-based home security system; a computer program and applications to automate operations of a wine business; an MP3 player for automobile installation; an apartment building designed to meet the needs of senior citizens; complete plans for a residential subdivision in a rural setting near Plattsville; a portable electronic note-taker for students; and a computer-based tracking system to locate defects in roads and sidewalks and alert the local public works department that repairs are needed.

Tech@Work
Friday, May 5
1-5 p.m. (Award presentations follow)
Conestoga Recreation Centre
Conestoga College, Doon Campus, Kitchener
http://techatwork.conestogac.on.ca

WATERLOO - On May 1, Four University of Waterloo faculty members, researching such diverse areas as multimedia communications, computer simulation, entrepreneurship and social relationships, have been named recipients of Canada Research Chairs by the federal government.

The Canada Research Chairs are positions that allow a faculty member to concentrate on research and on training the next generation of scientists. UW received a total of $2.3 million for the four research chairs, including associated infrastructure funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation.

"These new appointments bring the total number of Canada Research Chairs established at Waterloo to 45," said Alan George, UW's interim vice-president, university research. "UW will continue to attract leading researchers, initiating new directions for scholarship that will benefit the entire nation."

UW's Canada Research Chairs are:

* En-Hui Yang, professor of electrical and computer engineering, receives a second term as the Canada Research Chair in Information Theory and Multimedia Data Compression. Funding: $100,000 a year for five years.

Yang's renewal is a recognition of UW's research excellence in the areas of information theory, multimedia compression and multimedia communications. It will enable him to remain an international leader in the development and use of new information transmission, storage, protection theory and algorithms. "With this CRC award, my research group is looking forward to further advancing theory and practice in these research areas," he said.

* Grainne Fitzsimons, professor of psychology, receives a Canada Research Chair in Social Cognition. Funding: $100,000 a year for five years. Associated infrastructure project: "Social Cognition and Relationship Interaction Laboratory." CFI funding: $126,750.

"We will construct a new set of integrated laboratories that will permit us to conduct high-quality and innovative research with this award," Fitzsimons said.

"By combining the rich data collection capabilities of a social interaction laboratory with the high-tech computerized and eye- tracking systems of a social cognition laboratory and the flexibility of a mobile data collection laboratory, we will have the ability to collect rich and varied experimental data," she said.

Fitzsimons studies self-regulation, the pursuit of important goals and motives (such as achievement, health and romantic goals) in everyday life, and how self-regulatory processes can shape subjective experience. Most of her work examines the role of these processes in the context of interpersonal relationships.

* Justin Wan, professor of computer science, receives a Canada Research Chair in Scientific Computing. Funding: $100,000 a year for five years. Associated infrastructure project: "Resources for Scientific Computing and Visualization." CFI funding: $132,274.

"The Canada Research Chair will provide me the time to develop sophisticated, computational algorithms that advance computer simulation technology for the scientific and health-care sectors," Wan said.

The research will improve simulation techniques in computer-aided visualization and enhance results in medical imaging diagnostics, leading to better patient care and savings for health-care systems.

The CFI award will provide the computing infrastructure resources to complete intensive computations, develop scalable algorithms, produce complex simulations of physiological processes, and produce detailed and animated visualizations.

* Moren Levesque, professor of management sciences, receives a Canada Research Chair in Innovation and Technical Entrepreneurship. Amount: $100,000 a year for five years. Associated infrastructure project: "Innovation and Technical Entrepreneurship Laboratory." CFI funding: $22,844.

"The field of entrepreneurship has seen numerous research developments, yet it still lacks a definition of its own domain as theories of entrepreneurship are almost non-existent," Levesque said, adding that the new chair and infrastructure award will allow her to develop and test entrepreneurship theories.

She will examine the relationship between new firm survival and growth rates, along with how country characteristics influence entrepreneurial activity and how entrepreneurial activity affects economic growth. "This research is likely to stimulate innovative cross-cutting, interdisciplinary research on societal problems and has the potential to impact public decision making and actions."

At Université Laval earlier today, Industry Minister Maxime Bernier, who is responsible for the Canada Research Chairs program, announced a total investment of $87.5 million for 109 new Canada Research Chairs at universities across the country. "The important investments made in university research have re-energized our campuses and given the country's top researchers-our Canada Research Chairs-the support they need to fully realize their innovative ideas," he said.

May 1st announcement also includes $11.4 million from the CFI to provide the new chairs with research infrastructure ranging from computer equipment for information databases to housing for laboratory facilities.

There are two levels of Canada Research Chairs: seven-year chairs (Tier 1, valued at $200,000 a year) for experienced researchers widely acknowledged as world leaders in their fields; and five-year chairs (Tier 2, valued at $100,000 a year) for researchers considered by their peers as having the most potential to lead in their fields.

The CFI is an independent corporation created by the Government of Canada to fund research infrastructure. Its mandate is to strengthen the capacity of universities, colleges, research hospitals, and non- profit research institutions to carry out world-class research and technology development that benefits Canadians.

OTTAWA - Foreign students studying in Canada can apply for off-campus work permits effective immediately, the Honourable Monte Solberg, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, announced April 27, 2006.

"Foreign students make a significant contribution to Canada," said the Minister. "They enrich campus and community life with new ideas and new cultures, and they are an important pool of potential future skilled workers that Canadian businesses need to remain competitive."

Foreign students contribute approximately $4 billion a year to Canada's economy. There are about 100,000 foreign students in Canada who could be eligible for work permits under the Off-Campus Work Permit Program. The program is not intended to take jobs away from Canadian students. Each applicant will be required to compete for employment on an equal basis with Canadians.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) has signed agreements with most provinces to implement the program, and agreements with New Brunswick and the Yukon are currently being finalized. The agreements allow eligible foreign students at public post-secondary institutions to work off-campus for up to 20 hours a week during the school year and full-time during study breaks. Eligible foreign students can apply for an off-campus work permit immediately, and may be able to work off-campus as early as this summer. The work permit is valid for the duration of their study permit.


"CIC is working in cooperation with the provinces and territories to make Canada a destination of choice by making it easier for foreign students to work in Canada during and after their studies," said Minister Solberg. "Off-campus work agreements will make it easier for students to gain work experience in the Canadian labour market and earn extra income while studying," he said.

The Canadian Federation of Students, the Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec, the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada and the Association of Canadian Community Colleges, who have all been consulted on the initiative, support efforts to make it easier for foreign students to work in Canada.

"With Canadian work experience, foreign students will be able to integrate into the Canadian labour force more quickly. This will help address skilled labour shortages in Canada," said Minister Solberg.

The study examines shifts in student employment, pay and working hours for students who had a summer job and for those who combined school and work during the academic year.

It showed that the summer job market has grown at a far slower pace in recent years than the job market for students who held jobs during the school year.

In the summer of 2005, the employment rate for students who were planning to return to their studies in the fall averaged 51.7%. This was a moderate gain of 4.8 percentage points from 46.9% in the summer of 1998, when the student job market started to trend up.

During the 2004/2005 academic year, students had an average employment rate of 38.9%, up 7.0 percentage points from the 1997/1998 school year.

Employment rates in both cases were below peaks just prior to the 1991 recession, especially during the summer months. In the summer of 1989, 61.4% of students on average were employed. During the 1989/1990 academic year, the proportion was 41.7%.

The study also found that older students were far more likely than teens to have combined school and work in 2004/2005. Female students were more likely to have jobs than male students, in part because of better job opportunities in retail trade and accommodation and food services sectors, where women are more likely to work.

In terms of summer employment, opportunities improved moderately for both younger and older students. Again, however, girls were the main beneficiaries of employment growth, and by 2005, they were far more likely than boys to have had a summer job.

Adjusted for inflation, average hourly wages for full-time students who had jobs during the school year were unchanged over the last eight years. But, because students worked an average of one hour a week more during the 2004/2005 school year than they did in 1997/1998, their total weekly wages increased slightly.

During the summer of 2005, younger students were paid less and were working fewer hours than they did in 1998. On the other hand, older students earned more than they did eight years earlier because of longer periods of work and higher base pay on average.

Combining school and work: Big gap between young teens and older students and between male and female students

Working during the academic year has become increasingly common. During the 2004/2005 academic year, an estimated 939,000 of the 2.4 million full-time students aged 15 to 24 had a job while they went to school.

Prior to 1990, employment rates for young people aged 15 to 17 and for the older group aged 18 to 24 were similar. However, the early 1990s recession hit the 15-to-17 group harder, resulting in an employment gap that still remains.

In 2005, students of all ages are more likely to be working than they were in 1997/1998, but older students are much more likely to work than their younger counterparts.

A record high 45.9% of students aged between 18 and 24 worked during the 2004/2005 school year. This compares with 31.2% of students aged 15 to 17, which was well below their peak rate of employment of 40.8% in 1989/1990.

An employment rate gap also exists between male and female students, and it has never been wider. In the 2004/2005 school year, 34.3% of female students aged 15 to 17 were working, much higher than the proportion of 28.2% among males the same age.

The gender gap was even greater among older students. Just over one-half (50.5%) of female students aged 18 to 24 were working, compared with 40.7% of male students, a record gap. This reflects employment growth in retail trade and accommodation and food services, sectors in which women are more likely to work as cashiers, salespersons, or food servers.

Two sectors combined employed 6 in 10 working students during the 2004/2005 academic year: retail and wholesale trade, and accommodation and food services. These sectors offer students flexibility to combine schooling with part-time employment. But they also often offer lower pay and less security.

Summer job market: Only moderate gains

Although gains were not strong, summer employment opportunities have nevertheless improved for both younger and older students.

As in the case of the school year, females have been the main beneficiaries of summer employment growth. Prior to the recession of the 1990s, male full-time students were more likely than female students to be employed during the summer months.

The recession of the early 1990s hit male students harder than female students and the recovery has been weaker for male students. As a result, female full-time students are now much more likely than their male counterparts to be employed in the summer.

The employment rate for females students hit 55.2% in the summer of 2005, up 7.1 percentage points from 1998. This compares with a gain of only 2.2 percentage points for male students, whose 2005 employment rate was 47.9%.

The diminishing employment role of the goods-producing sector has had an impact on summer employment among male full-time students. Male full-time students are currently more likely to be working in the services sectors while fewer work in agriculture, construction and manufacturing.

No gain in wages for students working during school year

Average hourly wages have not increased for students combining work and school over the last eight school years, although the trends have been different for the two age groups. After adjusting for inflation, hourly wages for students aged 15 to 17 actually declined 1.8% from 1997/1998, while they rose 2.1% for older students.

In the 2004/2005 academic year, students aged 18 to 24 earned an average of $9.60 an hour, compared to $7.82 an hour for those aged 15 to 17.

Hourly wages for younger students closely resemble minimum wage rates which vary by province, ranging from $6.00 to $8.00 per hour in 2005.

Students who have jobs during the school year are working longer than ever before. In 2004/2005, student employees spent on average 15.3 hours a week at their main job, compared to between 13 and 14 hours a week in the 1980s and 1990s.

During the summer of 2005, students aged 15 to 24 made an average of $246.84 a week, up 2% from 1998, adjusted for inflation. Because older students were better paid and worked longer hours, they earned more than younger students.

Older students earned $294.98 a week on average last summer, while younger students earned $157.37.

Alberta tops for jobs during school year, Prince Edward Island during summer

Booming Alberta led the nation in terms of employment rates among full-time students who combined work and school. About 44.3% of full-time students in Alberta were employed during the 2004/2005 school year, compared with only 23.0% in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Employment rates were above the national average in the Prairie provinces, Quebec and Ontario in 2004/2005. All provinces experienced employment rate increases among full-time students between 1997/1998 and 2004/2005, the largest occurring in Quebec and New Brunswick.

But during the summer months, Prince Edward Island topped all provincial labour markets. Last summer, two-thirds of the island's full-time students were employed (67.1%), largely due to the host of tourism and agricultural jobs available. The Prairie provinces, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick followed close behind.

In Canada's three largest provinces (Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia), employment rates for full-time students last summer were at or below the national average.

Note to readers

This release is based on an article in the April 2006 edition of Statistics Canada's free online publication Education Matters: Insights on Education, Learning and Training in Canada.
The article uses data from the Labour Force Survey to examine trends in the labour market experiences of young men and women aged 15 to 24 years who are full-time students.
It further breaks the analysis into two age groups: younger students aged 15 to 17 years (of normal high school age) and older students aged 18 to 24 years old (a typical age for attending postsecondary institutions). The analysis also investigates employment during the school year (September to April) and employment during the summer months.
Education Matters, released every two months, is a source of facts and analyses on education, training and learning. It offers quick access to the latest education indicators and in-depth research from Statistics Canada. It also links electronically to a wide variety of data, news on education, learning resources and tables, charts and analyses.

A University of Guelph student is one of eight women across the country to receive a 2006 Canadian Engineering Memorial Foundation (CEMF) Scholarship. The awards were created to encourage women to choose a career in engineering and to honour the memory of the 14 women who were slain at Montreal’s Ecole Polytechnique in 1989.

Melanie Mullen, an environmental engineering student and member of Guelph’s Engineers Without Borders, was awarded one of five undergraduate scholarships. Three graduate scholarships are also awarded by CEMF. Recipients are chosen for being community leaders, active volunteers and role models, especially for girls and young women. Scholarship winners also promote engineering as a career through local schools and community programs.

“The Canadian Engineering Memorial Foundation believes in change and positive enlightenment within the engineering profession,” said Mullen. “I am honoured to represent the University of Guelph and Ontario this year.”

Mullen said the scholarship will allow her to continue speaking to elementary and high school students about engineering, unity and well-being. “I believe in being active and I believe in change. That’s why this award means so much to me, because it supports and promotes the consciousness of our peers. "We have this wonderful ability to genuinely share and to learn from each other. This is and will increasingly remain a crucial factor in our survival. If we face the coming environmental and social challenges together, we will be able o support each other the way this award has supported engineering for years.”

Mullen, who came to Guelph from Niagara Falls, is also active in the Sierra Youth Coalition of Canada, Guelph Students for Environmental Change and Environment Radio on the local CFRU station.

“These eight women are truly remarkable,” said Suzelle Barrington, president of the CEMF. “They are strong leaders, volunteer in their community, work hard to encourage others and are actively involved in their education and extracurricular activities. We are very proud to present these well-deserved scholarships.”

