Greg Sheldon will have someone to look forward to Friday when he takes to the stage for the “Side-by-Side” concert, which will feature members of the Windsor Symphony Youth Orchestra performing alongside their professional counterparts.

An instructor in the School of Creative Arts music program and principal double bassist with the Windsor Symphony Orchestra, he will see wife Karen McClellan and their 15-year-old daughter Lyra Sheldon seated a couple rows ahead among the cellists.

“It’s great fun to have the whole family playing together, absolutely,” he says. “We have seen Lyra develop since she very first started and now she’s at the point where she is playing real music on the real stage.”

This will be Lyra’s second time playing in this annual concert — last year she sat next to her mother, but this year she has moved up as the youth group’s principal on her instrument. She says she is inspired by the chance to sit in a section with her mom and dad behind her.

“Just being among the professional musicians brings out the best in the ensemble,” Lyra says. “It’s a different environment for us; it feels like the real deal.”

Getting young people that experience is part of what makes the youth orchestra so valuable, Sheldon says.

“It’s amazing that we have the youth orchestra in a city this size,” he says. “As a teacher, I can sit with students in a room and talk about the bass all day, but the bass is an ensemble instrument. This way they can get the experience of playing with an orchestra.”

The “Side-by-Side” concert begins at 7:30 p.m. Friday, February 23, at the Capitol Theatre, 121 University Avenue West. Admission is $10, with a youth and seniors rate of $5. Buy tickets online at www.windsorsymphony.com, at the box office at 519-973-1238, ext. 2, or at the door.

An informal open house Wednesday, February 28, from 2 to 7 p.m. in Alumni Auditorium, CAW Student Centre, will unveil the design for the new Lancer Sport and Recreation Centre (LSRC).

Plans and renderings will be available for students and the entire campus community to review. A model is also being created that will provide an opportunity to visualize the layout of the LSRC and to enable an appreciation for the scale and the context of the building within the overall UWindsor campus.

The $73 million LSRC will offer a modern space to foster athletic excellence and support quality recreational services and social spaces for thousands of students and the community at large. Students are contributing to the project’s capital cost as a result of the successful referendums held by the University of Windsor Students Alliance, the Graduate Student Society, and the Organization of Part-time Undergraduate Students.

Representatives from CS&P Architects and Colliers Project Leaders, as well as University staff involved in the project, will be present at the open house. This is an important opportunity for students and the public to come out and see the exciting design of the campus’ new LSRC.

The Lancer women’s basketball team will host an Ontario University Athletics quarter-final on Saturday, February 24, in the St. Denis Centre. The team earned a bye through the first round of the playoffs; it will fgace the Lakehead Thunderwolves, winners of a first-round contest Wednesday.

Windsor defeated Lakehead in both their meetings during the regular season.

Tip-off Saturday is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tickets are $10, $8 for youth and seniors, $3 for UWindsor students, available at the gate or at www.goLancers.ca/tickets. Note: All-Sport passes, LYFE tickets, and guest tickets are not valid for entry to post-season games.

The Lancer men’s basketball squad advanced to the Wilson Cup quarter-finals with a 101-89 victory over the Waterloo Warriors at the St. Denis Centre on Wednesday. The Blue and Gold will take on the Western Mustangs in London on Saturday, February 24. Game time is 2 p.m.; catch the action live at OUA.tv.

The province’s best track and field athletes will convene at the University of Windsor this weekend looking to run, jump, and throw their way to glory at the 2018 Ontario University Athletics championship tournament.

The host Windsor Lancers enter the meet as the third-ranked women’s team in Canada, led by Kelsey Balkwill, ranked No. 1 in the 300m and 600m, as well as No. 5 in the 60m nationally. Teammate Stefanie Smith is currently ranked fourth in the nation in both the 1500m and 3000m distances.

Windsor is also in a strong position in the field events, with Sarah Mitton and Rachel Wolfs setting a high standard. Mitton looks to repeat as the gold medallist in shot put and improve on a fourth-place finish in the weight throw event. Wolfs enters the championship ranked first in the nation in pole vault after second-place finishes the past two years.

On the men’s side, the Lancers will be looking for leadership from fifth-year veterans Jaiden Brown and Brett Boersma. Brown comes into the weekend ranked third nationally in the 60m, while Boersma hopes to better last year’s third-place finish in shot put.

The men’s weight throw event will open the championships at 10 a.m. Friday, February 23, with the men’s 4x400m relay closing the action at 3:15 p.m. Saturday, February 24. Individual medal presentations and recognition of all-star achievements for all events will take place throughout the meet, while team trophies, banners, and championship medals will be presented following the final events on Saturday.

Details can be found in the 2018 Track & Field Championships Fan Guide. Find a full meet preview at goLancers.ca.

As host of the CBC Radio science program Quirks & Quarks over 25 years, Bob McDonald has learned a fair bit. How it’s his turn to be hosted, as he shares some insights on the UWindsor campus Monday, February 26, as the guest of the Science Society.

McDonald will address the subject “Surviving the Third Millennium” in a free public presentation at 3 p.m. in the CAW Student Centre’s Alumni Auditorium.

A best-selling author, he has received the Michael Smith Award for Science Promotion from NSERC, the Sandford Fleming Medal from the Royal Canadian Institute, and the McNeil Medal for the Public Awareness of Science from the Royal Society of Canada, and in 2011, was appointed an officer of the Order of Canada for his contributions to the public understanding of science.

Find more information about Monday’s appearance in the Facebook event listing.

With the future of international trade travelling a precarious path, a pair of UWindsor professors are recommending that Canada looks “to the Commonwealth" for an economic solution.

The Faculty of English's Richard Douglass-Chin and Odette School of Business' Imran Abdool co-authored an article with Kal Juman for Policy Options magazine.

The magazine is considered Canada’s “premier public policy magazine.”

In the article, Abdool and Dr. Douglass-Chin assert that Canada should consider the Commonwealth of Nations to diversify its international trade policy.

“With Canada facing difficult NAFTA negotiations, a new normal of low economic growth in developed countries and opportunity-rich emerging markets, perhaps it’s time to ‘go back to the future’ and diversify trade into the “Canton-wealth,’” the article concludes.

Click here to read the full article in Policy Options magazine.  

A class Tuesday, March 6, will help staff and faculty responsible for maintaining UWindsor websites learn the basics of the Drupal content management system.

Drupal 7 - Basic Training will focus on teaching site editors how to create pages and events, upload graphics and use menus and blocks, says instructor Rob Aitkens, web development team lead in Public Affairs and Communications.

The class is aimed at employees with little previous experience with the system, for those upgrading their sites from version 6 to 7, or as a refresher. It will run 1:30 to 4 p.m. in a new location — room G101A, Leddy Library. Registration is required through this online form.