Nov09_InsideLaurier_lowres

Laurier Brantford dean dances with the starsDr. Bruce Arai competes in charity event to raise money for cancer support centre

By Lori Chalmers Morrison

Early this year, Dr. Bruce Arai’s partner Erin Tjam approached him with a deal: “If you take dancing lessons with me, you can golf a lot more in the summer.” The Laurier Brantford dean agreed, not knowing that six months later he would be dancing in front of an audience of hundreds.

A month after the couple‘s dancing lessons began, Tjam learned about a “Dancing with the Stars” fundraiser for HopeSpring Cancer Support Centre in Cambridge. Organizers were looking for local male celebrities to dance.

“Erin said, ‘I know someone,’” said Arai. “That person turned out to be me.”

Although he was a self-described “klutz on the dance

floor,” Arai was happy to support a cause that hits close to home. “Both my parents had brushes with cancer,” he said.

“My mom recovered, but my dad passed away.”

Arai was paired with experi-enced dancer Trish Beahan and began an intense, six-month training program.

“We danced twice a week for two hours to train for two 90-second dances,” said Arai.

“Trish is absolutely wonderful and it was so much fun dancing with her. She’s been dancing since she was a small child in Scotland, and she choreo-graphed the whole show.”

The costumes were another story. For the Tango, Arai wore all black and Trish wore a ball gown. But for their second number, the Pasodoble (a dance modelled after the sound

and movement of a Spanish bullfight), Arai was expected to wear something a little more flamboyant.

“I turned down the first outfit Trish showed me,” said Arai. “It was too low-cut in the front.”

By the time the dance floor at Bingeman’s Grand Ballroom was polished for the compe-tition Oct. 16, Arai was ready, but a bit nervous.

“But once I got out on the floor, I wasn’t nervous like I expected to be,” said Arai. “I just blocked out the audience. The whole experience was fantastic.”

Arai and Beahan placed third (out of eight couples), and $28,000 was raised for HopeSpring.

“I’m thankful I had the

DANCING see page 2

CAMPUS | COMMUNITY | CONNECTIONS VOL. 1 | NO. 1 | APRIL 7,2008

CAMPUS | CONNECTIONS | COMMUNITY VOL. 1 | NO. 1 | APRIL 7,2008







5 Do cities submit bribes with their Olympic bids? Dr. Stephen Wenn studies the issue in depth.

8 Meet Mike Belanger, director of Residential Ser-vices, Laurier alumnus and avid golfer.

8 This year’s Chili Cookoff goes over the rainbow and raises money for the United Way.

Laurier has again scored top marks in The annual Canadian University Report and the ranking of Canadian universities.

In the Canadian University Report, Laurier earned one A+, six As and an above-average rating in 25 categories.

Laurier received an A+ for faculty members’ subject knowledge, and an A in each of the following key categories:

securityLaurier also ranked No. 1 in its

TOP MARKS see page 6Dr. Bruce Arai with his dancing partner Trish Beahan suited up for the Pasodoble.

University scores top marks

Laurier celebrates fall convocation

A total of 1,030 Laurier students graduated at fall convocation Oct. 30. Two ceremonies were held at the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex for graduates from all faculties.

Phot

o: T

omas

z Ada

msk

i

CAMPUS COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS VOL. 1 NO. 1 APRIL 7,2008

CAMPUS CONNECTIONS COMMUNITY VOL. 1 NO. 1 APRIL 7,2008



2

A timely and meaningful convocation addressFall convocation was another great reminder that education and research are the primary functions of a university, especially at Laurier where we pride ourselves on combining high academic quality with an exceptional student experience.

The convocation ceremony is an important tradition in the life of a university. It brings the university community together to celebrate learning, teaching and research, and to acknowledge the support we receive from family and friends.

It is also a time for reflection. As they participate in convo-cation, graduands are about to embark on a new stage in their lives, many leaving formal education behind and looking forward to a career, travel or other adventure. It is fitting, then, to include an opportunity at convocation to put past and future into perspective.

Our honorary degree recipient, Clive Beddoe,

did an excellent job in this regard. As an entrepreneur best known for launching WestJet Airlines, Beddoe has demonstrated that he under-stands the mutual benefits that accrue from creating a workplace culture that not only values teamwork, but seeks to encourage, empower and reward employees.

Beddoe emphasized three points in his address.

First, he urged the gradu-ating students to embrace life

“with all the passion, energy and enthusiasm you can possibly muster.

“It is through your energy that you will energize your colleagues and it is through your enthusiasm that others will believe in you and your dreams,” Beddoe said.

Second, he encouraged his audience to hone their “people skills,” noting that, in addition to knowledge and technical skills, “it is through your relationships with others that

you will become the most effective in whatever you pursue.

“I would encourage you to remember that no matter what your field of endeavour, the nature and quality of your relationships with those around you will have a profound impact on not only your success but also on theirs,” he said.

Finally, Beddoe entreated his young audience to learn from the current global economic downturn and to ensure that the “rampant greed” that contributed to its severity is never tolerated again.