Paul Maxim to focus on expanding university research funding and participation

WATERLOO – Laurier is taking an important step toward expanding its research activities and graduate programs with the appointment of Paul Maxim as the university’s first associate vice-president for research.

Maxim, currently the associate dean, research and operations, in the faculty of social science at the University of Western Ontario, has been very successful in boosting the number of active research grants per faculty member, and the size of those grants.

Building Laurier’s graduate programs and research activities are key goals of The Century Plan, Laurier’s blueprint for the coming five years. Maxim’s appointment is a step toward achieving those goals, says Sue Horton, vice-president: academic at Laurier.

Maxim, who holds a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania, has been a professor in the department of sociology at Western since 1981. Initially interested in criminology, his research interests shifted to population economics, particularly the demography of First Nations peoples, socioeconomic integration of immigrants and minorities, and patterns of urban residential segregation. He is also interested in statistics and research methods. In addition to many other publications, Maxim is author of Quantitative Research Methods in the Social Sciences, published by Oxford University Press.

During Maxim’s four-year tenure as associate dean, research and operations, in the faculty of social science, the total number of active grants for faculty members increased from 337 to 460 (from 1.8 to 2.2 per faculty member).

Grant funding research expenditures increased from approximately $5.4 million to almost $8.5 million in the same time, and now average slightly more than $40,000 per faculty member.

“Needless to say, it is the individual researcher and not associate deans who primarily write grant applications and receive research funding,” Maxim says. “However, I do believe that an active program of providing granting workshops, serving as a mentor, informing faculty of funding opportunities, and helping one’s colleagues put together interdisciplinary and collaborative teams helps.”

Horton says Maxim’s colleagues at Western report that “he has been a wonderful mentor. His interpersonal skills are very strong and have been key to success in some aboriginal research initiatives in which he was involved.”

Western administrators, Horton adds, have described Maxim as a good strategic thinker and an ideas person.

“He is a very productive researcher, used to working with large datasets, and working to get outside funding,” says Horton.

Maxim says he was attracted to Laurier because “growing the research and graduate programs here is an opportunity to make a significant impact.”

Maxim says he recognizes that the university has excellent undergraduate programs and that Laurier’s students are “among the best in the country.”

He says he is looking forward to helping Laurier’s faculty, many of whom are young and are eager researchers, develop their skills in obtaining funding.

“I would like to see the percentage of researchers with grants increase significantly,” he says, “and the dollar amounts, too. The participation rate (in funding programs such as the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada) is good for a university in the primarily undergraduate category, around 15–20 percent averaged over all faculties. But it could be 40–50 percent overall, given the quality of faculty here. That’s an obtainable goal.

“I also want to see more interdisciplinary research. Part of my goal is to build teams, not just within Laurier, but with Laurier’s sister institutions, as well.

“We also need to grow the graduate programs – expand the existing ones and add new programs. Graduate training and research go hand in hand. To support that research, you need resources and facilities. The funding for that must come through grants.”

Maxim begins his five-year renewable term on July 1.

New research by a University of Guelph psychology professor will make it easier to assess and help children who have problems with math.

Marcia Barnes’ research, published in the current issue of Journal of Learning Disabilities, found that, contrary to what was previously believed, visual-spatial skills and math calculation skills are unrelated. She also found that children’s math difficulties stem from only a couple of key problems.

It’s often been thought that math calculation and visual-spatial skills, such as putting block puzzles together, are somehow related, said Barnes. She and her colleagues tested this theory by looking at children with spina bifida.

Spina bifida, North America’s most common disabling birth defect, affects the development of both the spine and brain. Because 40 per cent of children with spina bifida have math disabilities and a large proportion of them have difficulties with visual-spatial skills, the study group allowed Barnes and her five colleagues to pinpoint types of math difficulties and determine if they are related to visual-spatial problems.

“About 50 per cent of children who have math disabilities also have reading disabilities, so to get a math disorder on its own is more rare,” said Barnes.

For her study, Barnes looked at the math skills of about 100 children with spina bifida in Grade 3 to high school, compared with the skills of a control group of about 100 typically developing children of the same age, grade and reading ability.

“We found no relation between math calculations and visual-spatial skills,” said Barnes. “Even the children with the most severe visual-spatial problems did not make visual-spatial errors in their written multi-digit calculations, and visual-spatial abilities were not related to calculation abilities more generally.”

In a previous study, Barnes found that children’s visual-spatial skills are related to other areas of math, such as estimation and geometry.

The researchers looked at both speed and accuracy of math calculations and found that the children with math difficulties often got the answer right but were slow in getting it.

When children take too long to do simple math functions, it can lead to “bottlenecks” in multi-digit problem solving, said Barnes. “It’s similar to slow readers having difficulty understanding what they’ve read because the overall picture gets lost.”

Regardless of a child’s type of disability – straight math, reading and math, association with a brain disorder, such as spina bifida – the researchers found that the problems with math looked very similar. “This means you can start to be much more strategic in planning assessment and intervention for children with math difficulties,” said Barnes. “The programs that work for kids without brain disorders may be the same programs that will help children with brain injuries improve their math skills.”

Barnes and her colleagues have presented their findings to international, national and provincial meetings to help parents, health professionals and educators understand math disabilities. Barnes also contributed to the recently released Ontario Ministry of Education report “Education for All: The Report of the Expert Panel on Literacy and Numeracy Instruction for Students With Special Needs, Kindergarten to Grade 6.”

TORONTO - With the news of Jane Jacobs's death April 25, Random House Canada joins Jane's family, friends and readers to mourn the passing of an extraordinary woman, and one of the most provocative and influential thinkers of our time. She is the author of such brilliant works as The Death and Life of Great American Cities, a work that has never been out of print since it was published in 1961 and that has transformed the discipline of urban planning and city architecture. Her most recent book, Dark Age Ahead, published in 2004, was a national bestseller and won the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing.

Jane was working on two books for Random House Canada and Random House US before her death. The first was a short history of the human race in six chapters, drawing on some of the themes in Dark Age Ahead, and dwelling on the shift from the "plantation age" to the unfolding age of human capital. The second book was a "self-anthology" called Uncovering the New Economics, in which she was choosing excerpts of her own writing on economic life, and commenting on those excerpts: in effect, revisiting and annotating a lifetime's thinking about cities and economies.

"What's important is not that she died but that she lived, and that her life's work has greatly influenced the way we think. Please remember her by reading her books and implementing her ideas since that is what she would have wanted. She was a remarkable woman who loved to write and she will be greatly missed. We remember her with deep love and esteem," says Jane Jacobs's family.

Anne Collins, publisher of Random House Canada and Jane's editor in Canada, says, "I will miss Jane's amazing curiosity and intellectual vigour - she had the ability to take the common everyday 'realities' of our lives and turn them on their heads, shaking out new ways of perceiving how we live and how we can move forward, in cities and in the world. My heart goes out to her family, who know so intimately how wonderful she was, so down-to-earth and so wry, and have to live with such a huge loss. I can't believe we won't be reading new work from her remarkable mind, but I encourage everyone to take the Jane Jacobs books down from their shelves and to remember her by encountering once again the freshness of perception and insight in every line."

Jane Jacobs was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania in 1916. She came to Canada in 1968 and became a naturalized citizen in the 1970s. She is survived by a brother, James Butzner; two sons, James and Ned, and a daughter, Burgin Jacobs; by two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

JANE JACOBS was the award-winning, bestselling author of several books, including the classic The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Systems of Survival, The Economy of Cities, The Nature of Economies and her last book, the bestselling Dark Age Ahead. Jane Jacobs has been named to the Orders of Canada and Ontario.

Students say: "Bob Rae is a disaster for affordable, public education in Canada"

Prof. Alan Wildeman has been reappointed to a second five-year term as vice-president (research). The announcement was made today by president Alastair Summerlee.

“The University has experienced major growth in its research activities during the past five years,” said Summerlee, who chaired a committee that reviewed Wildeman’s first term in office, which began in 2001.

Each year for the past three years, U of G has been named Canada’s No. 1 comprehensive research university, a ranking that is based both on research income and output measures such as publications and research intensity. In addition, Guelph has been the top comprehensive university for four straight years in the annual “Top 50 Research Universities List,” which ranks Canadian universities based solely on sponsored research income.

“Dr. Wildeman has shown strong leadership and guidance in facilitating this growth while managing a research portfolio that is extremely complex and has undergone significant change,” said Summerlee.

The Office of Research mandate includes managing some $124 million in annual research funding.

Research and scholarship across the disciplines are of fundamental importance because they make Guelph a richer institution, they underpin innovation and they enhance the University’s ability to deliver outstanding education and training, said Summerlee.

“Alan has worked hard to build on Guelph’s reputation for its multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research excellence, to foster important external partnerships that broaden the way the world sees us, and to improve the quality of the University’s research infrastructure.”

In 2002, Wildeman oversaw the extensive consultative planning process associated with the restructuring of services and facilities funded under U of G’s enhanced partnership with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA). The partnership includes the University’s campuses in Ridgetown, Kemptville and Alfred, numerous research stations and Laboratory Services.

Looking forward, Summerlee and Wildeman see three important priorities for the Office of Research. First, there will be a complete review of the office’s service mandate, looking at ways the office can support the growing research community and support how regulatory issues are introduced and managed. Second, U of G will be renegotiating the OMAFRA contract, which provides a vital component of the innovation agenda for agriculture and life sciences in the province. Third, the University will review the way research infrastructure is managed at the institution. Guelph will also continue to focus on the unique ways teaching and research are integrated and supported here.

“The University of Guelph is truly an extraordinary place for creative endeavours,” said Wildeman. “Our success is due entirely to the quality of our faculty, staff and students, and I am truly honoured to have been asked to serve another term. I look forward to continuing to help the Office of Research best support everyone’s aspirations and to working with the president and my colleagues to position Guelph so that it makes an even greater difference in the world.”

In addition to Summerlee, the review committee included deans, professors and staff members. They examined services, grant applications, ethics practices, technology transfer, international activities and commercialization under the Office of Research. The committee sought input and feedback from the U of G community on the areas of leadership, administration and management, relationship and partnership building, communications and oversight of the OMAFRA contract. The committee also sought and received wide feedback from members of internal and external communities associated with the University’s research enterprise.

TORONTO - Ontario students warn that if Bob Rae is successful in his federal Liberal leadership bid, tuition fee increases, massive student debt, and privatisation are in store for students studying at Canada's colleges and universities.

"A Bob Rae federal government would be terrible news for Canadian students and their families," said Jesse Greener, Ontario Chairperson for the Canadian Federation of Students, pointing to Bob Rae's track record as a staunch advocate for increases in tuition fees and student debt. "Rae's name is synonymous with bad public policy."

"As Ontario Premier, Bob Rae ushered in a decade of unprecedented tuition fee increases that out-paced the rate of inflation more than five times over," said Greener. "Rae increased tuition fees every year he was in office, even twice in the same year."

As Premier, Rae also eliminated Ontario's system of need-based grants, making it the only jurisdiction in North America and Europe without government grants for low-income students. During the following ten years, Ontario's students had to rely on loans as their only means of financial aid. As a result, average student debt for a four-year program tripled to over $25,000.

"Ontarians rejected Rae's elitist vision for higher education by dumping him after only one term," said Greener. "Liberal Party members should follow that example and stop him in his tracks."

Last year, Rae was commissioned by the Ontario 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 his consultation. "Rae had one conclusion on his mind, so it was no surprise that he ignored student and community input and recommended his own conclusions," said Greener. "Rae was the architect of 20% tuition fee increases recently announced by the McGuinty Government."

"Given that over 80% of Canadians think that tuition fees are already too high, it is clear that Mr. Rae's approach to higher education is still out of touch with the vast majority of voters," said Greener. "Rae's abysmal record leaves no hope for his future as a federal leader. At a time when access to post-secondary education is a crucial driver of the economy, Bob Rae-style leadership would be a disaster."

WATERLOO -- Flora MacDonald, a highly respected former federal politician, and Bob Rosehart, the longest-serving university leader in Ontario and president of Wilfrid Laurier University, are among those receiving honorary degrees at the University of Waterloo during spring convocation to be held June 14-17.

MacDonald and Rosehart will receive their honorary degrees at separate convocation ceremonies to be held in the Physical Activities Complex on the UW campus.

As well, Thomas Goodale, an internationally recognized scholar in the fields of leisure studies, parks and recreation, will be awarded a Doctor of Letters and will give the convocation address on Wednesday (June 14) for graduates in the faculties of applied health sciences and environmental studies, starting at 10 a.m. A professor emeritus at George Mason University in Virginia, Goodale is well known for his concern with quality of life issues.

Also at Wednesday's convocation, Serge Rossignol, an eminent neuroscientist who sparked the establishment of a Centre of Excellence in Neuroscience at the University of Montreal, will receive a Doctor of Science. Recognized internationally for his work on discovering the neural basis for the control of locomotion, Rossignol has been a key influence on the current and future directions of spinal cord research.

Honorary degrees will be given at convocation ceremonies:

-- Science, Wednesday, June 14 at 2 p.m.

* Howard Howland will receive a Doctor of Science and address convocation. Howland is widely recognized as one of the top scientists in the study of optical properties of the eye. His work has proven essential to the development of new and critically important areas of research on the optical aberrations (errors) of the eye and the effect of visual environment on ocular refractive growth.

-- Arts, Thursday, June 15 at 10 a.m.

* Flora MacDonald will receive a Doctor of Laws and address convocation. Called a "national and international treasure," MacDonald has demonstrated a remarkable range of contributions -- literacy, foreign understanding and service to seniors and minorities -- in addition to her distinguished 16-year career as a public servant. MacDonald is well regarded for her superb and forward-looking leadership.

* Robert Mundell will receive a Doctor of Laws. A former UW professor of economics, Mundell is known worldwide for ground-breaking contributions on money, macroeconomics and international trade. His theoretical research on the optimal currency area eventually provided the foundation for the Euro. Mundell's insight into the relationship between domestic economic policy and free capital flows revolutionized the understanding of exchange rates.

-- Arts, Thursday, June 15 at 2 p.m.

* Margaret Visser will receive a Doctor of Laws and address convocation. A cultural anthropologist of uncommon skill, Visser has a gift for taking the stuff of ordinary living -- the rituals around eating, for instance -- and making it palatable to the non-specialist. She is the author of The Rituals of Dinner (1991) and The Way We Are (1994).

