Weblog Ryan Chen-Wing

Feds transition party at Bombshelter

I went to the Feds transition party this afternoon. For the time I was there HeatherF was the only other non-Feds employee present.

Tim showed John and me what some of the planned Bombshelter changes are.

Raveel did not attend.

Alexandra's Tora HaTeva - The Jewish Nature Centre of Canada

Alexandra was at camp this week and I asked her about her business. SHe runa a not-for-profit outdoor and environmental education organization that includes spiritual elements from Judaism.

The Jewish Nature Centre of Canada

Through fun and multi-sensory learning, The Jewish Nature Centre of Canada, Torat HaTeva provides vibrant and meaningful Jewish educational experiences that:

• promote ecological awareness
• build community ties
• encourage action towards global responsibility and stewardship (Tikkun Olam)
• provides models for spiritually and ecologically sustainable Jewish living.

UWIinc BSA!Camp (03) two photos

Here are two photos from camp yesterday there is a group photo above. Below is Nick demonstrating the actions for his groups winning slogan for their hydro box company: "Shake hands with power."

Four years since uws incorporation

Four years have passed to the day since uwstudent.org was incorporated.

I filed the papers in person at the companies branch on University Avenue in Toronto. This, pending approval, created the current entity and 'uwstudent.org Media Group' became 'The uwstudent.org Media Corporation.'

Much happened leading up to incorporation and we have achieved some great things since then. uws has changed the UW community and provided value for participants and other students.

To ensure sustainability and that uwstudent.org continues to create value, we must make some improvements. We need to stabilise resources including participants and finances.

New co-op system CECS Job Mine

Emma sent out a note about the new co-op system.

I’m hoping that everyone has heard about the new co-op system by now, whether while on campus or through their co-op coordinator this term. The new system is now online for anyone who’s interested in checking it out before the term actually starts. The old system, Access is down, and the new system is called “Jobmine”. It looks pretty much the same, and it’s pretty foolproof to use.

CECS Job Mine

Yesterday UWIinc. BSA! Camp 2004 (02)

Since I only paid for food for the two days, I am, by my own naming, a day camper at the UWIinc.BSA!Camp. I arrived at 08:07 yesterday and registered with Ana and Renee and sat-in on the workshops for the day. Alan Quarry came in before his workshop and I shook hands with him. He said he remembered me from last year; we sat at the same table for lunch during the Bill Tatham keynote last year.

• Alan Quarry CEO (Chief Enthusiasm Officer) from Quarry Integrated Communications spoke first about branding.
• Then Bob Fisher VP Business Development from Enerworks told the story of the solar water heater company, which is a spin-off from Queen'sU.
• Bill Reimer from the Canadian Innovation Centre discussed market research.
• Steve Currie from Handshake Interactive Technologies spoke.
• Eric Sundin and Scott Murphy from Data Perceptions spoke in the evening.

Before dinner we split into groups to discuss and internalize the three pearls or 'aha' moments from the day. It's a good thing to discuss and reinforce the ideas, concepts, and knowledge from the sessions. I sat with Nick and Jonathan in yellow group to discuss things because there was only two of them (it turns out that the other two in there group were discussing elsewhere).

Duct tape test for inventions

Yesterday Bill R ( I think) told us about the duct tape test for inventions.

If you have an invention, ask yourself 'Do people currently do this with duct tape?' Id est, is there a need?

And 'Do they care that it looks like crap?' Id est, is yours a superior substitute?

It is pretty funny and illustrates the idea of considering the market.

Business Advantage Camp 2004 (01)

I attended the second day of UW Innovate Inc.'s Business Startup Advantage Camp yesterday.

There were about thirty or so campers. It was great being around the similar enthusiasm for ideas and endeavours as last year. I think it is interesting to think anent how when a group is chosen based on certain criteria what otehr traits end up being common.

There were some campers from last year:

• David
• James
• Peter

New campers I have met thus far (some of whom I already know):

• Jonathan
• Nick
• Alexandra
• Kevin
• Corey
• Devin
• Melanie
• Adam
• Stephanie
• Val
• Karl

Organizers and presenters from last year thus far:

• Doug Sparkes, John Cullen, Geoff Malleck
• Ana, Renee,
• Alan Quarry
• Lou Khoubesserrian
• Ingmar Borgers
• Scott Murphy and Eric Sundin
• Jim Love

Presenters that were new this year:

• Bob Fisher
• Bill Reimer
• Steve Currie

Publishing information

I was planning on publishing some historical and cultural information about some UW units on uwR, but I think I may also use the mdia-wki on uws.