“Perhaps with your having witnessed this catastrophe, you will be able to help our future society develop better standards of acceptable

behaviour and not tolerate the excesses that were at the centre of this debacle,” he said.

As I listened to Beddoe’s remarks, I was struck by how closely they aligned with the Laurier community’s view of itself. As the Envisioning Laurier consultation demon-strated, we value high standards in formal education, but we also value community and the opportunity to engage with the people and issues around us. As our institutional proposition says, Laurier inspires lives of leadership and purpose.

Clive Beddoe’s remarks were indeed meaningful and timely for graduates of this university.

Dr. Max Blouw,President and Vice-Chancellor

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Send us your news, events & stories

Email: [email protected]

All submissions are appreciated, however not all submissions will be published. We reserve the right to edit all copy for accuracy, content and length.

InsideLaurier

Volume 2, Number 5, November 2009

Editor: Stacey Morrison

Assistant Editor: Lori Chalmers Morrison

Design: Erin Steed

Contributors: Tomasz Adamski, Kevin Crowley, Mallory O’Brien, Dean Palmer, Mike Whitehouse

InsideLaurier is published by The Department of Public Affairs

Wilfrid Laurier University 75 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3C5

InsideLaurier welcomes your comments and suggestions for stories.

Tel: (519) 884-0710 ext. 3341 | Fax: (519) 884-8848 Email: [email protected]

InsideLaurier (circ. 2,500) is published nine times a year by the Department of Public Affairs.

Opinions expressed in InsideLaurier do not necessarily reflect those of the editor or the university’s administration.

Printed on recycled paper.

Next issue of

December 2009





Deadline for submissions: November 20

From left: Dr. Max Blouw, honorary degree recipient Clive Beddoe and Laurier chancellor John Pollock at fall convocation.

Laurier Brantford celebrated its inaugural Homecoming in October. The event coincided with the campus’ 10-year anniversary this year.

About 800 students, staff, faculty and community members attended the weekend festivities, which included a free breakfast, a free barbecue

lunch, campus tours and a men’s varsity hockey game at the Brantford Civic Centre, with the Golden Hawks defeating the University of Windsor Lancers 4-2.

“It felt like a playoff game,” Laurier Brantford principal Leo Groarke told newspaper, which covered the

event. “The crowd was very pro-Laurier and the students, alumni and community really got into it.”

Later in the evening, alumni gathered at the Piston Broke pub in the new Harmony Square to catch up and share their favourite Laurier memories.

Laurier Brantford celebrates Homecoming

An energetic crowd cheers the men’s hockey team to victory at Laurier Brantford’s Homecoming.

DANCING continued

opportunity to work with HopeSpring, and for the people from Laurier Brantford and Waterloo who came out to support the event,” said Arai.

Yet despite his strong finish in the competition and a commitment to continue dancing, Arai doesn’t plan

on tuning in to the television show, any time soon.

“I haven’t watched the show,” confesses Arai. “It interferes with football.”

For more information about the programs and support services at HopeSpring Cancer Support Centre, please visit: www.hopespring.ca





3

WestJet co-founder receives honorary degreeWestJet co-founder and entrepreneur Clive Beddoe was honored at Laurier’s fall convocation Oct. 30, receiving an honorary doctor of laws degree.

A native of England, Beddoe moved to Canada in 1970 and began a successful career as an entrepreneur in real estate and in plastics enterprises. In 1996, he was the lead partner in launching WestJet Airlines Ltd. as a lower-cost, service-oriented alternative to more established airlines.

Under Beddoe’s leadership, WestJet developed a service-oriented corporate culture that emphasizes the important role played by employees in a company’s success.

In his speech to graduates, Beddoe encouraged them to embrace the next period of their lives “with all the passion, energy and enthusiasm you can muster.” He said “determi-

nation” is a quality that will take them far in life, but he cautioned the new graduates not to let their “drive” for success distort their judgement and ethics.

WLU Press receives government fundingThe Honorable James Moore, federal Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, visited Laurier to announce funding for Wilfrid Laurier University Press and the Associ-ation of Canadian Publishers.

The investments were provided through the Book Publishing Industry Devel-opment Program (BPIDP) of the Department of Canadian Heritage.

WLU Press received $76,714 from the Aid to Publishers component of the BPIDP to support the production and promotion of Canadian-authored books. The WLU Press also received $13,948 from the BPIDP’s Supply Chain Initiative to support an 18-week full-time internship.

Moore praised WLU Press

for the innovation it has shown over its 35-year history, and he congratulated director Brian Henderson for the ongoing success of the WLU Press.

“Funding from the Government of Canada is essential to Canadian publishers, helping to enable their partici-pation in the digital revolution while at the same time to continue to produce the highest-quality books for Canadian and international audiences from Canadian writers in a market dominated by imported books,” said Henderson.

First master of science grad makes key contribution to the study of Parkinson’s diseaseLast fall, Chad Lebold became the first graduate of Laurier’s master’s of science program in kinesiology and physical education (KPE).

