Manu Sharma, Lauren Bultje, Lois Smedick Education professor Manu Sharma, psychology student Lauren Bultje representing Out on Campus, and professor emerita Lois Smedick received awards Wednesday from the Office of Human Rights, Equity and Accessibility.

Awards celebrate campus commitment to human rights and social justice

There are a lot of positive activities on campus that deserve celebration, says Kaye Johnson, director of the Office of Human Rights, Equity and Accessibility. The first annual OHREA awards reception, December 10 in the Odette Building, reflected the commitment to social justice.

“We are proud of what this university is doing,” Johnson says. “We hope other people are too, and that the examples we celebrate today act as a spur to action.”

Manu Sharma, an instructor in the Faculty of Education and Academic Development, received the Human Rights and Social Justice Award for her work organizing conferences to introduce elementary and secondary students to global issues.

She endorses the idea of the awards.

“It is good that there is a way to recognize human rights initiatives,” Dr, Sharma says. “I am very excited that this is encouraged and recognized. We can’t neglect something so important.”

Besides Sharma, award recipients included:

  • Richard Dumala, a recent retiree from Information Technology Services who received the Accessibility Award for his leadership in building accessibility into the University’s websites;
  • Professor emerita Lois Smedick, who received the Employment Equity Award for her pioneering work on the issue at the University of Windsor; and
  • The student club Out on Campus, which received the OHREA Award for advancing the culture of diversity and inclusivity for its efforts on behalf of understanding gender and sexual diversity.

UWindsor president Alan Wildeman addressed the reception to thank participants for their contributions to making the university a place where everyone can feel welcome and valued.

Mohammad Malhi and Ali Al-MahdiEngineering students Mohammad Malhi and Ali Al-Mahdi enjoy coffee and cookies, provided free Thursday by Leddy Library staff.

Show of appreciation relieves exam-time stress for students

After pulling an all-night study session, first-year engineering student Mohamad Malhi was pleased to find coffee waiting for him Thursday in the Leddy Library’s lobby. Library staff distributed free coffee and cookies to patrons for its biannual Student Appreciation Day.

“It’s nice the university is doing this for us,” Malhi said as he sipped his drink. “I also really appreciate that the library is open all night during exams.”

Proceeds of the library’s book sale covered the cost of the goodies.

The giveaway was part of the library’s “de-stress month” observances, which include a fun lobby display of Leddy cats wishing students luck on their exams, a board game table providing a break from studying, and the “secrets wall” in the west building, where students can post notes on any subject they wish.

miniature Winston figure This cool miniature Winston figure awaits the winner of today’s holiday trivia quiz.

Quiz offers test of holiday song knowledge

The Campus Bookstore is offering DailyNews readers a chance to win Winston—or at least a miniature stuffed version of the Lancer mascot.

Standing more than 29 cm tall, the figure comes complete with cape and the Lancers logo on its chest, making it a perfect stocking stuffer for any UWindsor fan. It’s a $22.95 value and you could win it free in today’s trivia contest.

To enter, simply match selected lyrics to the seasonal tune. The winner will be selected at random from all correct responses received by 4 p.m. Tuesday, December 16.

  1. Auld Lang Syne, Robert Burns
  2. Boxing Day, Blink 182
  3. Cool Yule, Steve Allen
  4. Elf’s Lament, Ed Robertson
  5. Hanukkah in Santa Monica, Tom Lehrer
  6. Saint Stephen, the Grateful Dead
  7. What are you doing New Year’s Eve? Frank Loesser
  1. Speeding arrow, sharp and narrow,
    What a lot of fleeting matters you have spurned.
  2. Amid the California flora I’ll be lighting my menorah
  3. I make toys, but I've got aspirations
  4. You left me on the day after Christmas
    There’s nothing left to say, and so goodnight
  5. Maybe I’m crazy to suppose I’d ever be the one you chose.
  6. Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind?
  7. He’ll come a-calling when the snow’s the most
    When all you cats are sleeping warm as toast.

Contest is open to all readers of the DailyNews. Send an e-mail with your responses to uofwnews@uwindsor.ca. One entry per contestant, please. Note: the decision of the judge in determining the most correct response is inviolable.

Computer scientist to explain use of simulations in exploring ecological questions

Evolution is slow, so scientists studying its long-term processes find it helpful to speed it up. That’s where UWindsor computer science professor Robin Gras comes in.

His generic simulation platform, called EcoSim, can manage several hundred thousand agents simultaneously in an artificial world, allowing researchers to examine broad ecological questions—including evolution, speciation, extinctions and invasive species.

EcoSim generates vast amounts of data representing all the information about the world, every species and individual (including mental states) at every moment. Such detail gives the program great advantage over real data gathering, which is limited by the large spatial and temporal scales involved.

In a simulation, more than a billion agents can be born, and thousands of species can emerge and become extinct. This novel approach of ecosystem simulation is a promising area of research and almost unique in the world. 

Dr. Gras is an associate professor of computer science and Canada Research Chair in Learning and Simulation for Theoretical Biology Science. He will discuss this work at the Science Café at Canada South Science City, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, December 17. The free public event is part of a series sponsored by the Faculty of Science to offer discussion of important science research for the general public.

Canada South Science City is located at 930 Marion Avenue.