For example I have the names of the execs of EngSoc since its creation and I'd like to collect and have that information maintained as a historical record.

Other things to include:

• TOOL history
• List of UW-related corporations
• WEEF Directors
• Paul Plummer award winners
• IW editors
• Class names
• Scunts

Invited to part of innovate camp

Ana e-mailed out an invitation to two days of the Business Start-Up Advantage! Camp, Tuesday 27 April and Thursday 29 April.

I can't find the schedule on-line so I do not know what will be happening on those days. I expect to attend anyway.

Pronunciation-based errors in typing

I noticed an apparent error in an e-mail I received today. The sender had typed "one" when the context seemed to suggest that the appropriate word was "won."

I wondered about this because it seems as though the error is based on the similar sound even though it was being expressed in a soundless medium. Homophonic words are, by definition, interchangeable in speech but not in print. The existence of such errors would suggest an inner speech narrative when writing.

I remember reading a reference to an ancient writer talking aobut how it was common in those times for readers to read aloud to themselves and the suggestion that reading silently was a later development.

One-cent pieces

This morning I took a big can of pennies to the grocery store at Columbia and Fisch-Hall to use the coin counter. The machine counted $27.29. For using the machine I got charged $2.46 representing 9.014% (9% rounded). I received $24.83.

The standard weights for a one-cent peice is 2.25g, 2.35g, and 2.5g. That would mean that 2,729 pennies would weigh from 6.14kg to 6.82kg.

I remember having a disagreement with someone about whether pennies were pure copper. To back up that they were not I used the toll-free network. I called the RoyCanMint and asked the operator of what pennies were made.

Armoury 19 Apr 2004

Monday 19 April 2004 15:30 — 12 people
Monday 19 April 2004 15:54 — 17 people

It was pretty quiet. I saw Brandi V there.

More info on university spin-off stat

I looked up the Survey of intellectual property commercialization in the higher education sector, 1999, which I believe to be the source of the stat to which I referred earlier.

• The study included university-affilliated hospitals, but are not included in the stat quoted in the UW-PwC study
• 33 of the 84 universities reported on the survey
• Ontario with 24 universities accounts for 31% of spin-offs; BC with 10 universities accounts for 30% of spin-offs
• In 48% of spin-offs the university holds 1%to10% of the equity in the company (where known)

Soccer at columbia

I scrimmaged some association football at Columbia yesterday.

We played cross field 5 on 5. I scored five goals and we won 11, then we mixed up the teams and more people came. I didn't do nearly as well in the second match.

Most fo the guys were from SaudiA. Here are some fo their names.

• Eric H
• Chas
• Faisal
• Salima
• Saul
• Mohammed
• Mobarak
• Abdullah
• Abdullah
• Chris
• Dino

PwC: StatC: UW provides for 22 percent of university spin-offs

I found a source for the spinoff figure. It was referenced in the PwC regional economic benefits study

A 1999 Statistics Canada report on Intellectual Property Commercialization identified 454 spin-offs from 84 universities (292 from the 12 largest). With over 100 spin-offs, UW is the leader in Canada outperforming other universities by generating over 22% of all technology transfer based spin-offs.

Pearls from January Senate

I uncovered my notes from the Jan senate meeting.

Here are some points:

• Bob K: 24% per cent of spin-off companies from Canadian universities come from UW
• Dr. Dave: Tough some people suggest two universities in Waterloo is too many, he disagrees. Boston has 32 degree granting institutions.
• Paul G: We will be judged by our abillity to commercialise university research. This is an important emasure.
• Paul G: UW is the youngest of the G10.
• Paul G. We were better then, when it [G10] was formed 14 years ago. (SFU U of Ottawa, UCal)
• We've fallen from where we were. If it was formed today we might not be asked to join.

Get up Clean up - Feds neighbourhood clean up

Yesterday I participated in the Feds Get up Clean up of the Karen Walk neighbourhood. About twenty people showed up to pick up garbage for the afternoon.

Kids at Keatsway school kicked a ball across the street and they crowded on the hill by the road calling for Edey to kick it back to them. I learned that Ryan's initials are RCW, which is interesting. He found a Chryslr hood ornament.

The participants included:

• Laura
• Corinna
• Tammi
• smmonea
• Christin
• Leslie
• Scott
• Ryan
• Grinisch (¿sp)
• Chris, John
• Crystal
• Joske
• Sabrina
• TJ
• Michelle
• Dan, Chris
• Ryan, Larissa
• James

What does this mN piece mean?