This fall, the

will publish a manuscript produced from his master’s thesis, “Freezing of gait in Parkinson’s disease: a

perceptual cause for a motor impairment.”

Lebold, who is a lab instructor for several KPE courses, conducted his research with Dr.

professor and director of the Sun Life Financial Movement Disorders Research and Rehabili-tation Centre (MDRC).

Almeida and Lebold designed experiments to examine the gait of subjects approaching doors of varying widths to determine the underlying causes of motor freezing episodes experienced by some Parkinson’s disease patients.

Their results challenge current beliefs that freezing is a motor impairment, instead suggesting that patients are having problems with space perception because of sensory-perceptual issues that interfere with movement.

The article will be published

in the journal this fall, and is one of three manuscripts produced from Lebold’s thesis work. Relay for Life raises more than $28,000 for cancer researchFor the third year in a row, Laurier Brantford’s department of recreation hosted the Relay for Life to raise money for the Canadian Cancer Society. Continuing with tradition, this year was another huge success, with more than 245 people participating by walking for 12 hours in Victoria Park. The event raised over $28,000, bringing the total raised to more than $85,000 after only three years.

“We are very proud of all the participants this year for their dedication to the relay, and we are looking forward to next year and reaching the $100,000 milestone,” said Greg Stewart, Laurier Brantford’s coordinator of recreation and programs.

NEWS What’s new and notable at Laurier

Laurier launches first mobile e-learning pilot program

Laurier’s School of Business & Economics is going mobile. The school, in partnership with Research In Motion and Rogers Communications Inc., has engaged its 100 full-time Waterloo MBA students in an innovative one-year mobile e-learning pilot program, which kicked off last month.

No other business school in Canada has taken on a program of this scope or breadth at the MBA level.

The Laurier MBA BlackBerry pilot is designed to revolu-tionize the way the school’s MBA program approaches learning both in and out of the classroom. Students will be armed with a BlackBerry Curve 8900 smartphone from Rogers. The aim of the project is to prepare Laurier’s MBA students for the business world by providing them with the latest mobile learning applica-tions, to extend their access to

a multimedia-rich education beyond the walls of the classroom, and to provide tools for collaboration between MBA teammates.

“By working with RIM and Rogers Communications, our partners of choice for this pilot, we are challenging the bound-aries of the traditional learning environment,” said Ginny Dybenko, Laurier’s dean of business and economics.

Students involved in the

Laurier pilot program will use their Black-Berry smartphones for more than just the standard voice, text and email applications. Laurier students and faculty members will communicate using enriched content such as video, voice notes and pictures, as well as the latest collabo-ration tools. Faculty will “push” content to their students’ smartphones, and will have access to metrics that will help them gauge which content is being accessed.

Anticipated benefits from the project include improved sharing of educational content, easier access to learning materials so students can be more productive with their time, enhanced MBA team experiences and a better under-standing of how content is used by students.

A number of research studies will be conducted throughout the year-long pilot. In addition, the Laurier MBA students will be challenged to find new

uses for the applications and handsets provided.

“Business schools around the world are interested in mobile learning and we are committed to maintaining leadership in e-learning through programs like the Laurier MBA BlackBerry pilot,” said Kim Morouney, associate dean of business and pilot leader. “This is an oppor-tunity to extend what other schools have done and really take mobile learning to that next level of integration and communication.”

Clive Beddoe

MBA students will use smartphones for learning, communication and collaboration

Sheldon Herbert, director, public sector, healthcare and education, Research In Motion, Ginny Dybenko, dean of business and economics, Amy Gruber, community relations manager, Rogers Communications Inc., and Laurier president Dr. Max Blouw.

More than 245 people took part in Laurier Brantford’s third-annual Relay for Life.





4

Laurier biology student Emily MacDonald was honoured as one of 100 undergraduate students from

across Canada selected to present her research at the Rising Stars of Research competition at the University of British Columbia. MacDonald did her fourth-year

thesis work on the study of the symbiotic relationship between legumes and bacteria, which results in the formation of nodules in the root systems. This could lead to a significant reduction in the use of chemical fertilizers in agriculture. New appointments:

Caroline Culshaw, lab technician, Biology.

Rachel Dann, administrative assistant, Office of Research Services.

Michael Fish, booking and financial assistant, Athletics and Recreation.

Sarah Innes, administrative assistant, Journalism/Leadership, Laurier Brantford.

Linda Norton, administrative

assistant, Faculty of Social Work.

Nicholas Pokorny, lab coordi-nator, Biology.

Donata Zambonini, adminis-trative assistant, History.

Changes in staff appointments:

Wegdan Abdelsalam, lab coordi-nator, Languages & Literature.

Heather Bouillon, financial coordinator, Laurier Brantford.

Karilynn Olsen, interme-diate administrative assistant, Geography.

Paul Schell, mechanic/trades helper.

PEOPLE AT LAURIER For a complete list of appointments visit www.wlu.ca/hr

-

This month in history

Golden Hawks athletics update The Golden Hawks men’s baseball team and varsity swimmers chalked up impressive showings at recent events, while the women’s hockey team has started the season with a perfect record, and the football and soccer teams advanced to the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) finals.