* Douglas Letson will receive a Doctor of Laws. Past president (1989-1999) and past vice-president and academic dean of St. Jerome's University, Letson has achieved a remarkable level of distinction for his administrative leadership and service to St. Jerome's and UW, along with his commitment to post-secondary Roman Catholic education. Letson gives regular public talks on religious and literary topics as well as being active in a number of local community initiatives.

-- Mathematics, Friday, June 16 at 10 a.m.

* Dominic Welsh will receive a Doctor of Mathematics and address convocation. Welsh is one of the distinguished senior researchers in the study of discrete mathematics. The recognition is due to a long series of contributions spanning four decades and many branches of mathematics, such as probability theory, statistical mechanics, coding theory, computational complexity and matroid theory.

-- Mathematics, Friday, June 16 at 2 p.m.

* Kurt Melhorn will receive a Doctor of Mathematics and address convocation. A leading researcher in various aspects of algorithms, Melhorn is a professor of computer science at the Universität des Saarlandes in Saarbrücken, Germany. He was the key person behind the launch of the prestigious Max Planck Institute for Computer Science, along with the International Conference and Research Centre for Computer Science.

-- Engineering, Saturday, June 17 at 10 a.m.

* Jacques Lamarre will receive a Doctor of Engineering and address convocation. One of Canada's top engineers and a national leader in the management of global engineering firms, Lamarre heads SNC-Lavalin Group Inc., one of the largest companies in international construction. His career as an engineer and senior executive spans more than 35 years.

-- Engineering, Saturday, June 17 at 2 p.m.

* Bob Rosehart will receive a Doctor of Engineering and address convocation. Rosehart is president and vice-chancellor of Wilfrid Laurier University, having assumed the post in 1997 after serving the previous 13 years as president and vice-chancellor of Lakehead University in Thunder Bay. A triple graduate of UW's faculty of engineering, Rosehart regards Waterloo as the place that most shaped his ideas on higher education and research.

Also at convocation, "Distinguished Professor Emeritus" titles will be presented to three retired UW professors: Howard Green, of kinesiology, Tony Cullen, of optometry, and Bill Lennox, of civil engineering.

Wanda Bates - Upper Grand District School Board
Mario Blouin - École secondaire de Hearst
Barry Bousfield - Canadore College of Applied Arts & Technology
Lawrence Cotton- St. Elizabeth Catholic High School
Gordon Evans- Workforce Development Board
Allen Holtz- Ottawa-Carleton District School Board
Jeff Ste. Marie- Sir Wilfrid Laurier Secondary School

Thanks to these outstanding individuals for their contributions to the “Domino Effect!”

WATERLOO - A research team led by the University of Waterloo's "ideas for Health" research group is one of five recipients of the inaugural Ministry of Health and Long Term Care Innovation Award.

The team's research was selected from more than 600 projects submitted for consideration for a showcase event held this week on health innovations at the Metropolitan Toronto Convention Centre. The UW team's full name is Innovation in Data, Evidence and Applications for Health or ideas for Health.

John Hirdes, a UW professor of health studies and gerontology as well as the scientific director of the Homewood Research Institute, is the principal investigator of two research projects on primary care and mental health, which received $3.5 million in combined funding over two years from the Primary Health Care Transition Fund.

"The central aim of this research is to demonstrate ways to make health care in Ontario function as a system rather than a collection of isolated islands that don't communicate or work together," Hirdes said.

George Smitherman, Ontario Minister of Health and Long Term Care, presented the award to Hirdes at a ceremony Thursday during the Celebrating Innovations in Health Care Expo in Toronto.

The study spans the health-care system with 15 different sub-projects conducted in primary care (doctors' offices and nurse practitioner clinics), home care, long-term care, acute care, in-patient psychiatry and community mental health agencies.

By the time the study is finished in August 2006, it will have reached 13,000 people who are receiving health care from 89 organizations and about 750 staff will have been trained in new techniques for identifying and responding to the health needs of Ontarians.

The research activities include the testing of new assessment, screening and risk-appraisal systems for Community Care Access Centres (CCACs), emergency rooms and crisis units in psychiatry. Several projects deal with improving collaboration and communication between different sectors of the health-care system.

For example, five CCACs pilot-tested a new approach to sharing health data with family physicians and providing client education on falls, depression, medication, flu shots and breast screening.

The mental health research embraces the creation of new methods for benchmarking the quality of in-patient psychiatric services, testing new care planning strategies and developing a Geropsychiatry Placement System (GPS). The system will aid in identifying the most appropriate care setting for older adults with mental health needs.

Roger Mannell, dean of UW's faculty of applied health sciences, said that research by the ideas for Health group exemplifies the faculty's "commitment to the development of knowledge and programs that can have a positive impact on the health and well-being of Canadians."

"This award recognizes the potential of the ideas for Health research to improve Ontario's health-care system by identifying methods of integrating care, improving quality and using high-quality health data to inform to key policy decisions," said John Milloy, MPP for Kitchener Centre.

"The University of Waterloo takes pride in being a recognized leader in innovation and knowledge translation," UW president David Johnston said. "John Hirdes and his colleagues are doing outstanding research, tackling problems that concern us all in a way that will have a lasting, positive impact on the health of Canadians."

The research also has a strong international connection. Hirdes and Katherine Berg are fellows of the interRAI consortium (www.interrai.org) of researchers from 26 countries. The ideas for Health initiative is drawing a great deal of attention from other countries that are experiencing the same health care challenges as Ontario.

As part of the final phase of the research, Hirdes and Dr. Edgardo Pérez will host a 10-country research meeting to plan for the dissemination of the mental health findings and launch a multinational collaborative on in-patient and community psychiatry. Pérez is the chief executive officer of the Homewood Health Centre and director general of the Homewood Research Institute.

"The University of Waterloo is well-known as a world-class institution doing innovative research," Waterloo MP Andrew Telegdi said. "As this award shows, health is one of the areas where UW researchers are making important contributions at the provincial, national and international levels."

Among project co-investigators are: Trevor Smith, Paul Stolee and Jose Arocha (University of Waterloo); Katherine Berg, Diane Doran (University of Toronto); Edgardo Pérez (Homewood Health Centre, Homewood Research Institute); Paula Fletcher (Wilfrid Laurier University); Erin Tjam (St. Mary's Hospital, Kitchener); Gary Teare (Saskatchewan Health Quality Council); Terrie Tucker, Shailesh Nadkarni (Centre for Addictions and Mental Health); David Conn (Baycrest Health Centre); Brent Diverty (Canadian Institute for Health Information); Brant Fries (University of Michigan); John Morris (Hebrew Senior Life, Harvard University); and Terry Rabinowitz (Fletcher Allen Health Care, University of Vermont).

The team also consists of about 25 research and clinical staff members, along with two Knowledge Exchange Boards with over 20 senior advisers from the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care, service providers and professional associations.

OTTAWA - On April 20 the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) announced an investment of $2.5 million in a research project that will examine why creative and innovative thinkers are drawn to certain city-regions, why these urban centres attract such talented workers-and how this mutual attraction invigorates the economies of Canada's metropolises.

University of Toronto political science professor David Wolfe and geography professor Meric Gertler are co-directors of the project, "Social Dynamics of Economic Performance: Innovation and Creativity in City-Regions." This study will build on their previous research which was also funded through SSHRC's Major Collaborative Research Initiative (MCRI) program.

This time, the research team will look at why certain cities attract and retain creative and innovative thinkers and how this in turn creates social inclusiveness, civic engagement, and a dynamic economy. The research will focus on three themes: the social dynamics of innovation, creativity and social inclusion, and governance.

"This project will give us a deeper understanding of the connections between creativity, innovation and governance, on the one hand, and long-term urban economic growth and development, on the other," said Professor Wolfe. "We're also looking at how these factors play out in Canadian cities of different sizes."

"The most valuable resources in workplaces today are highly educated and creative workers," said Professor Gertler. "Our project investigates why such people gravitate to and settle down in certain cities. Places that offer richness of employment opportunity, high quality of life, a critical mass of cultural activities, and social diversity-that is, low barriers to entry for newcomers-seem to exert the strongest pull."

"A specifically Canadian study of the social factors that determine economic performance in urban areas will provide insight into why innovation and creativity concentrate in certain locales," added Gertler.

Cities to be studied include Toronto, Montréal, Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa-Gatineau, Québec City, Hamilton, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, Halifax, Saskatoon, St. John's, Kingston, and Saint John. Experts in political science, urban and economic geography, management, economics, science policy and urban planning will collaborate in this major national study. Seven Canadian partners, 22 Canadian co-investigators and 23 collaborators, both Canadian and international, are participating.

An multinational advisory committee of authorities on the geography of innovation and the social dynamics of local economic performance will monitor and provide regular feedback on the research.

This project, one of four selected from 34 applications to the MCRI program, was chosen through a rigorous, independent peer-review process, which ensures that only the best research proposals receive funding. The MCRI program is recognized internationally as a powerful way to get universities and communities working together on research that has important social, economic and cultural impacts on society.

"The University of Toronto project will help us understand how to increase prosperity in cities across Canada," said Stan Shapson, interim president of SSHRC. "It is just one example of how social sciences and humanities research can make vital contributions to improving the lives of Canadians."

On April 20 The University of Guelph received more than $1.3 million from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to fund four projects aimed at advancing research on infectious bacteria, injuries in young children, and reproductive cells.

The U of G projects are part of a $112-million investment for research initiatives at Ontario universities and health research institutions announced today. Nationally, CIHR is investing more than $273 million in 793 research projects, 308 of them in Ontario.

“The University of Guelph is increasingly recognized for the interdisciplinary ways in which it can contribute to CIHR’s broad mandate,” said Alan Wildeman, vice-president (research). “The University is very proud of these four researchers and the success they have had in a national, highly competitive environment."

Currently, more than a dozen U of G professors are heading research projects supported by CIHR. In fact, Guelph received nearly $2.6 million last year from the federal agency for specific research projects, more than any other Canadian university without a medical school.

The latest U of G projects span across three of the University’s colleges, the College of Biological Science, the College of Social and Applied Human Sciences, and the Ontario Agricultural College.

Molecular and Cellular Biology professor Joseph Lam received $563,135 for a five-year study on mapping the complex pathways of how specific sugar polymers are made by pathogenic bacteria. “The outcome of this research will allow us to identify important drug targets that could be used to screen for novel antimicrobials against a variety of bacterial infections,” said Lam.

Prof. Chris Whitfield, also in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, received a five-year, $522,350 grant to understand the ways in which bacteria build and maintain their cell surfaces. “It’s always rewarding to see our research proposals well received by colleagues on the national review committees,” said Whitfield. “CIHR’s generous support allows us to pursue a variety of fundamental questions concerning infectious bacteria. Equally important, the funding is providing opportunities for the training of the next generation of researchers.”

Lam and Whitfield share a modern laboratory with state-of-the-art equipment in U of G’s new Science Complex. “This CIHR funding will allow our laboratory to take advantage of the momentum that my group has built up in this project and continue to break new grounds in microbial glycobiology research,” said Lam.

In addition, psychology professor Barbara Morrongiello will receive more than $177,000 to advance understanding of unintentional home injuries in young children.

Animal and Poultry Science professor Julang Li received $98,113 to continue her research on the germline potential of stem cells derived from the skin. “We’re trying to determine whether the cell isolated from skin differentiates into a female germ cell,” she said. “If the answer is yes, we plan to study the mechanism governing this differentiation.”

Launched in 2000, CIHR is Canada’s premier health research funding agency, supporting more than 8,500 researchers in universities, teaching hospitals, and research institutes nationwide.

More than 1,000 university-bound Grade 10 and 11 students from across Ontario are getting ready to descend on the University of Guelph April 27 and 28 for a recruitment conference co-ordinated by the University’s Admission Services.

The Interaction conference gives high school students a chance to experience the living and learning environment of a university community.

Each one-day conference begins at 9 a.m. in Rozanski Hall. Students can choose two hour-long sessions from more than 40 offerings by U of G students, faculty and staff.

Conference session highlights:

“Amazing Food Delicacies You’ve Never Dreamed Of.” Food scientist Massimo Marcone will discuss exotic foods like Kopi Luwak coffee, edible bird’s nest and organ oil.

“University Transition: What It’s Really Like.” Rachel Barreca of Student Life and Counselling Services will give students an idea of what university life is really like through multimedia presentations and panel discussions.

“CSI: Toronto – Investigate This!” University of Guelph-Humber justice studies professor Henri Berube, a former Peel police officer, will discuss how combining professional training and academics can give students a competitive advantage in the justice, law enforcement and private security fields.

“Eat Your Medicine: Edible Vaccines.” Molecular and cellular biology professor Reggie Lo will share how scientists have been making plants into edible vaccines for cows to help combat the pathogens that cause pneumonia.

“Moving Out? Deciding Where to Live While at University.” Marketing and consumer studies professor Jane Londerville will discuss the living options for post-secondary students. The session will conclude with a tour of selected on-campus residences.

Registration is $25 and includes lunch. For more information, visit the Interaction website or call (519) 824-4120, Ext. 58713.

He is winner of the college-sector CAFCE Co-op Student of the Year Award, with the accompanying $500 Emery-Dufault Award, plus the $500 Co-op Student of the Year Award presented in Ontario by the organization Education at Work Ontario (EWO).

Since 1994, the Canadian Association for Co-operative Education (CAFCE) has chosen a student each year to receive the CAFCE Co-op Student of the Year Award. This award recognizes a wide variety of achievements -- job performance, academic performance and responsibility, and particular contributions to their employer, to co-operative education, and the community at large. The award is now presented to a college and a university co-operative education student. The two winning students receive a plaque and a cash award.

The cash component is the Emery-Dufault Award established by CAFCE in 2003 in recognition of the contributions of two of the founding fathers of co-operative education in Canada, Les Emery and George Dufault. The Emery-Default Awards have been made possible through the generosity of the Dufault family.

Jaksa Panic is from Waterloo and graduated from Kitchener-Waterloo Collegiate and Vocational Institute before entering Conestoga.

The university-sector winner is Jit Seng Chen, a third-year Bachelor of Mathematics, Honours Actuarial Science co-operative education student at the University of Waterloo. Jit Seng completed his work term at KPMG LLP Canada.

In addition, Conestoga has selected four students for its own Co-op Student of the Year Awards, in recognition of their hard work and dedication during the 2004-2005 academic year.

Each of these awards is $250 and sponsored through contributions by Conestoga co-op employers such as Maple Leaf Consumer Foods, Dynamic Store Fixtures and the Ontario Realty Corporation.