I don't understand about what this mN piece that seems to refer to me. A Goon Squad Conversation 28 Jun 2002

[...]
Goon2: Ya, they'd do a pretty good job killing the guy, but there's a deadline involved in this.
Goon1: uwstudent.org?
Goon2: I think Ryan's busy enough without having to do the hit himself.
Goon1: Hmm, I guess your right. What about the Gazette?
[...]

Hwan on uws: neat, depressing, political shambles

Hwan: uwstudent.org late 14 March 2001

Ooh, have you checked out uwstudent.org? It's really quite neat.. think slashdot, but with u of waterloo articles instead. Actually, it's a bit depressing to read -- man the place is still a political shambles. Feh.

on uws: only outlet for campus agitation?

I have decided to start collecting references to uws that I find.

This is from Ethan Bloggers 4 Feb 2004

So last night I met up with Matt, Ryan, Jesse & Matt (whose exact blog I do not know but is on LiveJournal somewhere) at the Grad House and we shot the breeze for a while. I think uwstudent.org is the only outlet for campus agitation at UW... a campus defined by apathy.

Laurier's slogan - Canadian excellence

It seems WLU has changed its slogan from "Among Canada's best" to "Canadian excellence."

Fed Hall mgr ad indicates no innovation

The position of Fed Hall manager is being advertised. I had heard that it might have been posted before and then taken down and now reposted.

What does this say? It means that any plans Feds makes for Fed Hall are likely to include having a full-time manager. Nothing new.

Manager, Federation Hall-Campus Bar Operations -USG 7

University degree in the food and beverage industry and/or related field along with relevant experience in a student-run environment required. Extensive experience in the bar and the food and beverage industry including proven management experience and budget preparation and strategic planning. Thorough understanding of proper maintenance and operation of kitchen and bar facilities, knowledge of the Provincial Health Act (regarding food preparation and serving) and of operating a large alcohol venue (night club) in a student environment. Sound knowledge of the Liquor License Act of Ontario. Must be a certified trainer in the most recent server intervention program recognized by the Liquor License Board of Ontario. Proven customer service, interpersonal, organizational and communication skills. Computer literacy with extensive knowledge of Microsoft Office 2000. This position involves evening, weekend and holiday hours. Three year contract with annual reviews. Please quote pos# 2736

Send e-mail to get Trailer Park Boys for the AGM

Trailer Park boys Tribute Club is trying to get someone to the show for the club AGM. You can do your part by sending an e-mail of support.

The following is a hybrid of letters I sent today to several of our contacts with the show. Feel free to change the name and email it to question[at]trailerparkproductions.tv

US reporters telling Iraqis they are Canadian

Story in Iraq: Fear for safety USA Today 13 Apr 2004

Until March 31, when four American contractors were killed in Fallujah, reporters working in Iraq say that they felt fairly secure going about their jobs, although they always took precautions to ensure their own safety.

[...]

"People don't stare at you, unless you're stopping to do an interview," says USA TODAY reporter C?sar Soriano. "Being Mexican-American, I have the added advantage that I blend in physically. When anybody asks where I'm from, I always say Mexico. My Caucasian colleagues say Canada."

ABC's David Wright says that, when asked, Iraqi translators working for American TV often say they work for French or Russian TV.

I also don't like the idea of people misrepresent themselves as Canadian. Once when overseas the group I was with was treated poorly because we were assumed to be United States-ian until it was clarified that we were Canadian.

In the specific situation it is fine for someone to lie to avoid being killed, but how could the whole circumstances have been avoided.

Old e-mail asking about Fed participation

Evidently I set-up e-mail forwarding from one of myi accounts improperly because I had to check directly to find this old message from February.

Hey Ryan,
You seem to know more about Feds than anyone.
You're probably most qualified for a Feds position. Why aren't you running?

That's great. I answered in part with a flip remark. Can anyone guess what it was?

No infrastructure when you die

A few weeks ago I went by the office at what turned out to be lunchtime. Den told me that when the bus is about to hit me I should be able to think "All right no infrastructure."

He said that it is not just material things, but commitments and other things too.

Pig roast campout (Trailer Park Boys Tribute Club)

Trailer Park Boys TributelCLub is having a Pig Roast Camp out on 1 May.

Held at one of our Club’s secret locations just outside of the City. Tickets are $10 (half price with a membership card) and include overnight camping and dinner.