Last month, the baseball team finished in second place in the OUA championships, playing in the finals for the first time in the team’s history.

After defeating the defending OUA champions, the McMaster Marauders, in the semifinals, the Hawks advanced to the finals where they met the Western Mustangs, who finished first overall in regular season play. The Hawks dropped game one of the series 6-0 and the next

match 3-1, for the silver medal.In the pool, Whitney Rich

qualified for her fourth consec-utive Canadian Interuniversity Sport championship after winning one gold, two silver and a bronze medal at the Sprint Invitational meet in Guelph.

On the ice, the No. 2 nationally-ranked women’s varsity hockey team has a perfect record. And in exhibition play, the Golden Hawks took on the Chinese Olympic team in October, earning a 1-1 draw.

In football, the Golden Hawks finished the regular season ranked second in the province after an upset victory over the No. 2 nationally-ranked

a first-round bye in the playoffs. The team was defeated by Western in OUA semifinal play, ending Laurier’s season.

And on the soccer field, the women’s varsity team was defeated by the Ottawa Gee-Gees in the OUA bronze medal match, finishing the playoffs in fourth place.

Nov. 1, 1512: The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome, one of Italian artist Michelangelo’s greatest works, is exhibited to the public for the first time.

Nov. 1, 1959: Montreal Canadien Jacques Plante becomes the first NHL goaltender to wear a full facemask.

Nov. 10, 1969: Pioneering television show debuts. It went on to become the most

widely viewed children’s program in the world.

Nov. 11, 1918: At the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month, World War I comes to an end. It left nine million soliders dead, 21 million

wounded and at least five million civilians dead from disease, starvation or exposure.

Nov. 23, 1936: The first issue of the pictorial magazine, Life, is published.

Nov. 23, 2007: Laurier establishes its teaching Hall of Fame.

What are you reading?

What are you listening to?

Name: Adri Spyker Job Title: Admin. Manager: SBE Research Centre & Case Publications Book Title: Cultural Intelligence: People Skills for Global Business Author: David C. Thomas and Kerr Inkson

When I was a child I went to a school in the Netherlands with only 100 students, representing 32 nationalities, and I’ve been fascinated by culture ever since. That’s why I picked up this book. It is a practical yet theoretically based book teaching you how to understand other cultures and build your “cultural intelligence.” I’ve been learning a lot. I’d highly recommend this book as an easy, practical read.

What are you reading?

What are you listening to?

Name: Faith McCord Job Title: Senior Administrative Assistant, Archaeology CD Title: Crazy Love Artist: Michael Bublé

With his Sinatra-type voice, this Canadian-born crooner sings songs like and

to perfection. If you ever have the chance to hear him being interviewed on the radio or television, don’t miss it — he’s got a great personality.

Dr. Shohini Ghose, an assistant professor in the physics and computer science department, and an expert in quantum chaos, has been published in one of the world’s most prestigious science journals, .

Her co-authored paper,

a Kicked Top,” shows evidence of a connection between the very

different worlds of quantum mechanics and classical chaos at an unprecedented level of detail.

“An atom has a spin, like a toy top,” she explains. “Using lasers and magnetic fields to introduce small perturbations (changes) to the system, we were able to ‘kick’ the top, kicking the atomic spins. Suddenly we saw that something happened. As the experimental parameters were varied, the behaviour changed from periodic motion to unpredictable motion… like a chaotic kicked top. We had observed the signatures of chaos!”

After 26 years at Laurier, Dr. Leo Groarke, principal/vice-president of Laurier Brantford, will be leaving to take up the position of provost/vice-president academic at the University of Windsor, starting April 1, 2010.

“I’m excited by the oppor-tunity and challenges at Windsor but I will miss Laurier and especially Laurier Brantford, which has been a remarkable experience for me,” said Groarke. “I will continue to follow the developments at Laurier, wish it well for the future, and hope to use all the lessons I have learned here as a basis for my work in Windsor.”

Groarke joined Laurier as a professor of philosophy in 1983. He was chair of the Philosophy Department from 1994 to 1997, and in 1999 was named assistant dean of program development in the Faculty of Arts and Science (later divided into two separate faculties). Groarke was appointed dean of Laurier Brantford in 2000, and became the first principal/vice-president of the Brantford campus in 2007. He served as Laurier’s acting vice-president academic in 2008 before returning to his role as principal/vice-president of Laurier Brantford earlier this year.

Groarke guided Laurier Brantford through its first decade, a period in which the campus grew from 39 students and one building to its current size of 16 buildings and nearly 2,400 students. He also played a lead role in establishing successful partnerships with the city, the county, community groups, native communities, and other post-secondary educational institutions. He is the author of a soon-to-be published book about the positive impact Laurier has had on Brantford, called

Dr. Leo Groarke accepts post at University of Windsor

The women’s soccer team lost to the Ottawa Gee-Gees in the OUA bronze medal match.





