Members of the Windsor-Detroit community will soon have a chance to tell economics professor Tongzhe Li how they feel about using recycled wastewater to conserve freshwater.

Purifying wastewater for reuse is an environmentally prudent solution to water scarcity, especially in heavy water-usage productions like commercial crop irrigation. But, Dr. Li says, the marketplace cannot succeed if the public perception is too negative.

“Water is a global issue and the world is rapidly innovating recycling technologies to address water scarcity,” she says. “But no technological innovation can make a difference to our economy without consumer acceptance for products made with, or grown using, recycled water.”

Li won the 2017 Sylvia Lane Mentorship Fellowship, established by the Committee on Women in Agricultural Economics, as well as recently receiving a bridge grant funded by the US Department of Agriculture to collaborate with the University of Maryland, the University of Delaware, and the University of Arizona. These opportunities allow her to continue researching into the public perception of using recycled wastewater, and will specifically focus on residents who live near an abundance of natural water, like the Great Lakes.

“In locations where natural water is abundant, residents may have less financial incentive to conserve water. However, the same group may get a ‘warm glow effect’ when they think that conserving water helps others in need,” says Li.

The economist says that although reclaimed water helps conserve and is scientifically proven to be safe for irrigation, consumer acceptance tends to waver based on how its usage is framed. In her previous research, consumers generally showed a dislike to knowing their wine grapes were irrigated with recycled water.

“It is as much about how the information is framed, as it is about the knowledge itself,” says Li. ”By framing it in a positive light and explaining that recycled water helped the environment, people’s willingness to pay for such a product rose significantly, but when the information becomes technical or excessive, the willingness to pay dropped.”

Part of the research grant allows Li to hire two or three students to create a research team, who will help collect survey data from several North American sites, chosen based on water accessibility levels and water prices. In addition to Windsor and Detroit, they will poll residents in Montreal, mid-Atlantic states, and Phoenix, Arizona.

After Li assembles her research team, they will start actively recruiting residents to complete surveys.

Social work student Nicole Potac won Tuesday’s DailyNews trivia contest and its prize of a pair of tickets to the University Players’ current production, The 39 Steps.

Her entry was drawn from all those which correctly identified The Lady Vanishes as turning on a code hidden in a tune, Que Sera, Sera as Doris Day’s signature song in The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Spellbound as winner of the 1945 Oscar for best score.

The 39 Steps, a comic adaptation of Alfred Hitchcock’s spy thriller, will play through December 3 in Essex Hall Theatre. Order tickets online at www.UniversityPlayers.com or by calling 519-253-3000, ext. 2808.

The campus campaign for United Way has topped $80,000, officials report, while waiting on a number of donors who gave last year.

“Our faculty and staff have pledged more than $71,000 so far this year, with retirees accounting for an additional $11,000,” says co-chair Sheri Lowrie. “However, there is a large group of previous supporters who have not yet sent in a donation. We are hoping to encourage them with a last big push.”

She hopes that final push will come when UWindsor employees are reminded of the incentive draw slated for the appreciation event December 4.

“Everyone who comes will share hot chocolate and sweets with us, and a special few will win prizes,” says Lowrie. “But to be entered in the draw, you have to submit your pledge or donation by November 30.”

Monday’s event begins at 1 p.m. in Katzman Lounge, Vanier Hall. RSVP through Eventbrite.

At stake are:

• an iPad tablet computer;
• an extra day’s vacation;
• a pass for six months of campus parking;
• a year’s membership in the Forge Fitness Centre;
• four tickets to the SoCA Presents concert of your choice;
• a three-play subscription to University Players.

Donors don’t have to be present to win, Lowrie notes, but attendees will have a chance to enter an extra ballot in the vacation day draw.

UWindsor employees may opt to contribute to United Way through payroll deduction. Learn about the charity’s work at uwindsor.ca/unitedway or watch the campaign video:

University of Windsor president Alan Wildeman announced at the annual Board of Governors dinner Tuesday that Ambassador Auditorium will henceforth be called Alumni Auditorium.