The Conestoga winners are as follows.

Stephanie Kirkey of Waterloo is in the postgraduate Human Resources Management program. She is a graduate of both Lambton Central Collegiate and Vocational Institute, and Wilfrid Laurier University. Her co-op experience was with Maple Leaf Consumer Foods in Kitchener.

Alecia Lantz of Neustadt is also in the Human Resources Management program. She did her co-op term in Wingham, at Wescast Industries, a manufacturer of manifolds and other powertrain components for automobiles and trucks. She graduated from Hanover's John Diefenbaker Secondary School and from Fanshawe College before attending Conestoga.

Michael Schmied of Cambridge is in the baccalaureate Architecture - Project and Facility Management program. His co-op employment was with North American Construction, construction contractors and project managers, in Morriston.

Peter Vander Klippe is also from Cambridge and also in Architecture - Project and Facility Management. His co-op experience was in Guelph, with Ontario Realty Corporation.

WATERLOO, Ont. -- The University of Waterloo has named four faculty members as "distinguished teachers" of the year, along with four "distinguished" student teachers.

The winners of the 2006 Distinguished Teacher Award to recognize outstanding professors and instructors nominated by UW students, colleagues and alumni are: James Barnett, School of Accountancy; George Davidson, Department of Mechanical Engineering; Owen Ward, Department of Biology; and Erik Woody, Department of Psychology.

The awards -- to be presented at UW's spring convocation ceremonies in June -- recognize a "continued record of excellence in teaching" at UW. Recipients will receive a citation and $1,500 each to support teaching activities.

A selection committee considered "intellectual vigour and communication skills in the interpretation and presentation of subject matter," along with the teacher's "human quality and concern for and sensitivity to the needs of students."

Also, awards for Distinguished Teaching by a Registered Student went to Julie Gauley, Department of Biology; Daniel Olsen, Department of Geography; Spencer Rand, School of Architecture; and Jason Tsang, School of Planning. They will receive an acknowledgment at the convocation when they graduate, $500 and a certificate.

The Distinguished Teacher Award winners, including citations:

-- James Barnett, professor of accountancy. For many students in the taxation program, Barnett is one of the keys to their careers. He gives clear instructions ahead of time as to what will be discussed during each class, encourages participation and, as a result, learning. Also, he is masterful at approaching concepts from the point of view of somebody who is learning tax for the first time.

-- George Davidson, professor of mechanical engineering. Davidson's students speak of the clarity of his lectures, in which he makes use of practical examples that make the most complicated equations and questions understandable, the superb organization of his notes, which serve as a textbook, and his sincere interest in his students' learning and their general welfare.

-- Owen Ward, professor of biology. Ward is known as "absolutely inspirational" by his students. His lectures are animated and enjoyable to attend according to students, even at 8:30 in the morning. The obvious respect he has for his students and his humility make him a wonderful role model for them.

-- Erik Woody, professor of psychology. As a result of his expertise in statistical methods, his clarity of expression and his exceptional generosity, Woody has had a profound influence on almost every graduate student and faculty member in his department. He is said to have a unique, expressive and humorous teaching style.

The Recipients of the Award for Distinguished Teaching by a Registered Student, including citations:

-- Julie Gauley, biology. Gauley is a graduate student pursuing her PhD in biology. Her hard work to help as much as possible has been appreciated by students, professors and colleagues. Her pre-laboratory talks and tutorials engage students with open-ended questions, creating a friendly atmosphere for them to get answers to their queries.

-- Daniel Olsen, geography. Olsen is a graduate student in geography pursuing his PhD. Apart from having been a teaching assistant, he also has full responsibilities in teaching several courses. Being determined and exuberant, he has never hesitated to take on new projects and tasks.

-- Spencer Rand, architecture. Rand is a graduate student pursuing a master of architecture degree. His exemplary levels of energy and high enthusiasm for work and commitment could not be left unnoticed by his students, professors and colleagues. He has been extremely open with students and able to communicate and comprehend their needs.

-- Jason Tsang, planning. Tsang is a third-year undergraduate student in the School of Planning, as well as a teaching assistant. He helps many of his students by guiding their thought processes instead of just revealing the answers. As well, he is close to his students and makes them comfortable when addressing their questions.

TORONTO - The recent provincially directed investigation of finances at the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board, has produced a report that highlights serious problems in the education funding formula. The report concurs with the position of OCSTA regarding funding formula inadequacies and the need to update funding benchmarks. These are most certainly significant factors contributing to the difficulties faced by Dufferin-Peel and many other school boards.

"The problems we see in the Dufferin-Peel CDSB may well be repeated across the province if the funding formula is not updated to acknowledge current costs incurred by school boards," said OCSTA President, Paul Whitehead.

"We look to the Ministry and the government to address the inadequacies in the funding model that are impacting all boards. Without such changes, other school boards may well find themselves having to reduce local services or programs," added Whitehead.

In recent briefs to the government the Association has raised serious concerns about the impact of outdated funding benchmarks on school board budgets. This situation creates significant funding shortfalls particularly in the areas of employee compensation, transportation and special education. OCSTA has consistently advocated for an annual review process that would update benchmarks to reflect the actual costs incurred by school boards. OCSTA looks forward to working with the new Minister of Education, The Hon. Sandra Pupatello, to find cooperative solutions to these critical issues.

The Ontario Catholic School Trustees' Association is the provincial voice for Catholic education. Founded in 1930, OCSTA represents Catholic school boards that collectively educate more than 600,000 students in Ontario, from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 12.

TORONTO - In 2004, the unemployment rate for 25- to 29- year-olds who had not completed high school stood at 15% compared to 7% for university graduates. This was one of many pieces of information contained in a major report released today by education ministers and Statistics Canada. Education Indicators in Canada: Report of the Pan-Canadian Education Indicators Program 2005 is a comprehensive, data-based resource on the characteristics and functioning of education systems in the provinces and territories.

"The report is not only the result of a credible and productive working relationship between the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC) and Statistics Canada," stated Dr. Raymond Théberge, Director General of CMEC, "it also provides high-quality dependable data for making informed decisions about policy choices and program development."

The report is a product of the Canadian Education Statistics Council (CESC), a partnership between Statistics Canada and CMEC.

"This report is a valuable instrument for education ministers and for researchers," said Dr. Ivan Fellegi, Chief Statistician of Canada and co-chair of CESC. "It brings together in one document a wealth of current information about our education systems."

Some highlights from the report:

- Canada's performance on mathematics literacy in OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) was strong, with only two countries, Hong Kong and Finland, performing significantly better than Canada.

- More than 99% of the elementary and secondary schools in Canada had computers in the 2003-04 school year. Nine out of ten computers were connected to the Internet and available to students.

- In 2002, there were 234,500 registered apprentices in Canada, 30% more than in 1992.

- In 2001, no other OECD nation had a higher proportion of its population aged 25 to 64 with either a college or university credential than Canada. However, in terms of the population with a university degree, Canada ranked fifth overall.

- Between 1997-98 and 2001-02, combined federal, provincial/territorial, and municipal government expenditure on education grew by 10% at the postsecondary level; expenditure at the elementary-secondary level increased by 3%.

- Undergraduate university tuition fees increased over the period 1994-95 to 2004-05 (in constant 2001 dollars) from an average of $2,535 to $3,863 across Canada.

- In 2002-03, 35% of university faculty were aged 50 to 59, compared to 23% of the overall labour force.

The 2005 report, the fourth edition published by the program, is available in its entirety and free of charge on the Internet (www.statcan.ca; www.cesc.ca), as well as in hard copy from Statistics Canada.

Leading international experts who are working to eradicate global poverty will gather at the University of Guelph April 25 and 26 for the “Making Poverty History: Doing More of What Works” symposium. The event will be held in Rozanski Hall and is free and open to the public. Advance registration is required.

“Poverty exists everywhere and is an all-pervasive challenge,” said U of G president Alastair Summerlee, adding that nearly three billion people live on less than $2 a day and one billion children in the world live in poverty. In Canada, about 15.5 per cent of children live in relative poverty, and in Ontario, there are nearly 400,000 poor children, a figure that has grown by 41 per cent in the past decade.

“Poverty is the universal barrier to education, health and well-being and is the base of hunger, ignorance and disease,” he said. “Universities are vibrant, active communities of people who are armed with knowledge and experience and who must take a leadership role in the elimination of poverty.”

He says universities can start by focusing on the areas they have expertise in: influencing public opinion and public policy, motivating students and communities to become engaged, contributing to international development opportunities, and mobilizing some of the best minds in the country to discuss such issues of great social importance with the public.

The Guelph symposium will feature a keynote address by Elisabeth Tankeu, the African Union’s Commissioner for Trade and Industry, April 25 at 7 p.m. Tankeu, an expert in long-range planning, development policies, poverty-reduction strategies and environmental and gender issues, also served as Cameroon’s minister of plan and territorial development.

Other keynote speakers are Agnes Wakesho Mwang'ombe of the University of Nairobi in Kenya, who will discuss “Poverty Issues for Women and Youth” April 26 at 9:15 a.m., and Gerald Helleiner of the Munk Centre for International Studies at Trinity College will speak on “Poverty: Local, National and International” at 1 p.m.

There will also be panel discussions Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. aimed at finding solutions to poverty. They will feature participants from UNICEF Rwanda, World Vision, the Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada, the Canadian Council for International Co-operation and the Tamarack Institute, as well as scholars, business leaders and others.

“Making Poverty History” is part of a series of ongoing events U of G is sponsoring to engage the public in stimulating discussions on emerging global issues.

Keynote Speakers

Gerry Helleiner is chair of the Board of International Lawyers and Economists Against Poverty and an economics professor emeritus and distinguished research fellow at the University of Toronto’s Munk Centre. He has held posts at Yale University, the University of Ibadan, the University of Dar es Salaam, the Institute of Development Studies, the World Institute for Development Economics Research and the University of Oxford. He served as the research director of the Group of 24 and chaired the boards of the North-South Institute. He currently serves on the executive committee of the International Development Research Centre, the executive board of the African Capacity-Building Foundation, the Program Advisory Committee of the African Economic Research Consortium in Nairobi, and the UN Committee on Development Planning.

Agnes Wakesho Mwang'ombe is principal of the College of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences at the University of Nairobi and former dean of the Faculty of Agriculture. An expert in plant pathology, particularly plant resistance to diseases, she focuses on rural female farmers in her work and field research. She serves on various agricultural and scientific committees, including the Technical Committee on Gender in East Africa for the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research, and on the Advisory Committee in Agricultural Technology Transfer under the Maendeleo Agricultural Technology Fund. The fund is a regional initiative supported by the Rockefeller Foundation and the Gatsby Charitable Foundation that aims to improve the livelihoods of farming communities in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

Elisabeth Tankeu was elected the African Union’s commissioner for trade and industry in 2003 and has served as Cameroon’s minister of the plan and territorial development. She is responsible for promoting intra-African trade and for negotiations involving the World Trade Organization and the EU-Africa Economic Partnership agreements. She also initiates and oversees measures that encourage African countries to develop common positions for trade negotiations, and designs strategies to build the supply-side capacity of African countries in regional and international markets. An economist by training, she has been a consultant for the United Nations and the World Bank. Her expertise includes long-range planning, development policies, poverty-reduction strategies and environmental and gender issues.

Panellists

Kathy Bardswick is president and chief executive officer of The Co-operators Group. She is chair of the International Co-operative and Mutual Insurance Federation and a member of the Credit Union Central of Canada’s CEO Committee. She also serves on the Conference Board of Canada’s executive committee and on the University of Guelph’s Board of Governors.

Gerry Barr is president/CEO of the Canadian Council for International Co-operation. A longtime advocate, he was awarded the Pearson Peace Medal in 1996. He has served as executive director of the Steelworkers Humanity Fund, as a member of the North-South Institute and as a member of the steering committee of the Ethical Trading Action Group.

Doug Blackburn is the manager of education and public engagement for World Vision Canada.

He oversees a team that produces curriculum resources for schools and churches, hosts youth leadership workshops and supports special initiatives such as the 30-Hour Famine. He also worked with the United Church of Canada, supporting community development work in Brazil.

Paul Born is co-founder and president of Tamarack, a charitable community engagement agency. A former executive director of the Communities Opportunities Development Association, he served as the consulting director of Opportunities 2000, an initiative to reduce poverty in the Waterloo region. He has also founded and led several other local and national organizations.

Martin Connell is the co-founder and co-owner of ACE Bakery Limited and president of the charitable organization Calmeadow. He was awarded the Pearson Peace Medal and is a Member of the Order of Ontario and an Officer of the Order of Canada. He chairs the Toronto Community Foundation and is a past chair of the Toronto Film Festival, the Toronto Advisory Board of the Salvation Army and the Canadian Centre for Philanthropy.

Martha Greig is president of the Pauktuutit Inuit Women’s Association of Canada, where she supports policy development and community projects. A native of Cape Hope Advance Bay near Quaqtaq, Nunavik, she is an advocate for the social, cultural, political, health and economic betterment of Inuit women, their families and communities, and is a traditional midwife.

Betsy Martin is the senior adviser and program consultant for Community Foundations of Canada (CFC), where she directs the Social Justice Initiative and the CFC/McConnell Family Foundation program. She also developed and directed CFC’s “Our Millennium” program, which engaged 4.6 million Canadians in more than 6,500 local community-building projects.

Phocus Ntayombya, a University of Guelph graduate, is vice-president of UNICEF staff associations in Eastern and Southern Africa and a member of Rwanda’s National Commission for Soil Management and Conservation. He also served as general director of environment for the government of Rwanda and was Rwanda’s director of environment and tourism.

Manish Raizada is a plant agriculture professor at the University of Guelph working to develop low-cost biotechnologies, including engineering crops that require fewer nutrients and water. He is director of the CropLink Global Initiative, which aims to link the world’s agricultural experts by providing free websites to researchers in developing countries.

Jack Wilkinson is president of the International Federation of Agricultural Producers. A farmer, he produces grains and oilseeds and has a beef cow/calf operation. A past president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture and the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, he has addressed the World Summit on Sustainable Development, the World Trade Organization and the World Bank.

A University of Guelph environmental engineer is heading a million-dollar, cross-country research project on emerging technology intended to protect water resources and ensure safe drinking water for people in Canada and abroad.