Special appointments committee issues call for applications

The Special Appointments Committee invites applications for professor emerita/emeritus, distinguished university professor, and honorary professor.

An application for an eligible candidate must be submitted to Maria Giampuzzi in the office of the University Secretariat by February 18, 2015. Direct any questions to her at 519-253-3000, ext. 3317.

Find more information, including criteria and process, on the Senate website.

Students Meighen Whitehead and Melissa Moody model some of the artistic creations displayed during Wednesday’s BioArt Bouffant.Students Meighen Whitehead and Melissa Moody model some of the artistic creations displayed during Wednesday’s BioArt Bouffant.

BioArt cabaret brings art to life—and life to art

The Olde Walkerville Theatre was alive with actual living art on Wednesday, December 10, as students showed off their interdisciplinary creations at the BioArt Bouffant cabaret.

“This is an event for students to showcase their wearable art works that they wear on their head,” says Alana Bartol, who teaches the BioArt class in the LeBel Building’s Incubator lab. She says the course is a cross-discipline collaboration between the School of Creative Arts and the biology department.

“When the project was initially announced it was met with excitement and fear because the artists would have to get up on stage,” says Bartol. “It was great to see the students taking their ideas and really pushing their own personal boundaries and coming up with these amazing projects.”

Melissa Moody, a hair stylist and UWindsor part-time social work student, took the class as an elective. She and Bartol came up with the idea of making mixed media works of art as wearable head pieces.

“This is not my usual forte,” says Moody. “I don’t typically fasten large objects to people’s hair, but it was a fun learning experience seeing how other people come up with their vision and inter-mixing our skills.

“To see it come together is pretty awesome. It’s a lot more amazing then I could imagine.”

Moody donned a candy-inspired piece called “Crystal Treats” created by classmate Anthea Chan. Moody’s own creation, dubbed “Garden on the Go,” looked like a garden growing out of a woman’s head and was made in part of peppers and lotus leaves. Moody says they had some difficulties getting into the car and walking down stairs but it all worked out.

The night saw students parading their wearable art across the stage. Other unique creations included an incubator with a light shining on an egg, a large nest that covered a student’s head and half his body, a waterproof container with a live fish and a massive sun hat embedded with real leaves.

To round out the cabaret, the packed house was entertained by whip juggler Seb Whipits, opera singer Erin Armstrong and female impersonator Juice Boxx.

Research Ethics Board updates protocol application form

The Research Ethics Board has issued a new version of its protocol application form and will require its use as of January.

Most of the changes address areas in which the board frequently makes comments that could be addressed by improving the clarity of the application. There are more substantial changes to the brief justification, the sections on risks, and the section on confidentiality and use of information.

In order to better differentiate between minimal risk and higher levels of risk, the application now distinguishes between minimal and low levels of method risk. This change is intended to encourage researchers to evaluate the actual level of risk associated with the project, rather than to focus on seeking a minimal risk designation.

Due to increases in archiving of data, sharing of data with others beyond those named in the project, and publication of datasets, new fields have been added to the section on confidentiality. Here researchers are asked to describe outputs that will result from the project, as well as to consider if and how the information might be used in the future. The ethical conduct of research does not end with the completion of data collection from participants, and extends for the entire lifecycle of the information that results.

The board is moving toward an electronic submission process and no longer requires multiple paper copies. Instead, it now requires that researchers submit one complete paper copy with signatures. The board continues to require that a single electronic file that includes all components (including appendices and attachments) is submitted for review, by e-mailing the file to ethics@uwindsor.ca.

All new applications must be submitted on the latest version of the application; as of January 1, applications submitted on older versions of the application will not be accepted for review. The application and updated instructions can be found at www1.uwindsor.ca/reb/forms. For further assistance, contact the Research Ethics Board at ethics@uwindsor.ca.

The beginning of the year is a very busy time at the board, so the office recommends that researchers submit applications well in advance of planned start dates.

Innovation Centre doorPatrons may access the office of Campus Parking Services through this Sunset Avenue entrance to the Joyce Entrepreneurship Centre after December 18.

Parking Services to close Tuesday and Wednesday for office move

The Office of Parking Services will close Tuesday and Wednesday for its move to a new home in the building north of the campus parking structure.

Parking Services will close December 16 and 17 to pack and make the move, planning to re-open Thursday, December 18, in room 106, Joyce Entrepreneurship Centre. Patrons may access the office from Sunset Avenue, directly across from the Music Building.

Lecture to examine models of argument

Philosophy professor Christopher Tindale will suggest a way to prepare the field of informal logic to better deal with narrative and visual arguments in a free public presentation Tuesday, December 16.

“Static and dynamic models of argument” will review the advances informal logic has made to reframe argumentation in ways that fit its everyday uses, says Dr. Tindale, but he says a “static” conception continues to dog researchers.

“That is, they view arguments as products torn from the processes of argumentation, sitting lifeless on the page awaiting evaluation,” he says. “By contrast, I suggest … a more dynamic rhetorical model of argument, one that involves both internal and external movement.”

His lecture begins at 2 p.m. in room 209, Essex Hall. Tindale is a fellow of the Centre for Research in Reasoning, Argumentation and Rhetoric, which is hosting this event.