5


There is a nameplate inscribed with the words “International Olympic Committee President, Stephen Wenn” sitting on the kinesiology and physical education professor’s desk, and there is a handcrafted Olympic torch in his office. But these gifts, given to Wenn during the bid competition he stages each year as part of his fourth-year Modern Olympic Games course, pale in comparison to the bribes Wenn is examining for his upcoming book on the Salt Lake City Olympic bid scandal.

In November 1998, Wenn and co-authors Dr. Robert Barney and Dr. Scott Martyn were in the final stages of research for their first book,

They were sitting in the office of International Olympic Committee (IOC) vice-president Richard Pound, who had granted them access to IOC session and executive board minutes, when news broke in Salt Lake City that would change the face of the IOC and the course of Wenn’s Olympic research.

News reports alleged that top executives in the Salt Lake City Olympic Committee had authorized an orchestrated gift-giving program that saw members of the Salt Lake City bid committee providing lavish gifts to IOC committee members (such as university tuition for their children) in exchange for their commitment to vote for Salt Lake City in the 1995 bid for the host city of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games.

“In the end, 20 of the impli-cated 24 IOC members received some form of censure, and of this number, six were expelled and four resigned,” says Wenn.

“Stories surfaced about the gift-giving practices of past organizing committees and the IOC’s failure to pursue rumours about the conduct of some of its members who breached rules about accepting gifts.”

Wenn considers the scandal, in part, a result of the IOC’s commercial success.

“The IOC moved from being an organization that wanted nothing to do with commercial revenue in the 1950s, to one that became very good at negotiating large sums of it,” says Wenn, who credits former IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch with capitalizing on revenue sources such as television rights and major corporate sponsorships. “This wealth granted the IOC a needed measure of political autonomy. They were no longer dragged down by political issues

and could withstand political boycotts.”

The more adept the IOC became at raising commercial revenue, the more they were able to offset the cost to cities of hosting the games, says Wenn. This generated increased interest

— and increased competition among cities — in hosting the games, promting cities to look for ways to get an edge.

“The bid committees found ways of finding some IOC members who could be bought,” says Wenn. “But it’s a secret ballot, so they would never know if they were successful in ultimately getting their votes.”

The fallout from the Salt Lake City scandal showed the IOC at its best and at its worst.

“At its worst, the IOC was ill-prepared to deal with the media crisis and were in a position where they hadn’t done anything about past rumours of corruption,” says Wenn. “But it was at its best in the sense that after the IOC leadership recovered, picked itself up and dusted itself off, it moved forward in an effective way and managed to recover the Olympic brand. The IOC survived and has its autonomy.”

Wenn discusses the fallout after the scandal in a Nov. 19

podcast called “The Olympic Movement and the Road Ahead:

Tackle the Big Issues?”, which is part of the Intellectual Muscle series hosted by the Vancouver 2010 Olympics and

. In his lecture, he cites positive changes as a result of the scandal, such as improved financial transparency, transfer of knowledge, an IOC ethics code of conduct and a shorter term for IOC committee members. But he says there are three key areas that were left on the sidelines during the restructuring that demand immediate attention.

First, women are underrepre-sented in the IOC membership. Only 16 per cent of members are women, only one executive board member is a woman, and only 30 per cent of national Olympic committees meet the target of 20 per cent female membership.

Second, the Olympics remain Eurocentric. “It’s hard to call the IOC an international organi-zation when seven of eight IOC presidents have been European and 63 per cent of the Olympic games it sponsors have been held in Europe,” says Wenn, who claims the power and influence of the Olympics is clearly centred in Europe. “They need to look

away from Europe, North America and Oceania. The recent winning bid by Rio de Janeiro to host the 2016 Summer Olympics on the heels of its successful hosting of the 2007 Pan Am games might be a positive sign.”

Third, the IOC and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) need to solve their long-standing battle over fair distri-bution of Olympic money.

“Chicago didn’t lose the vote (to host the 2016 Olympic games); the USOC lost it for them in the context of the revenue-distribution issue,” says Wenn.

This despite President Barack Obama travelling to Copenhagen before the vote this fall to show his support for the Chicago bid.

“If you were faced with the decision whether to fire up Air Force One, it would be a tough decision to make,” says Wenn.

“If Obama made the trip and Chicago won, then people would say Chicago was going to win anyway. If Obama made the trip and Chicago lost, then it would be Obama’s fault. If Obama didn’t go to show his support and Chicago won, he would get no credit, but if he didn’t make the trip and Chicago lost, he would get blamed for not having made the effort.”

Yet for all of his research into

the politics, commercialism and corruption associated with the Olympics, Wenn is still able to enjoy the games.

During the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, Wenn sat 18 rows above the 50-metre mark for the Johnson-Lewis 100-metre running race.

“There were four U.S. marines sitting behind me. I had my big huge Canadian flag and was plenty pleased when Johnson won and Lewis lost,” laughs Wenn, who has been to three Olympic Games. “I was home before the tests came out (disqualifying Johnson for drug use) and I’ve been laughing for 20 years about how those marines were probably looking for me for days after I’d skipped town!”

