Monday, November 12, 2018

President's Town Hall Meeting set for November 21

The next President's Town Hall Meeting will take place on Wednesday, November 21 at 10:30 a.m. in Federation Hall.

At the town hall, President Feridun Hamdullahpur will reflect on the University’s accomplishments this past year and will talk about the year ahead.

The centrepiece of the town hall event is the question and answer period with the president.

Members of the University community can engage in a dialogue and share their thoughts and ideas about where Waterloo is heading in a number of ways:

• Questions can be submitted when registering on the President’s Town Hall website;
• Questions can be sent in via e-mail to townhall@uwaterloo.ca;
• Questions can be sent in via Twitter both before and during the President's Town Hall Meeting by tweeting to @UWaterloo or by using the hashtag #uwth; and
• Members of the audience can ask questions from the floor during the Town Hall.

The event will conclude with a complimentary light lunch, served in Fed Hall's Columbia Rooms, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Please register to save your seat at the town hall and luncheon. You can also sign up to view the livestream of the event.

Football Warriors win OUA awards

A year after being named the OUA's top freshman, Tre Ford has added the province's top individual honour to his growing trophy case. And as an added bonus, he got to pass his rookie of the year crown to a Warriors teammate.

Ford's historic season has earned him the OUA's most valuable player award in 2018, while first-year linebacker Jack Hinsperger claimed the Norm Marshall trophy as the OUA rookie of the year.

Ford becomes the fourth Warrior – and first outside of the running back position – to win the OUA MVP, joining Tom Chartier (1990), Jarrett Smith (1996 and 1997), and Mike Bradley (1999). The second-year pivot put up eye-popping numbers in 2018, leading the OUA in touchdown passes (27), passing yards (2822), and completion percentage (74.1 percent, which is a new OUA single-season record). He also threw the fewest interceptions amongst all qualified passers (2), while rushing for 641 yards - good for 6th in the OUA.

En route to his MVP season, Ford completed several single-game boxscores that are unprecedented in Warriors football history. He started the year by shattering a number of single-game school passing records, when he completed 25 of 28 passes for 463 yards and 6 touchdowns, while adding 58 yards and a touchdown on the ground. And a few weeks later, Ford broke his own program record for passing yards in a game, when he tossed for 472 yards and three touchdowns to lead Waterloo to an historic win over the Laurier Golden Hawks. Not only was it the first Battle of Waterloo win for the Warriors since 2002, it turned out to be the pivotal victory of 2018: Waterloo and Laurier tied for the OUA's final playoff spot, but the Warriors earned the sixth seed by way of the head-to-head result. 

Ford's statline ranks on the short list for the greatest passing seasons in OUA history. In just his first season as the full-time pivot, he led an explosive offence that included an OUA record 14 touchdown receptions for Tyler Ternowski, as the dynamic pair helped the Warriors earn their first postseason berth since 2003. All told, six members of the Ford-led offense earned OUA all-star selections (Ford, Ternowski, receiver Gordon Lam, and linemen Jesse Gibbon, Ben Koczwara, and Kyle Boismier).

Meanwhile, Hinsperger arrived in Waterloo as their most heralded defensive recruit in years, and the local product didn't disappoint. Despite playing in only five-plus games due to injury, the rookie middle linebacker finished second on the team with 4.6 tackles per game, adding 2.5 sacks, 5.5 tackles for a loss, and a fumble recovery.

The former prep star with Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania earned his first OUA sack in his debut against Windsor back in August. But it was in his second career game where Hinsperger announced his arrival with authority – against the Toronto Varsity Blues in week 2, Hinsperger led the club with 5.5 tackles, including an astonishing 3.5 for a loss, while adding 1.5 sacks.

Hinsperger was injured in Waterloo's week 6 loss to York, and missed the last two games on the Warriors' schedule. But the freshman ball hawk was able to suit up in Waterloo's playoff loss to Guelph, in which Hinsperger was a force – he registered 8 tackles, including a tackle for a loss, in his postseason debut.

Hinsperger is just the third Warrior to claim the Norm Marshall trophy as OUA rookie of the year, joining Ford, who won the award last season, and Jordan Verdone (2008) as the only top freshmen in program history.

By way of their conference accolades, Ford and Hinsperger become the OUA nominees for their respective national awards. Ford will be looking to earn the program's first-ever Hec Crighton Trophy as the nation's most outstanding player, while Hinsperger hopes to join Ford and Verdone as winners of the Peter Gorman trophy as U SPORTS rookie of the year. The national awards will be handed out in the week leading up to the Vanier Cup on November 24.

Monday's notes

Changes to Faculty Association dues: In October, Faculty Association members voted to change how their dues are calculated. Currently, each faculty member represented by FAUW pays 0.525 percent of the average base salary for faculty members at their rank (e.g. lecturer or assistant professor). Starting in 2019, each faculty member will pay 0.525 percent of their own base salary, which makes for a more equitable distribution of dues and brings FAUW in line with other faculty associations.

Of the 1,332 faculty members FAUW represents (all of whom pay dues), 924 (69 percent) have joined the association and are eligible to vote. Of those members, 41 percent voted in the referendum and 86 percent of voters supported the change.

Next, members will vote on a FAUW president in November. Faculty have until November 9 to join in order to access the online ballot, which will be open November 19–30. November 9 is also the deadline to submit a nomination.

Feds Student Food Bank wants to take your excess plastic bags off your hands. "If you have closets or cupboards overflowing with plastic bags that you don’t want to throw out but don’t quite know what to do with, we will take them!" says a note from Feds. "Your unwanted plastic bags will help students access the Food Bank with ease and confidentiality."

Bags can be dropped off throughout the month of November at any of the Food Bank donation bins across campus, or at the Federation of Students’ main office, Student Life Centre Room 1102.