How do you make St. Valentine’s Day magical? Stage a magic show, says Sandra Riccio-Muglia, director of programming for the CAW Student Centre.

Magician and comedian Wes Barker will spend an hour entertaining an audience in the Commons area starting at noon Wednesday, February 14. He promises amazing tricks, crazy stunts, crowd interaction, and laughs.

One thing Barker won’t do is pull a rabbit out of a hat — instead, he’ll make free chocolate appear for those in attendance.

Barker has performed all over the world, most recently appearing on Penn & Teller: Fool Us, America’s Got Talent, Wizard Wars, and MTV’s Greatest Party Stories Ever. Catch his act free Wednesday, and score free cupcakes and candy!

The Science Meets Art (SMArt) project is hosting its first event on St. Valentine’s Day.

“I Love SMArt” is a day to meet the students from the Faculty of Science who have joined together in a mutual love of creating science-focused educational art pieces aimed at stimulating discussion on an array of science concepts.

From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, February 14, in Essex Hall’s lobby, the group will put on a bake sale, host a raffle, and put up a photo booth. All proceeds from the event go towards buying art supplies for its members. 

For more information, email smartuwindsor@gmail.com or follow the group on social media: on Instagram @smartuwindsor and on Facebook at SMArt UWindsor.

The Crocodile Grill has a special Valentine’s dinner planned for Wednesday, February 14.

The “Land and Sea” meal will feature a six-ounce strip loin steak in a port wine reduction, served with shrimp, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, and fresh vegetables.

A vegetarian option will centre on a heart-shaped vol-au-vent — puff pastry cases filled with vegetables and a soy-based chicken alternative.

Either meal finishes with the fruit and cream dessert, Strawberries Romanoff.

The special meal comes with a special price: $19.99 in the outlet, located on the ground floor of Vanier Hall.

A mini round dance Wednesday, February 14, in the CAW Student Centre will honour missing and murdered Indigenous women.

Law professor Beverly Jacobs will open the event with a brief address at 1:45 p.m.

“My hope is that we address and change the root causes related to the rampant numbers of missing and murdered Indigenous women,” she says. “One needs to know what the root causes are in order to make the necessary changes.”

The event ties in with an awareness campaign that has seen red ribbons bearing the names of missing women displayed on trees across the campus. Organizers ask participants to wear red clothing in support.

“As we are doing these campaigns, what we are trying to do is break down barriers between communities and open up conversations,” says Stephanie Pangowish, a first-year law student.

Wednesday’s dance is free and open to all. It is sponsored by the Aboriginal Education Centre, the Native Student Alliance, and the Indigenous Initiatives.

To succeed in life, as in baseball, means overcoming adversity, about 200 human kinetics students and faculty heard from alumnus Joe Siddall (BHK 2007), a retired professional baseball player and current broadcaster for the Toronto Blue Jays, during an address at his alma mater Thursday, February 8.

“Baseball is a game of failure. Even the best in the world fail 70 per cent of the time they walk to the plate,” Siddall said. “You will face failure in your life — it’s inevitable. But it’s what you do after you fail that will determine your character.”

Hailed a strong defensive catcher and a great teammate, Siddall played a total of 12 professional seasons, including stints with the Florida Marlins, Montreal Expos, and Detroit Tigers.

Dean of human kinetics Michael Khan said he thought the message Siddall delivered rang true to all in attendance.

“Joe did an excellent job of showing that careers are not linear,” he said. “Based on his diverse education and experience in sport, he stressed the importance of stepping out of comfort zones and taking chances in order to succeed in the pursuit of one’s passions.”

Blue Jays fan Michaela Ammendolia, a first-year kinesiology student, said Siddall’s message and energy scored a home run.

“You can just tell that by listening to Joe, he is full of passion,” she said. “In the future, I want to wake up every morning to a career that I am excited to do.… Seeing Joe come from a program that I am currently enrolled in gives me a sign that my dreams are attainable.”

The event was part of the HK Distinguished Alumni Speaker Series. For more information on the series or how to become involved with Human Kinetics, contact Christine Colautti or visit www.uwindsor.ca/hk.

Ryan Donally

The Campus Bookstore will show some love to its clientele on Wednesday, February 14, offering a “scratch & save” discount on purchases.

Customers will scratch cards to earn discounts of between 10 and 25 per cent on almost everything in the store, excluding textbooks and course materials, computers, gift cards, special orders, and already-discounted merchandise.

The Campus Bookstore is located on the lower level of the CAW Student Centre, open Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

An ecumenical Christian service will celebrate Ash Wednesday — the beginning of the Lenten observance — at 12:10 p.m. February 14 in the Oak Room, Vanier Hall.

The event, hosted by the campus Chaplaincy Network, will last about 30 minutes and include praise, scripture, reflection, and the imposition of ashes.