Wenn’s favourite Olympic sport “for pure excitement” is swimming, and his most cherished Olympic moment was watching his childhood idol Muhammad Ali light the Olympic cauldron in Atlanta.

As for his favourite games, Wenn lists the Sydney 2000 Games because he was there with his wife and his six-month old son. “We’ll be going to Vancouver in 2010 — it will be my son’s second Olympic Games,” says Wenn.

RESEARCH FILE

Researching the rise of Olympic commercialismDr. Stephen Wenn studies the politics and corruption surrounding the Olympic Games

Dr. Stephen Wenn and the official mascot at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

Vancouver 2010 by the numbers 4 countries are making their Winter Olympic debut: Ghana, Bahamas, Gabon and The Cayman Islands.

17 days of events.

10 days of Paralympic Winter Games.

80+ countries participating in Olympic Winter Games.

40+ countries participating in Paralympic Winter Games.

5,500 projected athletes and officials.

1,350 projected Paralympic Games athletes and officials.

10,000 media representa-tives attending.

45,000 kilometre torch relay across Canada — the longest domestic relay in Olympic history.

1.8 million tickets.

3 billion worldwide television viewers.





6

Laurier hosts training program for China delegationUniversity shares strategies to administer institutional growth


When administrators from China’s Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommuni-

they wanted to improve the management of their institution, they looked to Canada for different models of university governance and strategies to oversee institu-tional growth. The Canadian Consulate in Chongqing put them in touch with Laurier.

“The Canadian Consulate is interested in putting Canadian education on the map in southwest China and creating a pathway to Canada,” said Peter Donahue, director of Laurier International. “The consulate approached Laurier to see if we’d be interested in taking on a lead role to help the universities in the region better manage the changes that are being brought on by enormous enrolment growth.”

At the end of September, Ruth Chen from Laurier’s China Office accompanied 29

including the university chairman, to Laurier for a three-week training program in Canadian higher-education management.

Laurier president Dr. Max

Blouw, senior administrators, and members of neighbouring higher-education institutions and government agencies ran 19 sessions for the group, ranging from an overview of post-secondary education in Canada and university partnership with industry, to student services and research administration.

“Universities are complex organizations with diverse stakeholders, multiple products, and long-time horizons,” said Blouw, who is visiting Chongqing this month.

“They are therefore challenging entities to lead and to admin-ister. I found it valuable to compare approaches and outcomes with our colleagues

our work in strengthening our universities is the same, but the context is so different that it enables rich and stimulating learning opportunities for us all.”

For Donahue, the training program enabled the Laurier community to demonstrate its strength in post-secondary education administration. He says that Laurier’s presence in southwest China over the past two and a half years is not just about recruiting students, it is about building relation-

ships. And now it is also about helping to build capacities in higher-education management, as well as program devel-opment and research.

“What I learned from my colleagues at Laurier who eagerly participated in the program was the strong commitment to improving higher education no matter where it is being delivered,” said Donahue. “And with so many of our administrative team recognized as leaders in their fields in Canada, we have a strong program to work with the Canadian Consulate in Chongqing on this project.”

When they weren’t attending -

istrators experienced the region’s local culture. The group toured the Brantford campus, visited St. Jacobs, where they were welcomed into the home of a Mennonite family, met with Chinese faculty and students, and met local Chinese-Canadian families. They watched a Laurier women’s hockey exhibition game, and ended their Canadian tour with stops in Toronto, Niagara Falls, Ottawa and Vancouver.

“Because many of us from Laurier had experience in China, we were familiar

with elements of the Chinese culture that would make our visitors feel welcome,” said Donahue. Food was provided from a number of local restau-rants that were able to cater to the group’s fondness for hot

Sichuan style food. Another highlight for the group was a party at a local restaurant to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China, which took place during their tour.


With piracy on interna-tional waters occurring more frequently and little being done to prevent attacks, a Laurier professor travelled to the United States to attend a workshop to discuss the issue.

Dr. Patricia Goff, executive director of the Laurier-based Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS), travelled to Washington, D.C., last month for the workshop to examine options in international law to prosecute pirates.

The workshop, co-hosted by ACUNS, assembled experts in international criminal law, the Law of the Sea, the International Criminal Court (ICC) and special tribunals. Participants looked at international law solutions to piracy and explored the central legal question: What to do with pirates?

“In recent months, piracy has found its way onto the general public’s radar, largely due to the dramatic capture of the American captain of the Maersk Alabama off Somalia in April,”

said Goff, who is also a senior fellow at the Centre for Interna-tional Governance Innovation (CIGI) in Waterloo. “While the number of incidents has increased, protecting against piracy is not new for commercial shippers. It is an ongoing problem in many regions of the world.”

Workshop participants discussed how private and public representatives can respond to criminal activity on the high seas, especially off the failed state of Somalia. Several countries, such as the U.S., Great Britain, France, India and China, are collaborating to patrol the corridor between the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.

The workshop addressed several key questions: Can the crime of piracy be added to the jurisdiction of the ICC? How likely is it that the ICC might try pirates

in the near future? What are the advantages and disadvantages of using third-party national governments to apprehend pirates? What alternative gover-nance options exist? What are the prospects for a special tribunal on piracy?