Left-handed terminals at the library

When using left-handed terminals at the library I naturally expect the buttons to be unversally defined rather than relatively. Id est, I think that the left-mouse button is the left-mouse button and not the index-finger button.

The buttons are, however, assigned to mirror right-handed usage. This seems a little strange to me. I liken it to the strangeness of having mirrored keyboard mapping, which I think does not exist.

Tuxedo fitting at Moe's

Ralph and Elysia helped me with a tuxedo fitting today. As expected I am 42 36 16.5 44.5 12 and some other numbers. I am supposed to report back to E or Julia if I change size in the mean time.

There must have been some commenting about bowties because she asked me if I was the one who didn't want to wear a bowtie. I told her that she must have been mistaken because I am known to wear a bow-tie from time to time and either she got it backwards or the wrong man.

How should Fed hall be used?

Ask uws: How should Fed Hall be used? I submitted this story to get people talking about the possibilities for Fed Hall.

With files from... poor cover for copying

Mirand Morgan of The Journal at Queen's University is credited for writing Cross-Country Campus Briefs Waterloo —Federation of Students sues with the phrase —With files from www.uwstudent.org. The article copies content from Feds seeks own liquor licence; UW disappointed

The phrase "with files from..." is misleading if no files are used. Morgan did not reques tnor receive any files from me. She apparently only took content from my published story. It seems like people at student paper use the phrase when copying stories because they see it in major newspapers and are ignorant of what it means of or ignore what it means.

The Copyright Act says:
29.2 Fair dealing for the purpose of news reporting does not infringe copyright if the following are mentioned:
(a) the source; and (b) if given in the source, the name of the (i) author, in the case of a work,

Will Gmail offer spam ads?

Google is offering Gmail a web e-mail service. It offers 1,000 Mb of storage space, and e-mail search.

It will also offer targeted text ads based on e-mail content.

Does this mean that when you get spam you will also get spam based ads?

Keyboard caompared to alphabet

Why do you think the keypad on a Blackberry is based on a qwerty keyboard and not the alphabet.

The two reasons I can think of are that a standard keyboard map coneptually give people an idea of location on a plane and the alphabet is serial or linear. Also a keyboard accommodates non-alphabetic characters.

Ten year deregulated tuition at UW

Yesterday Edey cited the average increase of tuition in Ontario when he argued agains the symbolic tuition increase.

The figure he gave was an increase of 137% since 1993.

I expect it is information from StatCan (The Daily 12 Aug 2003 University tuition fees).

It lists tuition from one, five and ten years earlier in current dollars in the country and the provinces.

Using the most current enrolment data available, average tuition fees have been weighted by the number of students enrolled by institution and field of study. Fees at both public and private institutions are included in the weighted average calculations.

Ontario 1993-1994:2,076 2003-2004:4,923 Percent-change:137.2%

Since we are talking about an increase at UW and a majority of the undergraduate programs have always had restrictions on tuition, it would be more illustrative to also have given a deregulated figure.

Engineering tuition 1993-1994 1,114.00
Engineering tuiiton 2003-2004 3,491.00
Percent change in CPI from 1993-2003 20.49%
1993 tuition in 2003 dollars 1,342.29
----
Tuition increase over the past ten years adjusted for inflation:
[(3491.00/1342.29)-1] * 100% = 160.078%

1993-1994 UW undergraduate calendar (PDF)
Inflation Calculator

Post mentions UW symbolic tuition increases

The Post has a CP story on the expected tuition freeze (Province to freeze tuition fees CP 7 April 2004)

Word of the impending freeze comes on the heels of a symbolic tuition fee increase passed Tuesday by the University of Waterloo, which stands to lose as much as $8 million if fees are frozen.

UW will not lose $8M, it is an opportunity loss. Id est, the projected increased revenue from the tuition increase. Recent government policy that regulates arts tuition also causes UW to "lose" revenue.

Amika, at yesterdays' board meeting, said that UW's operating grant is lower than it was in 1993, but that there are 40% more students.

Matress tags ads

Here are some matress ads my sibling did a while ago. They won some awards and are part of a funny story.

Janna's blog

Janna recently told me about her blog

I especially like the pictures of measuring the rooms in her new apartment at the end of March.

Use of databases, magazine subscribers and beef

I have encountered two story about databases recently.

I heard from the the slash and the j-list about magazine that sent subscribers their issue with a customized cover. The cover had a satellite picture of the person's neighbourhood and his house circled in red and his name in the headline fo the cover story.