The collaborative study to be led by Prof. Hongde Zhou of the School of Engineering will involve five universities and industry partners. The Canadian Water Network recently approved a two-year $400,000 grant for the group. Along with funding from the Ontario Centres of Excellence — the Centre for Earth and Environmental Technologies and from private sources, the researchers will receive nearly $1.25 million.

The funding will enable the researchers to study and improve membrane technology for removing contaminants from waste water. Zhou says membrane bioreactors are still a largely untapped form of waste-water treatment that will be needed to prevent new kinds of organic and microbial contaminants from poisoning water supplies.

Add in rapidly expanding populations whose increased consumption has prompted calls for water reuse and increasingly strict regulatory requirements, and there’s an emerging market for more advanced water-treatment systems, he said.

Water-borne pathogens can pose significant health threats in developed countries, such as the tainted water that killed seven people and sickened thousands in Walkerton, Ont. In developing nations, poor-quality drinking water continues to cause many infectious diseases, the single largest source of human mortality, according to the World Health Organization.

Zhou and engineering professor Khosrow Farahbakhsh will team up with researchers at the University of British Columbia, the University of Manitoba, Ryerson University and École Polytechnique de Montréal, as well as industry and municipal partners.

Membrane bioreactors use arrays of polymer membranes to filter contaminants from waste water. Only about 5,000 systems have been installed worldwide, a relative handful among the conventional activated sludge treatment systems operating every day in municipalities around the world.

Rather than replace those conventional aeration systems, membrane bioreactors are combined with existing treatment processes to ensure removal of particulate and dissolved contaminants, from resistant pathogens to new kinds of endocrine disrupter chemicals.

Previous research, including a project with the City of Guelph, shows promise to reduce the aeration costs for membrane waste-water treatment systems by 30 to 40 per cent, said Zhou. “That’s millions in savings, given the volumes of waste water to be treated by municipalities.” He and his students have worked on a pilot study with the City of Guelph and Zhou now plans to scale up the study at the city’s waste-water treatment plant. “The city wants to see if membrane bioreactors can increase treatment capacity and provide better treatment.”

The project will make U of G a national leader in studying and applying membrane technology in waste-water treatment and reuse, he said.

What does a University of Guelph scientist think is the No. 1 environmental threat to you and your kids and their kids and so on? Clue: It’s not global warming or pollution.

Many biologists, including U of G professor Ryan Gregory, believe the single greatest threat facing you and future generations is the loss of other species of living things — often through the destruction of habitat by companies extracting resources to make products for developed countries like Canada.

Understanding the extent and origins of biological diversity is the first step toward protecting it, said Gregory, winner of a prestigious 2006 Young Investigator Prize from the American Society of Naturalists (ASN), one of the top early career awards for evolutionary biologists.

A faculty member in U of G’s Department of Integrative Biology and a U of G graduate, Gregory will head the genomic diversity portion of the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario, which will open on campus this summer. Scientists in this leading-edge research centre will conduct studies in many areas of biodiversity science, including the revolutionary use of DNA bar codes — telltale snippets of genetic material used to identify species of living things.

Gregory studies relative genome size, or how much genetic material is found in different species. Besides its fascination for evolutionary biologists, understanding genome size has practical implications. Notably, his efforts to nail down genome sizes will help identify the most suitable genomes to sequence following the successful completion of the Human Genome Project.

The prize is the first international award for Gregory, who earlier received the NSERC Alper Prize as the top post-doctoral fellow in Canada as well as a distinguished young alumni award from McMaster University. “It’s really an honour to have my work recognized in Canada, but it’s also important to have it be acknowledged outside of Canada,” he said.

The ASN aims to advance knowledge of organic evolution and link studies across the biological sciences. Gregory will receive his award and present a research paper during the ASN annual meeting in June in New York.

“This award is wonderful recognition of a talented young faculty member who is helping enhance this university’s already strong research profile,” said Prof. Michael Emes, dean of the College of Biological Sciences. “Guelph has become a world leader in biodiversity research.”

More Space At World-Class Research Hub To Create More Opportunities For Innovation, Jobs And Prosperity

CHICAGO, IL - The Ontario government is building more prosperity for families by helping to expand the MaRS Discovery District, a world-class centre for research and innovation in Toronto.

"Research and innovation are critical to building a high-wage, high- quality-of-life economy," said Ontario's Premier Dalton McGuinty. "By supporting groundbreaking research that can lead to the next big breakthrough, we're attracting the jobs and investment that will help build a better quality of life for Ontarians." The Premier announced over $16 million in new funding for the second phase of the MaRS Centre at an investment dinner at BIO 2006, an international life sciences conference.

MaRS houses science and technology research labs alongside technology companies and investment capital firms. To date, the government has invested $66.7 million in MaRS to help support the discovery, funding and marketing of new ideas all in the same building.

Work on the next phase of the MaRS Centre is expected to begin this year. The government's investment will help to more than double the centre's capacity from 700,000 square feet to more than 1.5 million square feet. This additional space will support more research, and help Ontario stay on the cutting edge of innovation. Over the next five years, the government will be investing nearly $1.7 billion in research and commercialization.

Phase II of the MaRS Centre will add another one million square feet of research and office space to the heart of Toronto's Discovery District - a four- square-mile neighbourhood that is home to the University of Toronto, nine research and teaching hospitals and over 30 affiliated medical research institutions. Discovery District organizations receive more than $700 million US a year in funding for science and technology research.

"MaRS has made enormous progress in the last five years," says Dr. Ilse Treurnicht, MaRS CEO. "And with Phase II scheduled to commence later this year, we are confident that the next five years of MaRS' history will see the organization become a truly global gateway to Ontario's critical mass of incredible science and innovative companies."

"The MaRS community is already generating remarkable energy and fostering new collaborations and business partnerships," said Dr. John Evans, Chair of the Board for MaRS. "The expansion of the MaRS Centre, which anchors our community, will continue to build critical mass in key areas of emerging technology, capital and business expertise."

Since opening, MaRS has established a wide range of programs and services to support innovation, accelerate commercialization and give entrepreneurs and emerging companies opportunities to succeed.

U of G has come up with a plan to deal with most of the $8.7-million shortfall that was expected between expenditures and expected revenues in the preliminary 2006/2007 operating budget.

A special budget presentation on closing the gap was made to Senate on Tuesday by president Alastair Summerlee. The information is now available online.

“We have been forced to make a number of difficult choices. We are frustrated and disappointed with the budget situation that we and every other university in Ontario are facing, but it was important to minimize the impact on positions and preserve quality where possible,” Summerlee said. He added that the University will also try to avoid further across-the-board cuts.

The budget gap will be filled with an additional $3.7 million revenue from increases in tuition fees, although tuition fees for international students will be frozen for the remainder of their programs. Delaying a major capital project in parking services and charging ancillary units their share of service cost increases will bring in another $1 million.

A further $1 million of a base budget increase that was planned to address deferred maintenance will be eliminated. Finally, the University now estimates that projected increases in utility costs will be less than originally expected by $2 million, owing to a fall in gas rates and energy saving initiatives implemented on campus.

The result, Summerlee says, is a budget that is “very close to being balanced.” It’s hoped that the remaining $1-million funding gap can be made up via various adjustments throughout the coming fiscal year.

He adds that all Ontario universities are planning similar tuition increases, an unfortunate but essential decision that was made to protect quality. U of G will closely monitor the effect the increases have on students, especially new students, Summerlee says. It will also direct any additional financial aid to support students who have not been eligible for such aid in the past, and seek to support graduate students and international students who will be affected by the proposed increases in tuition for next year.

WATERLOO - A leading researcher at the University of Waterloo has received a global award for breakthrough work in biotechnology, including advances in the production of biopharmaceuticals and the reduction of pollution.

Murray Moo-Young, distinguished professor emeritus of chemical engineering, is this year's winner of the prestigious international Khwarizimi award for his achievements in biotechnology. The award consists of $7,000 US, a gold medallion and silver statuette.

Sponsored by UNESCO and the Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology, the award is given for recognized international excellence in any branch of science. It is named after the famous Persian scientist-mathematician, al-Khwarizimi (born ca 800 AD), who invented Algebra (al-jabr) and the concept of algorithm (an English transliteration of his name).

Moo-Young is one of Canada's top chemical engineers in the areas of mass transfer, biochemical engineering and industrial biotechnology. His research focus has been on bioprocessing strategies for the chemical, drug, food and bioremediation industries.

The citation for the award says that in Moo-Young's accomplishments, "engineering design principles are developed and implemented for applications in biomanufacturing and bioremediation strategies in the production of biological products, especially biopharmaceuticals, and in the abatement of environmental pollution, especially from recalcitrant organic contaminants."

"I take great satisfaction in seeing my research leading to practical engineering strategies to produce drugs more cheaply and to reduce the level of environmental damage," Moo-Young said.

The award was presented to Moo-Young in Tehran at a recent ceremony officiated and attended by several dignitaries in one of the Iranian government assembly halls.

To date, Moo-Young has produced 306 papers, nine patents and 14 books. He has served on many professional committees, including the Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering Scholarship Awards Committee and the NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council) Strategic Grants Committee. In 1985, he was editor-in-chief of the international four-volume reference treatise Comprehensive Biotechnology. He has also been a consultant to industry and government agencies around the world.

Jamaican-born of Chinese heritage, Moo-Young was educated at the universities of London (BSc, PhD), Toronto (Master of Applied Science) and Edinburgh (postdoctorate). He immigrated to Canada from Britain in 1962. After brief stints at the universities of Toronto and Western Ontario, he joined Waterloo in 1966.

A University of Guelph molecular and cellular biology professor has been selected as the winner of the 2006 Roche Diagnostics/CSM Award, the most prestigious award given by the Canadian Society of Microbiologists.

Joseph Lam is the fifth U of G microbiologist to receive the honour, considered one of Canada’s premier microbiology science prizes. This is the 43rd anniversary of the award, which is sponsored by Roche Diagnostics and was established to provide national recognition to outstanding Canadian microbiologists. Lam will give a lecture and be presented with the award at the annual CSM meeting in London in June.

One of the world’s leading experts in the molecular biology of P. aeruginosa, he was acknowledged for his achievements in research and his contributions to the Canadian microbiological community. His research focuses on pathogen-host interactions with the aim of developing more effective ways to target and treat deadly chronic pulmonary infections related to cystic fibrosis.

Lam said learning he had won the award “was a very pleasant surprise. I was ecstatic about receiving such recognition from my peers. I think it reflects on the kind of environment I work in. I work with strong researchers and fantastic colleagues, and I guess they’ve been rubbing off on me. It’s a great honour to be among the people I admire a lot.”

The Roche/CSM award is the latest in a long list of honours that Lam has received, including being named a Canada Research Chair in Cystic Fibrosis and Microbial Biology. He is also a patent holder and author of 87 papers and the winner of several top science awards, including a Zellers Senior Scientist Award from the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

WATERLOO, Ont. -- The University of Waterloo is among the top five teams in North America's prestigious William Lowell Putnam Mathematics Competition, which draws students from 550 post-secondary institutions.

Waterloo students competed against 3,545 students in the United States and Canada. Since 1985, Waterloo has been consistently in the top 10 of the Putnam for all but two years.

"This is a wonderful achievement by our Putnam team," said Tom Coleman, dean of the Faculty of Mathematics. "It supports my belief that our math students rank with the very best in the world."

The Waterloo team members were Olena Bormashenko, of Toronto (fourth-year, applied math/pure math), Ralph Furmaniak, of London, Ont. (fourth-year, computer science) and Xiannan Li, of Ottawa (fourth-year, applied math/pure math).

Furmaniak was among the top 25 students, while Bormashenko and Elyot Grant (computer science) received honorable mentions for being in the top 75.

Stephen New, a professor of pure mathematics, coached the UW students along with colleague Ian VanderBurgh.

This year, the top four teams were Harvard, Princeton, Duke and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The 66th annual Putnam Mathematical Competition was held on campuses through North America last Dec. 3. The test is administered by the Mathematical Association of America and results were made available this week. For details, visit link

A complicated multi-page listing of tuition fee changes for the coming year was presented to the University of Waterloo's (UW) board of governors for approval yesterday afternoon. If approved, UW will charge different fees to first-year and upper-year students in some programs (including engineering, architecture and computer science) for the first time, starting this fall.

Board meeting

Agenda items include UW's 2006-07 operating budget, the plans for the $70 million Quantum-Nano building, and reports on government funding and national issues that affect the university. The agenda is available online.

The Daily Bulletin, a UW publication, provided a highly unofficial summary of the proposed changes.

The good news goes to students in nanotechnology engineering, who already pay some of UW's highest fees -- $5,014 per term plus the co-op fee -- and will see no increase in 2006-07. For other Canadian students, fees will be 4 per cent higher in the spring term than they were in fall 2005 and winter 2006.

Those rates carry through to fall 2006 and winter 2007 for continuing students, with the exception of second-year students in accounting and financial management and three other financial programs (computing and FM, mathematics chartered accountancy, and biotechnology with CA), whose fee will be 8 per cent higher than 2005-06 levels starting in September.

New students arriving next fall or winter will pay fees that are higher than the 2005-06 rates by 5 per cent (graduate programs), 8 per cent (architecture, business-and-math, computational math, CS, engineering, optometry and software engineering), or 4.5 per cent (all other programs).

Things are a bit simpler for international students, as their fees will change no more than once this year, at the beginning of the spring term. Rates will go up by 4.58 per cent for graduate students, 3 per cent for mathematics undergrads, and 5 per cent for undergrads in other programs -- except those in architecture, engineering and software engineering, who face no fee increase for 2006-07.

With the increases, regular undergraduates in arts, ES, math, science and AHS will pay a tuition fee $2,181 this spring and the same if they're continuing next fall or winter. New first-year students in those programs next fall will pay $2,192. Engineering undergraduates -- we're talking Canadian students here -- will pay $3,630 if they're continuing at UW, $3,769 if they're new. And upper-year AFM students will be paying $5,214 a term.

International students in co-op math will pay $8,641 a term.

There are separate fee changes for the "full cost recovery" programs that UW operates: master's programs in taxation, management of technology, and business, entrepreneurship and technology, as well as certain diplomas. The fee in the BET program: $8,000 for the spring term, $8,667 for the fall term.

The co-op fee, which is paid in addition to tuition fees by students in co-op programs, will go up to $510 (including the special $25 fee for construction of the Tatham Centre) from the present $466.