Dr. Wildeman said the naming recognizes the UWindsor Alumni Association’s ongoing and significant contributions to the University.

“This building is a student centre. Rather than leaving past, present, and future students with the impression that the name of this room is somehow linked to the bridge to the U.S., it will now be named in honour of what our students become when they graduate,” he said. “I thank the University of Windsor Alumni Association for all of its support and efforts.”

Alumni Association president Jean Wright said its members are passionate about the University and the naming gratefully recognizes the huge role it plays.

“We are thrilled; this is wonderful,” said Wright. “The auditorium, located in the student centre, is the primary event venue on campus.

“This naming brings everything full circle. Today you are a student and tomorrow when you leave you will be a member of our Alumni Association — always looking toward the betterment of the University.”

In a report released Tuesday by the Council of Ontario Universities, its members laid out their role as active and willing partners in securing a more vibrant and prosperous future for students, communities and the province.

Partnering for a Better Future for Ontario — which includes 24 recommendations to government — caps off a year of listening, during which universities engaged with hundreds of thousands of Ontarians though an online survey, roundtables, and at public events to hear their hopes and concerns about the future, says COU president David Lindsay.

“What Ontarians told us over the past year is that they don’t want a society of silos; they want a society of partners,” he says. “They recognize that the world is changing rapidly and they are largely optimistic about the future. But they also have concerns — for example, job security, technological disruption, the aging population, and the effects of climate change.”

Among the report’s key recommendations to the Ontario government are:

• Prepare students for tomorrow’s workplace by investing in more experiential opportunities and providing incentives to employers to work with universities on expanding access to these opportunities.
• Invest to help universities expand their network of incubators that help entrepreneurs launch businesses, and provide more graduate scholarships and other incentives to attract the best talent to the province.
• Expand support for research in medicine and health care, and work with universities to ensure they are helping train the right mix of health care professionals to provide high-quality care for all Ontarians.
• Help move universities’ ideas and inventions into the marketplace by creating a research commercialization fund.

“Now is Ontario’s time to shine, and Ontario’s universities see partnerships as the model through which we can all work together for a better future for all,” says Lindsay. “Ontario’s 21 universities are deeply ingrained in the fabric of this province through the students they train, the research they produce, and the knowledge and expertise they share with our local communities.”

Read the report on the COU website.

You could be someone’s superhero. There are about 1,000 Canadians in need of a stem cell or bone marrow transplant — and you just might be a match.

Register as a potential stem cell or bone marrow donor on Wednesday, November 29, in two campus locations.

Representatives of the Katelyn Bedard Bone Marrow Association will conduct its annual “Get Swabbed” event in the lobby of the Toldo Health Education Centre and on the second floor of the CAW Student Centre from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

To register as a potential donor with the OneMatch Stem Cell and Marrow Network, just complete a basic questionnaire and brush the inside of your cheek using a cotton swab. That is all it takes to “get swabbed.”

Registrants must have a Canadian health card and be:

• between 17 and 35 years old;
• in good general health; and
• willing to donate to any patient in need.

Canadian Blood Services will hold a blood donor clinic Wednesday from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the CAW Student Centre’s Ambassador Auditorium.

The Campus Bookstore has stocked a variety of styles of “bone conduction” headphones from AfterShokz, and curious consumers can try out a pair.

The patented technology bypasses the eardrums completely, transmitting audio waves through the skull.

“They sit on your cheek and sound incredible,” says marketing co-ordinator Martin Deck. “And because you can still hear ambient noise, you are aware and alert while you enjoy your music.”

Prices range from $69.95 to $169.95; the Campus Bookstore has a demo unit for shoppers to check out the quality of the experience.

A presentation November 30 will discuss the structural tensions of refugee policy across the European Union.

Giuseppe Sciortino, a professor of sociology at the Università di Trento, Italy, will deliver his lecture “The Gentle Monster” at 11:30 a.m. Thursday in room 162, Chrysler Hall South.

This event, sponsored by the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminology, is free and open to the public.