“The UN Security Council has authorized extraordinary measures to allow these navies to act against pirates in sovereign Somali territory,” said Goff.

“This military activity has a preventative purpose. Yet the real challenge arises in appre-hending and prosecuting pirates.”

Piracy and international lawLaurier professor participates in workshop to examine options to prosecute pirates

In November, Laurier International plans to host Chongq-ing’s minister of science and technology, and will work with Canada’s Technology Triangle to provide business and technology networking opportunities between the two countries.

There are other educational and training projects in the works. Laurier International is talking to a school in Mexico that would like to learn more about social work practica, and is aiding faculty members who are seeking opportunities to help university capacities in Senegal and Botswana. For the School of Business & Economics, Laurier International is helping to identify projects that could use the school’s expertise to address development issues.

Through its membership in Academics for Higher Education and Development — a Montreal-based non-governmental organization focusing on post-secondary educational capacity-building in the developing world — Laurier International is helping to identify Laurier faculty who could help rebuild a war-torn university in Liberia and assist an Indonesian university to expand its ability to work with disabled students.

“The wonderful thing about Laurier is that our (community) members do these things because it’s just what we do,” said Donahue. “We take on these leadership roles because we have a sense of purpose and of global citizenship.”

Other Laurier International projects

TOP MARKS continued

category for class size, and it shared the No. 1 spot for quality of teaching and for faculty knowledge. Laurier ranked above average in 25 categories — up from 17 last year. Some of the areas in which Laurier scored above average include student services, student residences, sense of community, sports and recreational services, availability of financial assistance, career preparation and reputation among employers.

In the ranking, Laurier placed first in Ontario and fourth in the country among primarily undergraduate univer-sities, and improved in a number of other key categories.

Laurier placed in the top

three in its category nationally for best overall, highest quality, most innovative, and overall reputation. Laurier was ranked No. 1 for highest quality among primarily undergraduate univer-sities in Ontario, and placed in the top three in its category provincially for best overall, most innovative and leaders of tomorrow.

In the primarily under-graduate category, Laurier improved in many areas, including: overall reputation, best overall, most innovative, leaders of tomorrow, number of faculty awards, and the amount spent on student services as a percentage of the university budget. Laurier again ranked third for medical/science grants for faculty.

It’s not too late for a flu shot!The cooler weather is here and with it comes flu season. To help you stay healthy, Public Heath is recommending that everyone receives a free H1N1 flu vaccine.

It is anticipated that Laurier will offer a second round of flu clinics when additional vaccine is available. Meanwhile, staff, faculty and students are encouraged to attend a community clinic. The Laurier website has links for clinic dates and locations in Waterloo Region and Brantford.

Health Services offers these tips to prepare for your flu shot:

getting the vaccine.

Dr. Patricia Goff.





7

How long have you worked at the university?

My first job was the Turret manager in 1975, while I was a student. Fred Nichols hired me as the director of housing in 1980 and in 1993 I was asked to reorganize information systems. I did it somewhat reluctantly — with a science degree and being a two-finger typist, I thought, “I don’t even speak their language!” In the end, it was a fabulous experience that made me more technologically proficient. I returned to residence life a short time later.

How did you meet your wife at Laurier?

Leah and I met in 1976. She worked in the games room (where WLUSU is now) when I worked at the Turret. We married in 1980. Back then there were married couples living in each residence to supervise the dons. It seems so archaic now! I hired myself and my wife to be head residents in Willison Hall. It was our problem building — 160 men with unruly behaviour.

What changes have you seen in residence life over the past few decades?

When I first started in residence, the approach was to stand around and wait for students to mess up, then we’d catch them and punish them. But it became really obvious to me that this wasn’t accomplishing anything. So we devised a residence life program that fostered an environment of support and mutual respect for students.

I’ve seen our program evolve in such a professional way, with a focus on training and education. Chris Dodd (manager of housing services and residence life) has been the driving force behind the

staff and the more recent developments in residence life. We probably have the best residence life program in Canada — we’re slowly Laurier-izing the country!

What insights have you developed over the years when it comes to residence?

It seems that when parents call with concerns about their children, mothers call for sons, and fathers call for daughters. If I answer the phone and it’s a mother, I’ll say, “What’s your son’s name?” Ninety per cent of the time I’m right.

How are you feeling about retiring in December 2010?

It won’t hit me until Christmas, when I’ll start doing everything for the last time throughout the year. It’s time to leave — I don’t have the same energy. I’ll go home and knit and garden (wink). It’s been rewarding to be surrounded by bright, young, intelligent people. I get to watch students leave here and go out and turn the world upside down.

COFFEE WITH A CO-WORKER A look at staff and faculty across campus

Name: Mike Belanger

Job: Residential Services director.

Where you can find him: Sitting among golf mementos in his first-floor office in the King Street Residence.

How he takes his coffee: A little cream and no sugar.