There are also some changes to the incidental fees that students pay, including the introduction of a $12-a-term fee for the new Arts Student Endowment, starting in September. Arts students voted in February to create that fund and impose the fee. The Environmental Studies Society is raising its fee from $5 to $10 starting with the spring term.

Students who are registering for the spring term have about three weeks to pay their fees -- the deadline (for payments by bank transfer) will be April 27. The finance office says that, assuming the board of governors approves the new fee levels today, fee statements should start appearing on Quest soon.

The higher educational goals set by visible minority immigrant youth appear to be related to the educational values promoted within their families, according to a study originating from the Research Data Centres program and published recently in the Journal of International Migration and Integration.

Data from the Youth in Transition Survey were used to examine differences in the goals for postsecondary education among 15-year-old students.

The study found that 79% of visible-minority immigrant youth aspired to obtain at least one university degree in their future, compared with 57% of Canadian-born non-visible minority students.

It found that the parents of visible-minority immigrant students generally have higher levels of education than their Canadian-born counterparts, and also express more positive hopes for the educational attainment of their children.

About 88% of visible-minority immigrant parents stated that they hoped their children would acquire a university education, while 59% of Canadian-born non-visible minority parents expressed the same goal for their children.

Visible-minority immigrant students also tend to report higher grades and have higher levels of school engagement than Canadian-born students.

Differences in the future educational goals of visible-minority immigrant and Canadian-born students were also found based on gender, region, community size and socio-economic status. However, language first spoken and family structure were not found to be related to differences in the students' educational aspirations.

Note: Data for this study came from the Youth in Transition Survey. The analysis was conducted at the University of Alberta Research Data Centre in Edmonton. The Research Data Centre program is part of an initiative by Statistics Canada, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and university consortia to strengthen Canada's social research capacity. There are 16 centres currently operating at various universities.

PowerPoint is the most commonly used software, with over 80 percent of faculty using it “most or every class.”

With respect to faculty's level of satisfaction with multimedia equipment in the classroom, the survey indicated:

79 percent are happy or very happy with the ease of use of equipment

86 percent are happy or very happy with the sophistication of equipment

70 percent of faculty use DVDs in at least some of their classes

39 percent of faculty use specialized software in their teaching (e.g. pedagogical software for concept maps, language learning, quizzing, GIS, SPSS)

43 percent of faculty use WebCT or a course website to supplement classroom teaching

While most of the responses were positive, there were some areas identified as needing improvement.

61 percent of faculty using multimedia equipment felt the layout of the room could have been better

55 percent of faculty using multimedia equipment felt that there could be improvement with the lighting arrangements

“With respect to the physical layouts of the rooms, MTR attempts to use the space to make it effective and comfortable for teaching,” says Sandy Hughes, Director of Teaching Support Services and Chair of TLT. “They can look at things like the locations of the consoles and whiteboards to make the rooms conducive to a good teaching environment. Additional feedback from faculty would be require to determine what other improvements are possible.”

John Durst, Manager of Media Technology Resources (MTR) has been providing input concerning the renovations in the Dr. Alvin Woods Building.

“When we redesign a room we take these issues into consideration,” he says, “like having sectional lighting and dimmers.”

Technology is playing an ever-increasing role in teaching and learning. At Laurier, Media Technology Resources makes every effort to support faculty in their use of technology in the classroom and to provide new and updated equipment.

Some of the recent activities of MTR include:

Through the yearly upgrading of classroom equipment, MTR is attempting to have greater standardization of equipment between classrooms

VGA and audio cables are being installed in classrooms to make use of laptops in classrooms easier

MTR is scheduling more instructional workshops through the Office of Educational Development to support faculty in using equipment

MTR is attempting to simplify the classroom media consoles with each upgrade.

Assistance from faculty in identifying what features are important on the consoles will assist MTR in meeting faculty needs

All larger classrooms have been equipped with a wired microphone and an optional wireless microphone

Due to low usage, MTR is phasing out slide projectors and encouraging faculty to have their slides transferred to digital format

“We see value in digitizing slides,” says Durst. “It’s a great benefit to the students.”

For students, there’s an interactive element to multimedia in the classrooms. Slides and videos are visually stimulating and information can easily be transferred via WebCT or other course websites.

MTR is also working on networking the projectors so they can monitor their status.

“When a projector is networked, we can see things like if it is on or off, or if the bulb is wearing out and we need to change it,” says Durst. “Because of this, we’ve had fewer crisis situations this year.”

“The use of technology is a constantly changing norm,” says Hughes, “and we’re always looking forward. If any faculty member has a new technology they’re interested in using that could be implemented into the classroom for everyone to use, we encourage them to bring it to the attention of TLT.”

A University of Guelph environmental microbiologist has been named as a Fellow of the World Innovation Foundation (WIF), a prestigious international thinktank whose members include numerous Nobel laureates from around the world.

Jack Trevors’ election to the organization adds to his extensive involvement with numerous scientific and cultural groups in Canada and internationally. As one of more than 1,000 WIF members and fellows, he will consult on technological and scientific development projects intended to help governments and their nations’ people.

An award-winning researcher, Trevors is an expert in the use of microbes to clean up environmental contamination. His research interests include infectious pathogens in the environment, space microbiology and the origin of genetic information.

He also works with U of G’s Controlled Environment Systems Research Facility, which studies plants and micro-organisms grown in low-pressure and microgravity conditions for potential use in long-distance space missions. In addition, he developed a specific bacterium used at the Johnson Space Centre.

Prof. Mike Dixon, chair of the Department of Environmental Biology, says his colleague’s latest accomplishment is “a testament to the quality of the science that he represents.”

Trevors is a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, the Linnean Society (United Kingdom) and the World Academy of Art and Science. The author of more than 240 journal articles, he is the editor-in-chief of numerous journals on pollution, microbiology, evolution and the environment. He is also one of about 200 scientists from 40 countries involved with the Gene Emergence Project, which investigates how the genetic code arose.

The World Innovation Foundation is based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1992, it is the world’s only independent think tank intended to provide scientific, technological, engineering and applied economics advice to governments. It has no financial ties to any government or corporation.

WIF’s members include many Nobel laureates from around the world, including James Watson, co-discoverer of the structure of DNA; Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency; and South African Bishop Desmond Tutu.

A person’s home says many things about its owner, and research by a University of Guelph art history professor is examining what the home interiors among Britain's 19th-century queer community reveals about fostering intimacy and how that was expressed artistically.

“If people approach art with an eye for its social and political messages, there is much to be revealed about society and about ourselves,” said Prof. John Potvin. “The way we view ourselves and those around us, along with the objects and images that we use to define ourselves, are heavily influenced by popular culture, which throughout history has been depicted through art.”

Potvin is studying a number of homes including one shared by 19th-century painter Charles Shannon and his partner, a well-known lithographer named Charles Ricketts, to learn how queerness was expressed through what was collected by partners and how those choices created a sense of community and comfort.

Shannon and Ricketts, who met in their teens and lived together as a couple for more than 50 years, worked and socialized with an inner circle of artists, including Oscar Wilde, who once commented that their home, known as “The Vale,” was “the one house in London where you could never be bored.”

“I'm exploring how these queer artists allowed for artistic communities and queer communities overall through the objects, paintings and spaces they possessed,” said Potvin. “Shannon and Ricketts were hard-core collectors and connoisseurs of Greek and Roman objects and paintings. The public areas of their home were luxurious and elaborate.”

This work is part of a book Potvin is writing called Bachelors of a Different Sort. His first book, Looking Beyond Male Bonding: The New Chivalry and the Boundaries of Same-Sex Intimacy in Turn-of-the-Century Britain, slated for release next year, investigates the representation, culture and spaces of same-sex intimacy.

“We are standing on the edge of a radically new future in regards to the recognition and legalization of same-sex unions, and this underscores that the nature of living arrangements, domesticity and intimacy is as varied as the homes we live in.”

WATERLOO, Ont. (March 30, 2006) -- An official opening ceremony will be held Monday for the University of Waterloo School of Optometry's Victoria School Clinic/Research Centre in downtown Kitchener.

The new satellite optometry facility will enable the UW School of Optometry to increase its scope and spark collaboration with other health care professionals in medicine and pharmacy as part of the University of Waterloo Downtown Kitchener Health Sciences Campus.

"The optometry teaching clinics are key in providing our students with an opportunity to practice their professional skills with real patients in a clinical setting," said Clinic Director Dr. Debbie Jones. "Opening a clinic in the downtown core is an exciting venture providing the UW Optometry Clinic with a presence in Kitchener and the opportunity to share a facility with a dynamic family health team."

The clinical space will be shared with the Centre for Contact Lens Research (CCLR), a facility within the optometry school that has forged an international reputation for investigating the ocular response to contact lenses and other forms of vision correction. The centre draws on the community for its research -- an opportunity that allows participants to try the latest contact lenses.

The satellite optometry facility is accepting patients for eye examinations and the CCLR is inviting enquires from people wishing to participate in contact lens research studies. For further information, call (519) 888-4455.

"We anticipate that the downtown location of this clinic will make participation in CCLR research more accessible to a wider cross-section of the community," said Dr. Desmond Fonn, Director of the CCLR.

Dr. Dan Hayhoe, an alumnus (1974) of the UW School of Optometry, has played an important role in the initiation of the teaching and research clinic. Through his involvement, a mutually beneficial relationship has been developed with Dr. Joe Lee and the physicians of the Centre for Family Medicine, also part of the Downtown Kitchener Health Sciences Campus and temporarily housed in the Victoria School Centre.

"We would like to extend our sincerest thanks to Dr. Hayhoe, Dr. Lee and everyone who worked together on this initiative to make our vision a reality," Jones said.

She added that the downtown clinic will allow the optometry school to expand practical teaching space to accommodate a growing student population. "The clinic will provide our students with an opportunity to benefit from a community setting. We believe strongly that this will enhance their learning experience."

Dr. Trefford Simpson, Interim Director of the School of Optometry, said that as Canada's only English-speaking optometry school, there is a responsibility to provide students with the necessary clinical training.

"With the increase in enrolment by 50 per cent over the next few years, it is essential that we have the mechanisms in place to provide our future optometrists with relevant clinical experience -- here there is the added advantage of working directly with family medicine," Simpson said.

The innovative UW Downtown Kitchener Health Sciences Campus project builds on Kitchener's $30-million commitment and gift of land to the University of Waterloo. The new campus will also house the School of Pharmacy and a satellite of McMaster University's Michael DeGroote School of Medicine, attracting a wide range of health professionals to Waterloo Region.

Also attending the opening ceremony will be Carla Clarkson-Ladd, Chief Administrator for the City of Kitchener, and Emily Durst, representing the office of Kitchener Centre MPP John Milloy. Other participants include UW senior administration, along with alumni, faculty and staff from the School of Optometry.

WATERLOO, Ont. (March 30, 2006) - The University of Waterloo will hold the first annual "Waterloo Science Horizons" next Tuesday for top high school students competing in a regional science fair.

The 56 students, who are participating in the Waterloo-Wellington Science and Engineering Fair, will visit the UW's Faculty of Science in the afternoon for an immersion science program as well as tours of laboratories. From hydroponics to astronomy and dinosaurs, the students will be introduced to diverse areas of investigation on campus.

They will look through microscopes, for example, with Jonathan Witt, professor of biology, to identify living organisms in a local river sample. Chemistry professor Bruce Reed will also have them peering through microscopes, but this time it will be green fluorescent flies that will be the focus of their attention.

As engaged and inquiring minds, the students will have the opportunity to learn more about genetically modified plants as they tour the greenhouse.

Then, they will be introduced to the aquatic facility at Waterloo and see how researchers, such as biologist Brian Dixon, use it to study fish immunity. Michel Fich's Astronomy Laboratory will surely prompt questions about the Milky Way Galaxy.

And the Earth Sciences Museum will lead them to discoveries about the techniques employed to carbon date dinosaur bones. After the whirlwind tour of labs, students will be enthralled by a whiz-bang physics demonstration by Richard Epp.

"These students have an interest in experimental science and are the type that we wish to attract to Waterloo," said David Spafford, a professor of biology at UW.

The Horizons event is supported by the Faculty of Science, Canadian Water Network, Waterloo-Wellington Science and Engineering Fair and its sponsor - TD-Canada Trust Friends of the Environment Foundation - and Rae Crossman of Waterloo Unlimited, a campus group that seeks to instill a love of learning in high school students.

In partnership with Conestoga College Job Connect, WRDSB, WCDSB, Cambridge Career Connections, Lutherwood, Junior Achievement and WWTAB.

About The Business and Education Partnership of Waterloo Region The Business and Education Partnership was incorporated as a not-for-profit charitable organization in September 2002 that leads the way in career exploration for youth in the region by brokering links among students, employers and educators as they pursue their shared responsibility to promote personal and community prosperity. www.bus-edpartnership.org

Guelph - Seven University of Guelph researchers working on leading-edge projects ranging from a comparative epilepsy program to the study of body composition and energy metabolism, received a total of nearly $800,000 in support today from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and its new Leaders Opportunities Fund (LOF) program.

The announcement was made this morning in Montreal by Eliot Phillipson, CFI president and CEO, and Maxime Bernier, minister of industry. Guelph was among 35 universities that received a total of $23.6 million to support new research.

"These awards demonstrate not only the breadth of research and scholarship at the University of Guelph, they also show the high quality of the applicants who are helping to shape the university's future impacts on society,” said Alan Wildeman, vice-president (research). “We are again grateful to the CFI for its support."

Among the award recipients is clinical studies professor Roberto Poma, who received $80,836 to develop a program that will compare canine epilepsy with human epilepsy. “The disease is very similar in both species,” said Poma. “This research will foster innovative collaboration between veterinary and human health-care institutions focusing on similarities of the disease and target important aspects of the disorder including physiology, diagnosis and treatment.”

Prof. Andrea Buchholz of the Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition received $159,594 to establish a human body composition and energy metabolism lab, which will be the only facility in Ontario capable of measuring fat mass and fat-free mass and energy expenditure in a "one-stop shopping" fashion.

“The lab will also have the capability of doing diet analysis and taking, processing and storing biological samples for analysis of metabolic risk factors,” said Buchholz. “This facility will allow me to evaluate the effects of exercise, diet and supplement interventions designed to modify body fat, muscle mass and bone mineral mass. This in turn can help reduce the risk of chronic disease and improve human health and performance.”

U of G’s other LOF recipients are:

– Carol Armstrong, Department of Biomedical Sciences, $124,907 to study the development of pattern formation in the cerebellum, the part of the brain responsible for motor co-ordination.

