Friday, September 6, 2024

Orientation to go out with a bang with football game, EDM concert

Orientation is saving the best (or at least the loudest) for last this weekend as the Waterloo Warriors and DJ Dillon Francis take the field.

At 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 7, it's the Football Black & Gold Day Orientation game with the Warriors squaring off against the Ottawa Gee-Gees on Warrior Field. Gates open at 11:30 a.m., and the event will feature a pregame Orientation Carnival and Punt, Pass, Kick student contest with a $5,000 grand prize sponsored by RBC. Purchase tickets. 

From snapping on the gridiron to snapping to the Rekordbox grid, Orientation's celebrations will come to an ear-splitting Saturday night with the first major on-campus concert in nearly a decade featuring chart-topping DJ Dillon Francis. A mainstay on the EDM festival circuit, Dillon Francis has performed at Coachella, Lollapalooza, Ultra, EDC, Hard Summer, and Electric Zoo, and, closer to home, the Ever After Festival that used to take place at Bingeman's in Kitchener. Get ready to get low, as the kids say.

Opening acts include local artists Tys Loyens and TWENTYFIVEROSES. Imprint has some pre-concert coverage if you're interested.

The beats kick off at 6:15 p.m. on the North Campus's Field 7. The concert is hosted by WUSA and the University of Waterloo with presenting partner CIBC. Tickets are $16 for undergraduate students and $30 for other guests including graduate students, faculty, staff, and alumni. Buy your tickets on Eventbrite and don't forget your earplugs.

The concert runs to 11:00 p.m. (a far cry from the all-night raves that used to happen at Federation Hall, but times change).

Fencing going up for new Faculty of Mathematics building

A message from the Faculty of Mathematics.

The campus community will soon see fencing going up along William Tutte Way and around areas of the Davis Centre (DC), Mathematics and Computing (MC) and the Math quad. The University is preparing the area for the upcoming construction of Mathematics 4, the Faculty of Math’s new building.

“The construction of our new Mathematics 4 building will bring a much-needed expansion of student spaces, classrooms, research labs and offices, as well as facilitating research and practice in more energy-efficient computing, with a reduced energy footprint,” says Mark Giesbrecht, Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics. M4 is possible through more than a decade of planning, saving and philanthropy. “We’re thrilled about the many ways that Mathematics 4 is designed to accommodate students, empower research and drive innovation.”

The 120,000 gross square feet, 5-storey M4 building will meet the important goal of directly connecting MC, M3 and DC, a nexus for Computer Science, Statistics, Data Science and Mathematics. Construction will take place over the next two to three years, beginning with the placement of security fences in the coming weeks. An official groundbreaking celebration is set to take place at the end of October.

To learn more about plans for the new building, visit the M4 website.

Celebrate Eco Week with free fair trade coffee and tea

A message from UW Food Services.

Eco Week is fast approaching, and UW Food Services is joining the green movement. From September 23 to 27, you can receive a complimentary Fair Trade coffee or tea when you bring a reusable mug to any UW Food Services location, excluding our franchises. See our eligible locations below:

• The Market, UWP
• Mudie’s, V1
• REVelation - Ron Eydt Village, REV
• South Side Marketplace, SCH
• Brubakers Food Court, SLC
• ML’s Diner, ML
• Browsers Café, DP Library
• CEIT Café, CEIT
• Ev3rgreen Café, EV3
• Eye Opener Café, Optometry
• H³ Café, HH
• Liquid Assets Café, HH

Fair Trade is much more than a fair price! Fair Trade Certification empowers farmers and farm workers to lift themselves out of poverty by investing in their farms and communities, protecting the environment, and developing the business skills necessary to compete in the global marketplace. That’s why Food Services carries Baden Coffee and Planet Bean Coffee products, which are Fair Trade Certified! We also carry Four O’Clock, a Fair Trade certified tea in all locations offering tea. To learn more about the benefits of Fair Trade Certification, please visit Food Services' Fair Trade website.

Our Eco Week initiative was made possible by the Sustainability Action Fund through the University’s Sustainability department. Through this initiative Food Services aims to encourage waste reduction of single-use products on campus by promoting our Eco-Mug Program. Through this program, students can receive 20 cents off at UW Food Service locations and 10 cents off at any of our Franchises across campus for any Hot Beverages! Don’t have a reusable mug? Don’t worry! Eco-mugs and tumblers are available for purchase at the W-Store located in South Campus Hall. Take advantage of this opportunity to enjoy a free beverage while contributing to a greener campus community!

Next TRuST lecture will chart a course in a sea of climate misinformation

The University of Waterloo and the Waterloo Climate Institute are presenting the latest in the Trust in Research Undertaken in Science and Technology (TRuST) lecture series on Monday, September 16.

"The global climate emergency is the greatest threat to our collective future, and science and research play a critical role in moving us forward with sustainable solutions," says the lecture's abstract. "From rising urban temperatures and flooding streets, to water bans and poor air quality, we see and feel the effects of our changing climate in our own communities. We want to act, but with so much information and misinformation, how do we know where to start and who to trust?"

"Join the University of Waterloo and the Waterloo Climate Institute for a conversation on how we find trusted information on climate action in a sea of misinformation. We’ll discuss ways to overcome the confusing and overwhelming options for climate action and build trust in climate science so that we can build resilient communities and live better together."

Register for the lecture on ticketfi. Admission is free.

Speakers include:

• Fatima Syed, Ontario Report, The Narwhal
• Dr. Sarah Burch, Professor, Canada Research Chair, and Executive Director, Waterloo Climate Institute
• Dr. Juan Moreno-Cruz, Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair
• Janna Wale, Indigenous Climate Researcher, University of British Columbia

The lecture takes place Monday, September 16 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at Federation Hall and on livestream on Waterloo's YouTube channel. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. with a reception taking place at 8:30 p.m.

This free community lecture is part of a series launched by the Trust in Research Undertaken in Science and Technology (TRuST) scholarly network at the University of Waterloo.

Notes for the term's first week

As the first abbreviated week of the fall term concludes, a few notes: 

Flags will be lowered to half-mast on Sunday, September 8 in recognition of Firefighters' National Memorial Day, which takes place annually on the second Sunday in September. The day recognizes the sacrifices of firefighters who have fallen in the line of duty, and federal government buildings across the country will lower their flags to half mast.

Here are the final electrical shutdowns taking place as part of the Primary North Electrical Distribution Replacement project:

• Central Services Building, Friday, September 6, two one-hour shutdowns at 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., with Chillers 1 and 2 offline for one hour in the morning and afternoon. The entire plant will be offline for five minutes at 8:00 a.m. and for 15 minutes at 5:00 p.m.
• Mathematics 3, Saturday, September 7 from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.
• School of Optometry, Saturday, September 7, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
• South Loops 3 and 4, Saturday, September 7, all buildings on those loops including TC, SCH, CPH, E2, E3, LIB, NH, DWE, GH, SHARC, PHY, CEIT, RCH, DC CIM, STC, B1, B2, ESC, HH, MHR, PAS, EV1, EV2, EV3, AL, and ML, will experience a 5-minute shutdown at 1:30 p.m.

The next WISE Public Lecture, entitled “Creating a Network for Equity in Energy Sustainability Transitions” by Professor Patricia Romero-Lankao from the University of Toronto Scarborough, will take place Monday, September 9 from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. in DC 1302 and online via Zoom. Register today!

Information Systems & Technology (IST) has published the latest in the Atlassian Blog Series entitled Use Grouper Groups for User Management in Atlassian Tools.