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The University of Waterloo is home to Canada’s oldest LGBTQ+ student organization: today, it’s known as the GLOW Centre for Sexual and Gender Diversity. But when Corey Johnson joined the Recreation and Leisure Studies program as a professor in 2015, he was surprised to learn that the university didn’t yet have an LGBTQ+ ally program in place.

The basic idea is simple enough: in fully autonomous vehicles of the future, computer systems will replace human drivers.

But as front-line researchers working to develop reliable artificial brains to do that job are quick to point out, actually pulling it off, especially when safety is paramount, is an incredibly complex technical challenge.

The solutions of tomorrow come from the strength of many in a diverse society, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told students attending Canada's biggest hackathon being held at the University of Waterloo this weekend.

Trudeau made a brief but inspirational and energy-packed pitch for the value of diversity during the opening ceremonies for Hack the North, an event which brings together 1,000 students from top universities in 22 countries to collaborate on technology ideas and solutions.

Focusing on high schools in Guatemala City, researchers from Waterloo and the Cardiovascular Surgery Unit of Guatemala found that that the beverage industry is very visible in schools through industry-sponsored food and drink kiosks, advertisements, and donated goods. Further, students attending public schools lacked access to free drinking water during school.

A Waterloo expert is available to speak about Ontario's plan to sell cannabis at government-run stores

Scott Leatherdale - Applied Health Sciences

Scott Leatherdale is an associate professor in Waterloo's School of Public Health and Health Systems. He is CIHR-PHAC Applied Public Health Research Chair in Youth Health and principal investigator and the scientific lead for the COMPASS system (the world’s largest learning system focused on evidence-based programs and policies focused on youth health behaviour). 

The study found that practicing just 25 minutes of Hatha yoga or mindfulness meditation per day can boost the brain’s executive functions, cognitive abilities linked to goal-directed behavior and the ability to control knee-jerk emotional responses, habitual thinking patterns and actions.

Orientation is an important time of transition for more than 9,000 new students arriving on campus. That’s why the University of Waterloo is delivering even more customized Orientation activities to meet the varied needs for our diverse group of students, including:

Photo: Jay Parson

When the politics and histories that shape students’ lives emerge in class, Naila Keleta-Mae sees an opportunity for deep learning - not an interruption to her lecture notes.

The study found that chronic conditions like asthma, diabetes and Crohn’s disease increase a young person’s odds of suicidal thoughts by 28 per cent and plans to die by suicide by 134 per cent. Having a chronic condition increases the odds of a suicide attempt by 363 per cent.

“Evidence suggests risk for suicide attempts is highest soon after young people are diagnosed with a chronic illness,” said Mark Ferro, an assistant professor in Waterloo’s Faculty of Applied Health Sciences. “There is a critical window of opportunity for prevention and continued monitoring.”