Thursday, March 10, 2016

Celebrating the women of Waterloo

This is an excerpt of a post that appears on President Feridun Hamdullahpur's blog on the Office of the President's website.

The success of an organization often comes down to culture. Is it open or closed? Is it equitable or does it marginalize? Does it embrace change or merely tolerate it?

Everyone knows Waterloo’s culture hinges on innovation - and equity is a big part of unleashing the innovative potential of all our people.

Here’s a run-down of three events that highlighted equity over the last week:

International Women's Day Dinner

Last Friday we held our annual International Women’s Day dinner. Our keynote, Environment Dean Jean Andrey, did a great job talking about the links between feminism and environmental issues and highlighting key female scholars in the field. She clearly resonated with the largest-ever crowd we had at the event.

#WIMIn2016

Over the weekend, we hosted Waterloo Women: Ideas, Makers, Innovators — a first-of-its-kind ideathon. Aside from being a great platform for women to share their ideas and explore their potential, WIMin focused on the unconscious bias that can sometime sabotage workplace equity.

Watch this quick video about some of the concepts that came from the ideathon.

Read the rest of the article on the President's blog.

Games Institute researcher talks eSports

by Kaitlin O’Brien

The Games Insitute’s Alexandra Orlando, a PhD candidate in the Department of English, was recently interviewed on 570 News to discuss the future of eSports for the gaming community. Orlando discussed at length the emergence of eSports as a source for large-scale competitions and speculates on what she sees as the future for eSport competitors.

ESports has become a growing trend within Waterloo Region, but also has found its footing on the global stage where gamers compete in sold-out arenas and there is the potential for million-dollar earnings for the winners.

So what exactly does Orlando think the future of eSports will look like? She explains: “I think what we will see is potentially its own sort of Olympics happening, so instead of these scattered individual game tournaments, bigger events hosting several different games, and regulating bodies keeping good gaming practices in check.”

You can read the entire 570 News article online.

The Games Institute on any given day is a hub of activity where games researchers engage in discussions about games, game technologies, game interactions, game narratives, game studies, purposeful games, and gamification. From its inception, the Games Institute was designed to be a truly interdisciplinary setting, and here you’ll find professors, PhD students, Masters students, and post-doctoral fellows from English, Computer Science, Psychology, Engineering, Sociology, and more.

First work term impressions at CECA

By Phoenix McDonald

This past January, Jessica Barch and Max McKee embarked on the first of many co-op terms. They began their journey as Communications and Marketing Associates for Co-operative Education & Career Action (CECA), and through this position each student got more than they bargained for – in the best way possible.

Jessica, a second-year Arts and Business student majoring in Fine Arts, flexes her creativity and organizational skills by writing press releases, designing images, and helping plan events, such as the Co-op Students of the Year Awards. Meanwhile, Max, a second-year Environment and Business student expresses his wit and communication skills in weekly operational updates, in addition to updating websites and looking at analytics, and producing video content.

“Co-op at CECA has surpassed every expectation that I had preconceived,” says Jessica. “I never thought I’d be getting so many responsibilities. Our supervisors trust our judgement.”

Max then adds, “Here you feel more like a member of a team than a student who is just working in and around a team. You feel just as much a part of it as a full-time employee who’s working right next to you.”

Despite this being their first work term, both Jessica and Max have had much success. They’ve been able to integrate themselves into the team with their optimistic and outgoing dispositions, engaging with full-time staff and fellow co-op students alike.

“This experience helps me to not just learn specific things but it helps me to think critically and understand how to be successful in a business work environment.” Max explains. “It definitely opened my eyes. I have more of an understanding of the bigger picture as to how marketing works and I know I’ll definitely be keeping a communications and marketing focus in the future.”

Going forward, Jessica and Max are excited to continue their co-op journey here at the University of Waterloo., They are confident they’ll continue to grow and be able to benefit from the skills and experiences acquired through working at CECA.

“I realized I can handle a lot more than I originally thought I could, and I can handle it in a way that creates the best product possible,” reflects Jessica. “Now my organizational skills have skyrocketed and I’m confident. I’ve always wanted to go into a communications and marketing position, but now I understand what goes into it behind the scenes.”

Best of luck to both Jessica and Max in their future endeavours!

#AskAPharmacist: Medschecks and blood pressure medications

This is the latest in a series of posts from the School of Pharmacy celebrating Pharmacist Awareness month.

Do you have diabetes? Are you taking 3 or more medications for a chronic condition? Pharmacist Andrew Tolmie explains a pharmacy service that helps you stay on top of all those pills:

7.5 million Canadians are living with high blood pressure. Our Director of Distance Education and Continuing Professional Development, Rosemary Killeen, gives some tips for high blood pressure management: see the #AskAPharmacist playlist for her explanation.

More pharmacy questions and answers are coming next Tuesday.

Zika virus lecture and other notes

Researchers from the Faculties of Science, Engineering and Applied Health Sciences will participate in a panel discussion on the Zika virus tonight at 7:00 p.m. in Hagey Hall. The World Health Organization declared the Zika outbreak a public health emergency. This talk will address the spread of viruses and control methods. Reserve a ticket on the event website. The event is open to members of the public, but registration is mandatory.

The Department of Sociology and Legal Studies is hosting this year's James E. Curtis Memorial Lecture tonight. Remarks will be given by Chief Wilton (Willie) Littlechild, commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and former Member of Parliament. Chief Littlechild is a strong advocate for the rights of Indigenous Peoples and promoter of implementation of the treaties between Indigenous Peoples of Canada and the Crown.

The event takes place at 5:00 p.m. in the Theatre of the Arts.

Here's the latest Nutrition Month "Myth vs. Fact" supplied by Heatlh Services Nutritionist Sandra Ace:

Myth: B vitamins are water soluble and are safe to take in higher doses.

Truth: While B vitamins are water soluble and don't stay in your body for a long time, taking large doses of some B vitamins can result in serious health effects. Single dose vitamin supplements or B complex vitamins (sometimes marketed as “stress vitamins”) may exceed the Upper Tolerable Intake Levels (UL) established which increases the likelihood of an adverse effect. Energy drinks frequently contain large amounts of B vitamins which may also exceed recommended intakes.

If you have an established vitamin deficiency, a high dose may be necessary when prescribed by a knowledgeable health care provider, not the sales person at your local health food store. However, more does not mean better and for certain B vitamins, exceeding the UL may result in toxicity. For example, high doses of vitamin B3 (niacin) can cause flushing, liver damage, glucose intolerance and other side effects. High doses of folic acid may cause gastrointestinal side effects, contribute to sleep disturbances or cause behavioral symptoms such as irritability. Even more seriously, taking excess amounts of folic acid can mask a Vitamin B 12 deficiency, which, if left untreated, can result in neurological damage. (Note: All women who can become pregnant should take .4 mg (400 mcg ) of folic acid every day to help reduce the risk of neural tube defects; this is a safe dose well under the UL of 1 mg/1000 mcg).