Friday, december 1, 2006
news@imprint.uwaterloo.ca News Editor: Ashley Csanady News Assistant: Rachel McNeil
News Imprint
The family of Matt Austin, a UW student currently serving in Afghanistan, set up a booth in the SLC November 22 to get signatures of students who “support our troops.” His sister Cara and his mother Sharlene are holding up one of the banners of signatures behind a picture of Matt.
Dinh Nguyen staff reporter
U.S.
darren hutz
Janet is, without a doubt, one of the few things that kept me sane through hours of labs and projects. Kept me amused during parties, meetings and just hanging out. Kept me questioning everything. Janet will always be my lab partner, classmate, engineering councilor, confidante and a really amazing friend. Thank you for all that you taught me. I will miss you immensely and I will not forget you. — Kate Kelly
Janet Yip was born in Hong Kong, she moved to canada when she was six. She was originally enrolled in mechanical engineering before she switched to the electrical engineering class of 2007. She is survived by her parents and a sister. She was an engineering councillor for two years and involved in EngSoc and the class. According to sources, Janet was diagnosed with leukemia and passed away November 29, 2006.
Dear Janet, I am your partner. I am voting for you. I will discuss raging sociopolitical topics with you over dinner. I will be the one you can talk to about your thoughts. I will listen to you make those important decisions. I am that friend. I spend my days watching you live the life that you believe in without stopping to question yourself. I look on in awe as you show us all that the power to carry on is the motivation to do what it takes. Memories of you, Janet will empower me to make my life a testament to what I believe in, and though you won’t be sitting across the table from me as we scratch our heads trying to figure out what a stochastic process is, you will walk with me every day as I figure out the matters that are really important to me.We adore you, we
look up to you, and we are by your side, ready to inherit the world with you. — Eric Vieth
It was close to a year ago that Janet stomped up to me for stealing her chair one night (she was the most magnificent stomper) and slammed a new one down beside me. She began yelling at me about colonialism, either to terrify the hell out of me, or maybe a clever reference to the chair-stealing, I’ll never know. I feel like I’ll never know so many things now. So many things I never told her either, just because I was too scared… Goodbye Janet. — Eric Blondeel
On behalf of the Federation of Students Council, I would like to express my deep regret to hear that one of Engineering Councillors, Janet Yip, has passed away. She was a dedicated Councillor for the past two years. She brought humour to our Council meetings and communicated well with Engineering. We will sincerely miss her this December Council meeting and in the future. — Michelle Zakrison President, Federation of Students
If you would like details on visitation and funeral arrangements please e-mail goneretro27@gmail.com
New program focuses on mobilizing knowledge Lauren Grant reporter
Knowledge is power, as the old saying goes, and soon the University of Waterloo will be empowering the community that houses it. Beginning next winter term, the university will launch a new interdisciplinary program entitled “Knowledge Mobilization to Serve Society.” The program, headed by Dr. Kathleen Bloom, director of the Canadian Centre for Knowledge Mobilization, is aimed at sharing research discoveries with the community in an effort to impact larger-than-life policy changes and ordinary, day to day life. Mobilization, in this case, refers to transposing new research from text on a page to tangible elements of everyday life. The purpose of this “mobilization,” according to Bloom is to aid “policy makers, practitioners, industry, and the public face social challenges the way they face health and medical challenges -by asking: What does the research say? In this way decision makers balance opinions and beliefs with facts of knowledge.”
Bloom, currently the director of the Canadian Centre for Knowledge Mobilization and an alliance for child literacy known as Research Works, brings much insight to the program: “Effective mobilization of knowledge is a two-way process,” Bloom states. The program itself is based on a union between “those who produce new knowledge and those who can use it.” According to Bloom, this is how decisions regarding social issues evolve beyond mere opinion and belief, “This is how researchers make their knowledge count.” A recent call from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) demanded a more successful and widespread transference of university knowledge and this program may just be the answer they are looking for. This pioneering program sets out to teach students effectual, winning methods of communicating and sharing research findings to the benefit of society. Students will also learn to transform academic papers into information conduits, draft press releases and construct channels for an
efficient, effective knowledge trade. Knowledge Mobilization to Serve Society is particularly geared toward students currently involved in research and hoping for grants in the future. UW dean of arts Ken Coates said that while research in art faculties has had vast impacts on the surrounding community, the university has fallen short with its habit of playing research too close to the vest and awaiting mobilization from an outside force. The course is part of a widespread coalition to take larger steps in “moving the fruits of our research out of the academy and to engage more directly with those seeking to create societal change,” he said. As Dr. Bloom states, “To serve society, scholarly works must be collated, put in context, translated into plain language, and transported beyond the walls of academia.” “ When we do this, the information age of the last century emerges as the knowledge age of the 21st Century. Knowledge mobilization plant seeds for social innovation.” she concluded.
Some turkeys just can’t seem to resist the holidays. This past U.S. Thanksgiving, a Minnesota woman, Sandy Cobbs, was in her kitchen preparing dinner when a live turkey broke through her dining room window, causing a “thunderous crash” and thousands of dollars worth of damage. Hearing the loud clashes and his wife’s shrieking, Bill Cobbs, Sandy’s husband, came to the rescue. He angrily attempted to scare the giant bird outside, but his efforts only resulted in more damage. The bird then jumped around breaking more furniture and windows, eventually landing on a pot of orchids. Mrs. Cobbs later called the police, who came and removed the turkey from the house. According to News Bizarre, this was not the first turkey attack the Cobbs family has experienced. On Christmas day of 2004, a wild turkey also broke into the Cobbs’ home through a window and caused damage. Mrs. Cobbs claims that the last turkey attack resulted in $10,000 worth of insurance money. The total damage in dollar amount as a result of this attack is still undetermined. Embarrassed, and worried about a rise in insurance money, the Cobbs are contemplating whether or not they should file another insurance claim; while the turkeys on the other hand may be contemplating their next attack. After pleading guilty to giving her 13 year-old son marijuana as a reward for doing homework, a Gettysburg, Pennsylvania women has been charged with corruption of minors and possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia. Amanda Lynn Livelsberger, 30, has been smoking weed with her son since he was 11. Their high times went undetected by the law until they were recently caught in September. The circumstances, which lead to their arrest, were not released. According to the Canadian Press, Livelsberger has been sentenced to three months in jail, along with nine months of house arrest and a year of probation. Furthermore she has been given a restrictive injunction, a sentence that prohibits her from being in possession of any drugs. It seems highly unlikely for her son to get a buzz from his mother during her sentence. Japan
Ubiquitous Exchange, a Japanese company, invented a robot which can perform various customer service jobs. “Ubiko,” the 113 centimeter-tall robot, has a cat like face, comes equipped with a camera, infa-red sensors and a projector on its head, which allows it to greet customers and hand out small objects like balloons and DVDs. Furthermore, some “Ubiko,” have the ability to give directions. They come with touch-panel mounted on their body, which allows users to select a location and be guided there. According to the Canadian Press, the robots, which cost $255,000 U.S. each, can be hired as temporary workers for $445 U.S. per hour. Currently, there are three robots employed full-time at a Japanese hospital working as receptionists and guides. Researchers are planning to release “Ubikos” next month as sale receptionists at a Japanese cell phone store of unknown location; while the cell phone store may be planning to release some of its employees into the job-less world. dnguyen@imprint.uwaterloo.ca