"Everybody, including our magazine, has been harping on the erosion of privacy and the fears of a database nation. It is a totally legit fear. But they make our lives unbelievably easier as well, in terms of commercial transactions, credit, you name it." — Nick Gillespie editor of Reason Magazine (NYT story by David Carr)

Yesterday I read in Npost business about how databases are used by a firm in Argentina to track cattle from field to freezer, putting it far ahead of tracking here and with our neighbours.

Rosenbusch had set up a computer terminal next to the freezer and invited shoppers to scan in a bar code attached to the plastic wrapping on each cut. With each scan, the computer reached into a database and called up a report on the meat, includingthe medical and feed records of the animal, along with pictures of its owner and the vetrenarian who had been in charge of its health program.
[...]
Rosenbusch's ability to follow individual cowss through the production process far outstripped the national identification system the Canadian Beef industry had introduced two year earlier. And it left U.S. efforts in the dust.

Msprint, the onio, and unhumour

Msprint published last week is a sort of cheap copy of The Onion.

The story in Msprint about mandatory same-sex marriages is similar to one in TheOn from February. The visual style and logo are based on TheOn.

I don't think it's as funny as TheOn. It seems most of the stories are based on opposites or conventional distortion.

It is also unfortunate that there wasn't any witty commentary on the news of the past year. This is reflective of the poor knowledge of campus and student issues.

theonion.com
Massachussetts Supreme Court Orders All Citizens To Gay Marry

BOSTON—Justices of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled 5-2 Monday in favor of full, equal, and mandatory gay marriages for all citizens. The order nullifies all pre-existing heterosexual marriages and lays the groundwork for the 2.4 million compulsory same-sex marriages that will take place in the state by May 15.

Imprint
Same Sex Marriage Made Mandatory

WATERLOO, ON -- In a surprise exclusive interview, Paul Martin revealed to Misprint that the Liberals are now requiring every Canadian to have a gay marriage. The decision also requires all current marriages to be annulled, and all single straight Canadians to "switch teams."

Jesse's removal

Jesse was removed from council on Sunday for having two unexcused absences.

Some people argued against it and are commenting against it after the fact, even though he himself said that he should be removed.

I can see three reasons for the sanction of removal for non-attendance or not excusing absence beforehand.

• One, is that when a councillor misses meetings that the space is opened for another member who will attend.
• A second is that removing non-attending or non-excusing councillors makes it more likely that there will be quorum for meetings.
• A third is a deterrent for councillors who don't want to be removed.

Because this was the last meeting, the first two reasons didn't apply to Jesse. Only the third did.

Those who argued against ratifying needed to justify why it is more important to keep Jesse on rather than remove him since he missed meetings or that the rule itself is unreasonable and that it should be changed.

Only the first was argued and not argued well. Laura referred to "blindly following a stupid rule," but did not argue for its modification.

Advice used for excuse-making

Two weeks ago I referred to a quotation form Harold Macmillan in my column. The story around it is a reporter asking Macmillan, British Prime Minister from 1957 to 1963, what can most easily steer a government off course. He replied, "Events, dear boy. Events."

My purpose in referring to the story is to advise that one should be ready to handle unforeseen situations, but stilll focus on your priorities. Incidents of apparent urgency can steer you off course.

Edey at Sunday's meeting appeared to use the quotation as a rationalisation and excuse.

You can make excuses or you can get results. You can't do both.

Imprint does not report on itself, but should

About a year ago I wrote about the need for Imprint to provide information about Imprint itself.

Since I wrote that there have been 13 top-level posts to uwstudent.org about Imprint news and the number of stories about Imprint at Imprint, that I could find, is zero.

Feds Students' Council picture

After the meeting I took a picture of the councillors.

This is it. There are 15 people in the photo. Can you see them all.

BBC's funny The Office

The Office is a hilarious comedy I saw on DigiVidDisc. It is a BBC show filmed in fake documentary style. It follows the events in a paper merchant office where manager David Brent as boss motivates and harasses his staff. He is a joker who likes to think of himself as a friend first, boss second, and entertainer third.

Fed Hall not a priority for Feds exec

In the council meeting today I asked the Feds executive what operational changes have been planned for Fed Hall given that it will lose a significant subsidy in the coming year.

Edey said, "It's something we've talked a lot about. I've talked to Becky and told her it's goingn to be an important issue in the coming year." He said that they only have a month left in office.

So it seems that there are no plans.

I asked why nothing was done over the, at least, four months the issue of the Fed Hall subsidy has been known.