– John Armstrong, Department of Biomedical Sciences, $124,773 to study presynaptic mechanisms that control how neurotransmitters in the brain are released.

– Stefano Gregori, School of Engineering, $135,004 for a laboratory to develop new analog integrated circuits and microsystems.

– Helen Hambly, School of Environmental Design and Rural Development, $44,013 for multimedia information and communication research for rural development.

– Jaideep Mathur, Department of Plant Agriculture, $124,385 for a laser scanning microscope for live imaging of subcellular responses to environmental stimuli.

“I am glad that U of G will once again benefit from strategic CFI funding, “ said Brenda Chamberlain, MP for Guelph-Wellington. “I congratulate you on receiving this support.”

The LOF builds on the New Opportunities Fund, the Canada Research Chairs Infrastructure Fund and the Career Awards Fund, and was created to reflect Canada’s fast-evolving research environment and to give Canadian universities the added flexibility they need to attract and retain the very best of today’s and tomorrow’s researchers at a time of intense international competition for leading faculty.

Waterloo Region - More than 300 secondary students from the Waterloo Catholic District School Board and the Waterloo Region District School Board will be challenging their peers to see who will represent their respective Boards at the 2006 Ontario Technological Skills Competitions to be held at Rim Park in Waterloo on May 2, 2006. The Waterloo Region Technological Skills Competitions will be held at various locations from Monday, March 27th to Friday, March 31st. Attached is a list of the times and locations of the event competitions.

On Tuesday, March 28, 2006, the Waterloo Regional Skills Robotics competition will be held at Fairview Park Mall, Centre Court, from 4:00 p.m. until approximately 8:00 p.m. Teams of students from the Upper Grand, Waterloo Region and Waterloo Catholic District School Boards will be competing for a gold medal. The students have independently designed robots that will play a modified game of basketball where the robots ‘deliver’ footballs into the net of a target structure.

Over the past few years, this regional competition has grown to become one of the largest Regional Skills Competitions in Canada; many of the champions from this competition have gone on to win gold at the Ontario and Canadian competitions.

Pilot Project Teams Up St. John Ambulance Reading Education Assistance Dogs With St. Paul Catholic Elementary School Students

Kitchener – St. Paul Catholic Elementary School in Kitchener has entered into an innovative pilot project partnership with the St. John Ambulance Reading Education Assistance Dog (R.E.A.D.) Program.

In the pilot project, reluctant young readers build confidence and self-esteem by reading to attentive canines, rather than adults or peers. As one child remarked: “Dogs don’t mind if you make mistakes…and they don’t interrupt!”

The presence of a therapy dog helps reduce the anxiety of the child and helps ease the pressure on them to perform.

WHERE:
St. Paul Catholic Elementary School
45 Birchcliffe Ave., Kitchener (743-4401)

WHEN:
10:30 a.m. sharp -- Tuesday, March 28, 2006

WHO:
Grade 2 students from St. Paul’s and Therapy Dogs from St. John Ambulance

WATERLOO - The University of Waterloo welcomes the budget's tremendous announcement by the Ontario government of substantial investments in research and innovation in two Waterloo-based institutes.

At Queen's Park this afternoon, in the budget announcement, Finance Minister Dwight Duncan pledged $100 million in new support: $50 million for the Institute for Quantum Computing at UW; and $50 million for the neighboring Perimeter Institute Institute for Theoretical Physics.

UW President David Johnston voiced praise for the far-reaching announcement.

"The announcement of the $100-million commitment supporting Perimeter Institute, and the Institute for Quantum Computing at the University of Waterloo, is a splendid, outstanding piece of province-building," said President Johnston. "In today's knowledge economy it is critical that we invest in fundamental research, and in the people who will take us to new frontiers of discovery. Premier McGuinty, as Minister of Research and Innovation, has shown superb leadership with this budget -- clearly understanding the importance of investment in research and innovation to Ontario's future."

Raymond Laflamme, Director of IQC, joined in commending the Ontario government initiative.

"This is tremendous news for our research program in the IQC. We are simply overwhelmed with this indication of faith in our research program into the fundamentals and laws of quantum physics," said Dr. Laflamme. "We have already been building a great team of international scholars. This funding will help us to ensure that our work will continue at a global level of excellence."

Support for the two institutes came as the province also announced substantial investment in other research and innovation projects: $17 million for 3 new awards to recognize new research and innovation talent; $25 million to establish the Premier Summit Awards to support excellence in medical research; $16.2 million for development of Phase II of MaRS Discovery Project; and $160 million for accelerating commercialization and growth of innovative startups.

The University of Waterloo Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) at UW, and the independent Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics (PI), also in Waterloo, represent an emerging, highly focused cluster of international scientific research with transformative potential. Quantum theory has clearly demonstrated that quantum information processing - computing at the atomic and sub-atomic levels - will revolutionize cryptography. This holds profound implications for the security of IT systems including national defense, financial markets and healthcare systems. The scientific pursuit of the quantum computer will produce vital technological spin-offs. Early research findings indicate that quantum-based systems have the potential to produce powerful new technologies that will inevitably eclipse today's information processing devices. Waterloo Region is established as a magnet for top international talent in advanced physics research. This unique public-private partnership in this key strategic area ensures that Canada will lead the world in quantum technologies far into the future.

UW is getting ready to comply with Ontario law on freedom of information, which will apply to the province's universities starting later this spring, says a memo from the provost.

The memo notes that the Freedom of Information and Privacy Protection Act "was enacted in Ontario in the late 1980s and most private and public institutions were mandated to comply with it. Universities at that time made representation to the provincial government that, for a variety of reasons, they were different from other organizations and warranted exclusion. The provincial government was persuaded on the condition that universities put in place practices that were in the spirit of the legislation."

Lawyers for the Council of Ontario Universities prepared a "FIPPA template" which universities, including UW, put into effect. Waterloo's Privacy Protection and Freedom of Information Guidelines are part of the university's Policy 19. The university is also covered by the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act.

However, provost Amit Chakma goes on, "A couple of years ago, following a freedom of information request made to universities, the response to which was deemed less than satisfactory, the provincial government renewed its interest in having universities under FIPPA legislation. Universities again, through COU, argued for a sector exclusion, but this time were unsuccessful and so, effective June 12, 2006, universities will come under FIPPA legislation.

"In the circumstance, COU has again done what it did in the 1990s: engage a couple of wise heads, with recognized expertise and experience in FIPPA compliance within the university sector, to work with a small task force to produce both documentation and an implementation plan which universities can use. . . . While there will be more prescriptive directions on how universities must deal with freedom of information and privacy protection matters, the principles on which all is based remain similar to those articulated in UW's Policy 19.

"In anticipation of preparing UW for FIPPA compliance, I have asked Lois Claxton (right) to chair a committee to address implementation. Bruce Mitchell, Jack Rehder, Catharine Scott, Susan Sykes, and Roger Watt have also agreed to serve. Terms of Reference for this small committee are straightforward: in concert with COU's work/recommendations on implementation of FIPPA, to recommend on documentation, implementation, training and resources which UW will require to ensure compliance with FIPPA and, to the extent possible, to harmonize them with PIPEDA requirements. The Committee will consult across campus, as necessary."

Claxton, the chair of the committee, is secretary of the university. Mitchell and Scott are associate provosts; Rehder is assistant to the dean of mathematics; Watt is in information systems and technology; and Sykes is director of research ethics and grants, and the key person in current freedom-of-information procedures.

A delegation headed by the presidents of UW and McMaster University appeared at last night's [Wednesday] meeting of Waterloo Regional Council to ask for a multi-million-dollar grant to help build a medical school on the planned downtown Kitchener health sciences campus.

Council agreed with a recommendation from Ken Seiling, the regional chair, to set up a special committee "to review the request and make a recommendation" following a public meeting to get input on whether the Region should spend money in that way. It's the same procedure followed when the Region was asked for -- and eventually approved -- $37 million in capital grants for local hospitals.

The Regional Municipality is the mid-level government that covers the cities of Waterloo, Kitchener and Cambridge as well as the four surrounding townships.

"A unique opportunity exists to build a satellite Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine" on the UW branch campus, university president David Johnston said in a letter to Seiling that was distributed with last night's agenda. The DeGroote School is McMaster University's medical faculty.

Said Johnston: "The benefits to the community are substantial, particularly with respect to improved access to health care services. . . . We realize a request of this importance will need careful consideration by councillors and the community alike. . . . As students are to be enrolled in September 2007 an expeditious process leading to a decision prior to the end of April 2006 would be appreciated."

Johnston's letter didn't say how much money he'd like the Region to provide, but last night he and Peter George of Mac suggested $19 million. They said the total up-front cost of the medical school will be $34 million.

"I expect that the public will be behind it all the way," said one council member, the mayor of Wilmot Township west of Kitchener. Others were sceptical about the cost, as they discussed the request and agreed to schedule a public meeting for discussion.

Last night's meeting also dealt with regional property tax rates for 2006, bicycle lanes on University Avenue, and controversial restrictions on pesticide use.

The University’s Integrated Plan, which identifies priorities and decision frameworks aimed at helping the University meet its mission now and in the future, has been released.

A special website has been created that includes the overall University Integrated Plan, along with the plans put forward by the colleges and other campus academic units. Because the document is for internal use only, members of the U of G community will need to enter their central login account username and password to access the web page.

“This is the first step toward creating our initial five-year plan, which will begin in 2006/07,” says Maureen Mancuso, provost and vice-president (academic), who is overseeing Integrated Planning.

The plan is making its way through the University’s governance process, which will allow feedback to be obtained from faculty, staff and students. The plan will be presented to the Senate Committee on University Planning Monday, March 27, and to Senate Tuesday, April 4. Comments on the Integrated Plan may be sent to provost@uoguelph.ca.

Mancuso emphasizes that the Integrated Plan is an internal operational document and does not replace the University’s strategic plan, strategic directions or research plans. The initial plan is inherently transitional and covers only academic units. At its core is an identification of five areas of planning emphasis that will be highlighted over the next five years. Eventually, the process will encompass all components of the University.

“We will be focusing on these key areas in order to promote and advance the capabilities, capacities and reputation of the University,” Mancuso says, adding that the five areas emerged from the plans developed by the colleges, departments and units.

The overall plan that resulted from the campus-wide exercise reveals a continued depth of creativity and ingenuity at U of G, she adds. “The initiatives are innovative and novel and build on existing institutional strengths, and many of them are interdisciplinary and collaborative. We hope that Integrated Planning will ultimately provide the University with a more transparent, accountable and effective planning process as we move forward from an era of making change to one of making choices.”

WATERLOO - In celebrating National Co-operative Education Week, the University of Waterloo's Co-operative Education & Career Services announced that two of the UW's co-op students have been awarded prestigious national and provincial awards.

As well, the department presented six UW Co-op Student of the Year Awards to top representatives from each of the faculties: Applied Health Sciences, Arts, Engineering, Environmental Studies, Mathematics and Science.

Jit Seng Chen, a mathematics student, has received the 2005 Canadian Association for Co-operative Education (CAFCE) Co-op Student of the Year Award, while Kayan (Kayley) Ma, an engineering student, was given the 2005 Education at Work in Ontario (EWO) Co-op Student of the Year Award.

Both awards are based on the students' contributions to one or more of their 2005 work term employers, academic achievements, contributions to co-operative education and commitment to the community as demonstrated through volunteer and extracurricular activities.

* Jit Seng Chen, 3A actuarial science. By his own initiative, Chen, developed a system for analyzing insurance loss development data that his co-op employer used on a regular basis. The automation of this process saves the employer approximately 200 hours per period of data and therefore a substantial amount of money. Chen was also part of a crucial project involving an important international client and with his help it was successful.

* Kayan (Kayley) Ma, 4B systems design engineering. During her last work term, Ma elaborated on previous work researching manufacturing technologies to foster economic growth. She took the advancements in tracking human motions developed by the animation and movie industries, then applied them to the manufacturing industry. Ma achieved a major breakthrough that enabled the system to perform high quality real-time motion capture, thus earning her sixth and final "Outstanding" work term performance evaluation.

Also, as part of National Co-operative Education Week, one student from each of Waterloo's faculties was selected to receive UW Co-op Student of the Year Awards.

Apart from winning the national and provincial level awards, Chen and Ma also won the Co-op Student of the Year Award for Mathematics and Engineering, respectively. Other faculty recipients for the year are:

* Arts

Shaneika Bailey, 3B social development studies. Bailey spent her last work term with a charitable agency in Guyana where she was instrumental in acquiring funding for building renovations, as well as toy and clothing donations for children. The quest to aid orphans gave her the opportunity to form important relationships with government officials in the Ministry of Labour, Social Security and Human Services, as well as in the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation. Shaneika also assisted in a peer education program about HIV/AIDS awareness.

* Applied Health Sciences

Nicole Bradley, 4B health studies. In 2005, Bradley spent her two work terms continuing previous research for clinical trials on the effectiveness of palliative radiotherapy and quality of life for patients in the advanced stages of cancer. All aspects of research were experienced by Bradley including study design and proposal, ethics approval applications and publications of results. She has co-authored three published papers and has many more in the works.

* Environmental Studies

Heather O'Hagan, 4B environment and business. O'Hagan's initial responsibility during her previous work term involved applying and obtaining approval for a constructed wetland. However, she was also entrusted with managing shoreline surveillance crews after a malfunction with her employer's equipment caused 17,000 gallons of oil to escape into Lake Huron. Once the clean-up started, O'Hagan reported her findings to regulators, stakeholders and investigators.

* Science

Tasneem Nakhooda, 3B Science and Business. Nakhooda's last work term involved interfacing directly with leading clients from financial, wealth management and telecommunication companies in order to build customized financial statement solutions. Her technical expertise, along with her ability to multi-task and meet tight deadlines allowed Nakhooda to secure a major contract with a key client. She is also active on campus as an executive member of UW's SCRUBS (Science Committee of Revolutionary Undergraduate Business Students).

National Co-operative Education Week is coordinated by CAFCE, a national non-profit organization comprising more than 400 educators, employers and government officials. The organization is dedicated to ensuring the growth and quality of co-operative education programs across the country.

More information and selection criteria of the Co-op Student of the Year Award, visit www.cecs.uwaterloo.ca/students/news/awards.html

March 17 was Laurier Day, and hundreds of prospective students came from all over to take part in the open house and experience Wilfrid Laurier firsthand, some of the current students wanted to share their own experiences from their time here.