Jeff Thomas: VERSOWhen: Until Dec. 5Where: Robert Langen Art GalleryCost: Free

This photography exhibit features “cultural landscapes” inspired by the artist’s Iroquois/Onondaga heritage.

Woldemar Neufeld’s Canada: A Mennonite Artist in the Canadian LandscapeWhen: Nov. 16 12 p.m. – 1 p.m.Where: Kitchener Public LibraryCost: Free

Dr. Paul Tiessen from Laurier’s department of English and film studies will be the speaker for this popular lecture series.

Innovation & Entrepre-neurship Speaker Series: Andy MacaulayWhen: Nov. 1711:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.Where: KPMG AtriumCost: Free

Join alumnus Andy Macaulay, president and CEO of ZiG, as he speaks about his business experiences.

Designing Effective Syllabi: A Research Informed ApproachWhen: Nov. 171 p.m. – 2:20 p.m.Where: P1021 (Peters Building)Cost: Free

In this hands-on session, participants will examine sample course syllabi and discuss what should be included in course syllabi and how they can effec-tively be used to support student learning. To register, visit www.wlu.ca/educationaldevelopment.

Life After Laurier ScienceWhen: Nov. 204:30 p.m.Where: N1002, Science Building

Laurier alumnus Michael Stark (BSc ‘05), owner of Control TPMS, will share highlights from his career and dispense tips and tricks for finding success in life after Laurier. For more information, visit www.wlu.ca/science.

Women’s Hockey:Laurier Golden Hawks vs. Guelph Gryhons When: Nov. 217:30 p.m.Where: Waterloo Recreation ComplexCost: Adults $6/Children free

Music at NoonWhen: Nov. 2412 p.m. – 1 p.m.Where: Maureen Forrester Recital HallCost: FreeBring your lunch and enjoy the music of Kevin O’Donnell, flute, and Beth Ann de Sousa, piano.

Men’s Hockey: Laurier Golden Hawks vs. Western Mustangs

When: Nov. 267 p.m.Where: Waterloo Recreation ComplexCost: Adults $6/Children free

Lessons From the Financial Market MeltdownWhen: Nov. 3012 p.m. – 1 p.m.Where: Kitchener Public Library

Dr. Brian Smith from Laurier’s School of Business & Economics will be the speaker for this popular lecture series.

Christkindl MarketWhen: Dec. 3 – 6Where: Kitchener City HallCost: Free

Enjoy the sights, sounds and tastes of this German holiday festival. Vendors will be on hand selling handmade gifts and traditional food. For more information, visit www.christ-kindl.ca.

Taking Care of YOUWhen: Dec. 1012 p.m. – 1 p.m.Where: Paul Martin CentreCost: Free

Presenter Emily McLean will teach you four steps to help your busy life feel more fulfilling. To register, visit www.wlu.ca/ilovemyjob and click the link for Employee Assis-tance Program workshops.

COMING EVENTS For a complete list of events visit www.wlu.ca/events

How to avoid the morning rushDo you find yourself short on time and disorganized in the mornings? The following tips are designed to help you manage the morning rush.

Start going to bed and getting up earlier. Move bedtime up 15 minutes at a time until you adjust to a schedule that suits your lifestyle. It will take time to adapt, but it will be easier to rise at an earlier hour.

Place all items you need in one location. For example, place your keys, briefcase, purse and letters to be mailed near the door.

Rise first and dress before waking others. Time alone in the morning can be just what you need to get

yourself together without bumping into others or being interrupted.

Take time for breakfast. Set the table the night before and sit down for 15 minutes to eat a wholesome breakfast.

Keeping house

Residential Services director Mike Belanger (BA ‘75), a former Little House resident, will be retiring next year after 30 years at Laurier.

Phot

o: D

ean

Palm

er





8

IN THE CLASSROOM A look inside the lecture hall

Professor: Dr. Lee Willingham

Class: Ensemble: WLU Choirs

Description: Students from all years gather for choral rehearsal. There are two choirs: the Concert Choir and the Laurier Singers.

Dr. Lee Willingham began singing formally as an undergraduate at the University of Toronto.

“As a piano major, I was placed in a choir for ensemble, just like we do here today at Laurier,” he says. “That got me hooked on choral singing and later I took on private voice coaching.”

Willingham says that the pacing of rehearsals is important.

“It must not be too sluggish or pedantic,” he says. “Students must sense they are growing artistically through the efforts they put forth.”

Even though it is Willingham’s job to direct the choir, students have the opportunity to voice their input. There is a student advisory committee, and a creative planning team who help with the direction of the choirs and the concert staging.

“Is singing worthwhile? Always! Everyone can sing. I like the African proverb: If you can walk, you can dance, if you can talk, you can sing.”

Singing of chorus

Photo: Dean Palmer

Dr. Lee Willingham, who began singing himself as an undergraduate, leads students during a choral rehearsal.

Chili cookoff raises $520 for United WayFaculty of Education’s Chili of Oz team wins for hottest chili and most money raised

Phot

os: S

tace

y M

orris

on

Nov09_InsideLaurier_lowres

Documents

Transcript of Nov09_InsideLaurier_lowres