"We've had a lot of other priorities."

In February Capper reported that Fed Hall 's revenue minus partial expenses for Spring and Fall was about $13,000. The subsidy from the Fed Hall fee this year was about $100,000.

So, ($13,000 + [revenue over partial expense for Winter 2004])
- ($100,000 + [Fed Hall general office expense])
= -$73,000 + [the unknowns]

This is a serious issue for Feds and the executive did not ask for suggestions or invite any sort of debate on the matter. Fed Hall is in trouble and only a few are willing to discuss the issue.

Me and The Don

I saw the Don at the intermission of the play. We chatted and I gave him a copy of the SSBBhaus picture disc. He sat with us for the second act.

We talked to Melissa after and then drove north to the Pita Pit. At the place there was this one guy and seven white girls.

Then we went to Melissa's and hung out and chatted for a bit. The Don told me more stories about Mhoist and reminisced.

After waiting a while we went to PaddyF's. The Don had a Heineken pint and I Rickard's. On the way back The Don got a message from Melissa that she was back. When we got back I drank two glasses of tap water and we talked for a few minutes before we left for Chris's. It took a while to defrost the windows and I brushed off the windows of both the green and the yellow.

At 16 came in and met James (who appeared suspiscious at first because we didn't tell him who we were). Melissa and Chris came down Matt came back and we chatted for a bit Trump was on SNL too. Then we went to Kassee's house. We saw Aaron, met MonicaS and Sukate(sp?). Amy gave the chair to Melissa (it looks flimsy because there are no cross braces on the legs). We sat around a bit and at two no three o'clock The Don and I left.

We talked about hockey (The Don got a sammyb recently). Also I joked about the coextec letter, he said he had lost his so I told him I'd send him a copy. He must have left it once when he moved out and I kept it even until now. WHen I got back I photoed it and e-mailed it to him.

Aaron's Tickets Please

Last night I viewed the final showing of Aaron T. Cowan's play Tickets Please.

It was wonderfully funny and absurd (it got more absurd in the second act). It is set in an airport terminal where four different people are waiting for a flight to a tropical island paradise.

A small-part movie actor, Chip, trying to make the big time is leaving his crazy girlfriend, Alissa, to play the part of his career in a movie on Hawksley Island. They are arguing as a Spanish swimwear model tries to read the newspaper. She, Gloria, is going for a swimwear shoot. The third hopeful passenger is Mrs. Butter, a doting nutcake mother who is going to compete in "Tribal moms" a reality TV show. Last is John Worthington a stock broker who yells at is staff and goes through secretaries and great rate.

In their interactions they learn more about each other and their connections. That is the first act after which things get crazy.

The production was well done. Scene changes were smoothly as characters changed the sets as action continued.

Before each act there was a choreographed musical introlude. The first one showed the monotonay of life starting with Chip apparently riding the bus or subway with John joining him and matching his actions. Next the two main women chatracters come and dance with the men. The second one was more tropical with one couple dancing while the others shimmy in the background and the two airline staff dance and serve drinks and leis to the passengers.

At the end the cast and crew assembled on stage and Aaron announced that $1,700 had been raised for the Mak-A-Wsh Foundation amd presented a cheque to a representative.

I saw loads of people there.

• MelissaC (in the play) and The Don
• Lana and Tara
• AaronC (his play)
• PhilW (in the play)
• Carrol
• NatalieM
• MattS (selling tickets)
• RoisinM (I went with her)
• MelissaD
• RyanV

UW should pass notional op grant increase

ChrisE posted [Feds] Board to decide on 'notional' tuition increase to uws.

Essentially, this is a symbolic increase (1.6% in regulated UG programs, 15% in deregulated UG programs) that students will not be expected to pay. The stated intention of this measure is to demonstrate to university stakeholders and the provincial government of the growing revenue gap that a tuition freeze will create (unless it is fully funded).

The tuition freeze, which may be announced on Monday, will in practicality prevent UW from raising tuition to gain more revenue. Since they can't really increase tuition and they are doing it as a demonstration, they should also 'notionally' increase the UW operating grant.

Goyer in GlobeTech

Matt was mentioned in a Globe Tech story yesterday by David Akin (File-sharing ruling opens Pandora's Box).

While at the University of Waterloo, Matt Goyer and his housemates didn't want to buy premium television channels such as The Movie Network.

It is interesting to see Matt's name in the story, but also David because he posts to a list to which I am subscribed. Maybe David is the guy Matt showed around a few months ago.