“The academic quality goes hand in hand with the small class sizes, where professors really get a chance to focus on the topics that interest the students,” says Sylvia Chan, a second-year Communications and English student.

Duany Diaz, another second-year student majoring in English and Medieval Studies, remembers some of the amazing and memorable professors she had in first year. “The profs make the class interesting – I actually look forward to their lectures. But the best thing about Laurier is how small the campus is. I like the idea of a smaller, close-knit community. There’s a better chance to get to know more people, and it’s nice when professors actually recognize you.”

Ian Martin, a first-year History major, is pleased with his decision to attend Laurier.

“I originally decided to attend Laurier because of its excellent reputation and, like everyone knows,” he says, “it has a great, small-campus vibe. The professors are very approachable and the classes are a good size range.

“But when I got here,” he adds, “there’s so much more to do beside academics.”

“The athletic complex is great, especially with the addition of the new gym which is easily accessible almost any time of day if you want to get in a little extra activity in between classes,” he says.

A second-year Kinesiology student, Heather Lyons, knows all about the great athletic activities Laurier has to offer.

“There’s lots of new cardio and weight-training equipment in the fitness room that’s accessible for everyone,” she says, “and the intramural sports teams range from dodgeball to waterpolo, there’s swimming, aerobics classes and everything in between – there’s an activity for everyone, it’s easy to join in actively at Laurier.”

Laurier offers many other ways to get involved in extracurricular activities that aren’t just athletic. Lenna Titizian, who is a third-year Communications Studies student and the Editor-in-Chief for Blueprint, Laurier’s magazine, says it was the ability to get involved that has made her years at Laurier great. During her first tour around campus, Lenna was shown the Student Publications’ (WLUSP) office. She wrote for Blueprint in first year and applied to be the Editor-in-Chief in second year.

“That experience has taught me so much,” she says. “My involvement has helped me develop professional skills through workshops and conferences, has taught me management skills and has allowed me to discover my strengths and weaknesses.

“When I went to Laurier Day with some of my high school friends, I felt totally comfortable walking around on campus, and as someone who was very involved in high school, Laurier had many clubs and organizations to offer. But in the end, what made my decision was the program. I felt it had the right amount of flexibility and variety, and adding to that the overall atmosphere at the school, the closeness, and the opportunities I saw to get involved overshadowed the other schools.”

Martin also notes how it has been really easy to get involved with campus clubs and volunteer opportunities.

“Radio Laurier and campus clubs like those go through a really easy-to-follow evaluation process and use the behaviour-based hiring S.T.A.R.R. (Situation, Task, Action, Result, Relate) technique, which helped me develop interview skills that will prove to be valuable in the years to come,” says Martin.

Also at Laurier there are lots of campus activities and events, like concerts and charity events, there’s something for everyone. There are also lots of volunteering opportunities such as ERT and Foot Patrol, a student-run organization that takes calls from students who would like escorted walks (or even rides) home at night.

Volunteering is a great way to get involved because you’re also contributing to a good cause. It’s great to be part of keeping our campus and students safe.

“Walking around campus late at night is never an issue,” says Diaz, “with Foot Patrol and Security always cruising around in their cars.”

With Laurier being such a great, close community, it’s easy to feel safe and right at home on campus. As a first-year Business student living in Residence, Christina Rooney has loved the experience.

“It has been wonderful living on campus. It only takes about five minutes to walk from one end of the campus to the other. I have more time to do other things like hang out with friends longer, grab something from Tim Horton’s, or actually hand in an assignment on time!”

Edmund Adderley is an international student who came to Canada to go to university. Like many, he decided to come to Laurier because of its size.

“It’s easy to stay in contact with everyone because, chances are, you’ll run into them on campus,” he says. He also explains how, as an international student, he is limited to working jobs on campus.

“Career Services is great to me,” says Adderly, “All the student jobs are figured out around your own schedule, so you never have to worry about conflicts.”

Off-campus life is great too.

“I chose to attend Laurier because of the community the University resides in,” says Chan, “With two universities and a college in the town of Waterloo – this is literally a university town where everything caters to the students – what more can one ask for?”

Waterloo is a city that can gratify any type of person. Laurier sits in the heart of downtown Waterloo, where there’s unique clothing stores, diverse restaurants and excellent bars. There are also art galleries, playhouses, and the Princess Twin Cinemas, which show independent and foreign films.

Waterloo Park and Columbia Lake are only a short jump away, and Waterloo is also home to the Laurelwood Conservation area, which offers great bike trails, camping, and swimming. Also close by there’s the Chicopee Ski Resort, for those who enjoy skiing or snowboarding in the winter.

The city of Waterloo itself is central to many of the exciting hotspots of Southern Ontario. Toronto is only an hour away, great beaches such as Grand Bend and Sauble, or the tourist attraction Niagara Falls are close enough for a day trip, and Stratford, home to the famous Stratford Festival, is also close by.

Recently, Waterloo was short-listed as one of the top seven intelligent communities in the world. And it's no wonder with RIM, the makers of the BlackBerry, the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, and two universities in town.

The two universities in town also work together. Students at Laurier can take courses at the University of Waterloo. Students at Waterloo often take courses at Laurier as well. It is clear though that Laurier is the school for those who like to stand out and get involved.

Laurier Day will feature walking tours, offer sessions on academics, admissions, financial aid and co-op, as well as allowing prospective students to tour the residences and speak to Laurier faculty, staff and students.

Tours of the brand new athletic facilities and talks with athletes and coaches will also be available all day, as well as the ability to experience Laurier’s music program with a free concert, and speak to international exchange students on opportunities to study abroad.

“You feel like someone here,” says Diaz. “It’s like you’re part of a big family. It’s a wonderful feeling. Laurier’s spirit is huge and infectious.”

For more information on Laurier or Laurier Day visit www.chooselaurier.ca.

WATERLOO - With participation rising by 25 per cent over last year, some of Ontario's top high school students will once again gather at the University of Waterloo next week for the Waterloo Regional FIRST Robotics Competition.

This year, the 33 FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics regional competitions involve almost 30,000 high school students around the world. The Waterloo regional will take place March 23-25 at UW's Physical Activities Complex (PAC). The event will be open to the public throughout the competition.

At UW, approximately 700 students will compete in 30 teams representing schools in Southwestern Ontario and the Greater Toronto Area as well as Michigan, Missouri and West Virginia.

The contest involves short games played by remote-controlled robots. The robots are designed and built within six weeks out of a common set of basic parts by a team of 15 to 25 students and a handful of engineer-mentors. The students pilot the robots on the field.

Next Thursday (March 23), teams will arrive at UW to uncrate their robots from 7:45 a.m. to 10 a.m. Pre-event photos and live video can be taken at this time. Practice rounds will take place Thursday and students can be interviewed in the pit area throughout the day. Media can sign in at the event registration table located in the blue north entrance foyer of the PAC and receive media packages.

"Through FIRST, kids realize that building a robot can be fun and cool," said Robert Gorbet, professor of electrical and computer engineering, who helped bring the regionals 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."

UW is one of two Canadian venues hosting a regional FIRST competition. The other Canadian regional takes place at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga, March 30-April 1.

The annual competition now reaches more than 28,000 students on 1,100 teams in 33 regional competitions. The final championship will be held in Atlanta on April 27-29. The teams come from Canada, Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico, Great Britain, Israel and almost every U.S. state.

The event is described as "an exciting, multinational competition that teams professionals and young people to solve an engineering design problem in an intense and competitive way."

The regional competitions are high-tech spectator sporting events, the result of focused brainstorming, real-world teamwork, dedicated mentoring, project timelines and deadlines. FIRST competitions are open to the public and free to attend.

Regional competitions are often held at universities and involve teams cheered by thousands of fans over two-and-a-half days. A championship event caps the season. Referees oversee the competition and judges present awards to teams for design, technology, sportsmanship and commitment.

The contest had its start in 1989 in New Hampshire. The championship now is held at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta and expects to attract some 13,000 participants and 340 teams.

Universities, colleges, corporations, businesses and individuals provide $8 million US in scholarships to the student participants. Many of the awards are full four-year tuition scholarships. UW is the only Canadian university with a scholarship: $5,000 Cdn for a FIRST student accepted to the mechatronics engineering program.

The competition shows students that technological fields hold many opportunities and the basic concepts of science, math, engineering and invention are exciting and interesting. Involved engineers experience again many of the reasons they chose engineering as a profession and their companies contribute to the community while creating their future workforces.

Mark Breadner, a teacher at Woburn Collegiate Institute in Toronto, helped prepare the first Canadian team for the 2001 championship at Disney World. He felt that Canada should have its own regional event, in addition to the 16 regionals south of the border.

In 2002, as a result of his efforts, there were 22 teams and the first Canadian regional was held at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga. Two years ago, Breadner approached Gorbet at UW to discuss the possibility of the university becoming a second Canadian regional location. The idea received strong support and FIRST organizers named Waterloo an expansion site.

For information on the competition, how to volunteer at or sponsor the event, visit www.firstrobotics.uwaterloo.ca and www.usfirst.org

This year, the Government of Ontario has renewed its Silver sponsorship of the competition with a three-year commitment of $25,000 a year for 2006-2008.

Official sponsors for the 2006 FIRST Robotics Waterloo Regional Competition include: Gold Sponsor -- Research In Motion Ltd., $50,000; Silver Sponsors -- Government of Ontario, $25,000; Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada (TMMC), $25,000; and UW, $25,000.

WATERLOO -- The University of Waterloo opened a new exciting chapter in its history today with the official groundbreaking for its School of Pharmacy and Downtown Kitchener Health Sciences Campus.

The event was held at the future site of the latest UW expansion project: the northwest corner of King Street West and Victoria Street in Kitchener's core. George Smitherman, Ontario's Minister of Health and Long-term Care, was among the officials attending the ceremony.

"Today marks the realization of an important dream for both the University of Waterloo and the City of Kitchener," said Kitchener Mayor Carl Zehr. "And this wouldn't be happening without a unique collaboration between two organizations with vision. We're very proud of this project, it's an absolutely remarkable investment in the future of our city."

"It is truly a historic day for our university and for Waterloo Region as we embark on this innovative development," said UW President David Johnston. "We are so fortunate to have a committed partner like the City of Kitchener, that believes in this project as passionately as we do. The School of Pharmacy will mean great things for Kitchener, for UW, and for the future of health care."

"After so many months of hard work, it is incredibly gratifying to see our new facility begin to take shape," said Jake Thiessen, Hallman Director of the School of Pharmacy.

"We have the privilege of starting from a blank slate, at a world-class University, and we have been embraced by this community in an unprecedented way. Our building will reflect our desire to be a fundamental part of the community, and to expand the horizons for Pharmacy in Canada."

The school will welcome 120 undergraduate students in September 2007. It will be the only co-op pharmacy program in Canada and will focus on developing breadth and diversity in the student experience. At full completion, the pharmacy school is expected to be home to 480 undergraduate students, 70 graduate students, 30 faculty members and 20 administrative staff.

The innovative project builds on Kitchener's $30-million commitment and gift of land to the University of Waterloo. The School of Pharmacy's dynamic teaching, research and commercial collaboration will bring new and vibrant dimensions to meet the health-care needs of area residents and advance health care in Ontario.

Anchored by the new School of Pharmacy, the UW Health Sciences Campus will ultimately include a satellite of McMaster University's Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, an optometry clinic and the Centre for Family Medicine, a residency program for students wishing to specialize in family medicine.

The Health Sciences Campus will attract a wide range of health professionals and address the need for expertise in health technology, health informatics, biosciences, population studies and biomedical engineering, while filling the urgent demand for more pharmacists and doctors in Ontario.

Excavation into the still-frosty ground just west of the central plant has begun in preparation for construction of the new Centre for Advanced Photovoltaic Devices and Systems.

Described by Siva Sivoththaman, an electrical and computer engineering professor, as "a comprehensive research and development centre," the facility will bring together researchers in materials, microelectronics and back-end electronics from both engineering and science. Their mission: "To make an impact in terms of affordable technology, as opposed to performance at any cost."

The advantages of photovoltaic technology -- which converts sunlight directly into electricity -- are that it's "clean, very green, renewable energy that doesn't burn any fuel, frees you from the power grid, decentralizes power generation, has no moving parts, almost no wear and tear, and requires minimal maintenance," Sivoththaman explains. "It's one of the best renewable energy technologies.

"One quite serious problem: it is expensive. Photovoltaic now costs three to five times more than standard electricity." Pushing the price up is the cost of base materials and fabrication. More than 90 per cent of PV technology now uses crystalline silicon. "We need lower-cost silicon-based and other materials. We need new processing technology compatible with the new low-cost materials. And we need to move away from the classical microelectronic culture for materials and processing technology." He's optimistic that research at Waterloo can uncover a way to bring the cost down to a level comparable to the grid -- making PV technology cheap enough to use in his own home. "So far, some labs have concentrated on materials, some on processing, some on systems. The new centre is certainly unique in Canada and North America in that it encompasses all aspects of photovoltaic research. It's the only way to go if we want to make an impact." He expects short-term research will focus on reducing costs, with longer-term studies aimed at developing new materials and technology, such as organic semiconductors, thin film materials and lower-cost silicon technologies.

The project has participants from UW (Sivoththaman, Roydon Fraser, Tong Leung, Arokia Nathan and Andrei Sazonov) as well as the University of Toronto, York, Western and Saskatchewan, plus Natural Resources Canada and other agencies. "Having a physical space with the right infrastructure will really make a difference, says Sivoththaman. "We need to have materials, fabrication, et cetera, all in one spot. We don't currently have such a facility."

The 15,000-square-foot building -- a little bigger than the University Club -- has a total budget of around $12 million. That includes $3.2 million in construction costs, with the rest going for research equipment. It's being financed by the Canadian Foundation for Innovation and the Ontario Innovation Trust, plus a strong in-kind donation from Spheral Solar Power (ATS-SSP) that will provide crystal growth facilities, thin film facilities, a full range of device fabrication facilities for solar cells, a full range of testing and measurement facilities, rooftop real-time testing, module design and fabrication, and a demonstration room.

Expected to be operational in 2007, the venture will have high energy requirements. "The building is technically-driven, but we are installing solar panels on the roof to supplement energy needs," Sivoththaman says. Waterloo was the obvious site for the centre, he adds, with its proximity to ATS-SSP, "the biggest fabrication facility in Canada. Industry feedback is very important."