A lunchtime battle will raise funds for the United Way by having UWindsor faculties compete in a taste test.

Diners at the Great Faculty Soup-off will make an $8 donation to sample eight soups and vote for their favourites — each sponsored by a faculty.

The doors to Alumni Auditorium on the second floor of the CAW Student Centre will open at 11:30 a.m. today — Wednesday, Nov. 28 — and organizers will admit only the first 400 patrons.

The proceeds will support the United Way in its commitment to three local priorities: reducing poverty, helping kids to succeed in school and in life, and strengthening neighbourhoods.

The federal government’s funding agency for science and engineering research is yelling lights, camera, action.

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council is holding a video contest for students doing NSERC-funded research. If students can explain their research in a compelling way in 60 seconds or less, they have a chance to win one of 15 cash prizes. First prize is $3,500. There’s also a special category for research in or about Canada’s North. The winner in that category gets $3,000.

Winning videos will be used as part of museum exhibits, at science fairs and other events like Science Odyssey and Science Literacy Week.

“This is your chance to connect with thousands of Canadians and show them why research matters,” NSERC said in announcing the contest. “Grab a camera, tell your story and show us your science!”

Students must be 18 or older and enrolled in undergraduate or graduate programs. Postdoctoral fellows are not eligible.

Videos are submitted electronically along with a short biography no longer than 100 words. The deadline for submissions is Jan. 18.

Find more information on the Science, Action! contest website.

University Players is offering DailyNews readers a chance to win two tickets to see its current production, the World War I drama Journey’s End.

The play’s run continues through Sunday, Dec. 2, at Essex Hall Theatre. Wednesday through Saturday performances are at 8 p.m.; weekend matinees are at 2 p.m. For more information or tickets, call 519-253-3000, ext. 2808, or visit www.universityplayers.com.

To enter the contest, just send your answers to the following three trivia questions on other artistic representations of WWI. The winner will be randomly selected from all correct responses received by 4 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 28.

1. Which of these songs was penned by George M. Cohan to drum up American enthusiasm for the war?
   a) After the War is Over
   b) Good-Bye Broadway, Hello France
   c) It’s a Long Way to Tipperary
   d) Over There
   e) When Johnny Comes Marching Home
   .
2. Which of these novels describes the Great War experiences of a group of German soldiers?
   a) All Quiet on the Western Front
   b) For Whom the Bell Tolls
   c) From Here to Eternity
   d) The Red Badge of Courage
   e) War and Peace
   .
3. Which of these films about WWI pilots won the first Academy Award for best picture?
   a) Aces High
   b) The Dawn Patrol
   c) Hell’s Angels
   d) The Red Baron
   e) Wings

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.

Don’t let end-of-semester stress hound you. Take a “paws” from stress with the friendly dogs of Therapeutic Paws of Canada.

Volunteers will bring their certified therapy dogs to the “Paws Room” in Salon A, Alumni Auditorium on the second floor of the CAW Student Centre twice in the next week:

• Thursday, Nov. 29, from noon to 1:30 p.m.
• Monday, Dec. 3, from 6:30 to 8 p.m.

Additionally, two friendly felines will occupy a cat room in the adjoining Salon B on Dec. 3.

This event is organized by the Peer Support Centre, the University of Windsor’s Senate Student Caucus and the Windsor chapter of Therapeutic Paws of Canada. It is sponsored by the University of Windsor Students’ Alliance and Campus Parking Services.

A workshop on incorporating the “Windsor Proud” theme into departmental communications and promotion efforts is one in the series of professional development opportunities offered by the Department of Human Resources in December.

“Windsor Proud” is the new awareness and enrolment campaign that features current students telling their UWindsor stories through the use of billboards, cinema ads, social media, and traditional advertising. Its focus on spirit and attitude comes at a time of unprecedented growth at the University in terms of enrolment, research, and new buildings.

John Coleman, director of Public Affairs and Communications, will lead a two-hour session on the morning of Thursday, Dec. 13, providing practical examples of how to use these messages to reach potential students, the campus community, Windsor-Essex and the province.

Other workshops include:

• Minute Taking at the “U,” 1 to 3 p.m. Dec. 4;
• Using Outlook Beyond E-mail, 9 to 11 a.m. Dec. 6
• The Cost of Caring – Preventing Compassion Fatigue, 9 to 10:30 a.m. Dec. 12

Find additional information, including locations, facilitators, and registration forms, on the workshops website.

Water is at the core of sustainability, says Joan Rose, a professor in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Michigan State University.

“Water quality affects the bio health of our planet, with humans, animals, and plants equally impacted,” says Dr. Rose. “It also affects our food security, our economic opportunities and our well-being.”

She will discuss her work in a free public lecture, entitled “Exploring the Water Virome and Biohealth of the Planet,” in room 203, Toldo Health Education Centre, at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 28.

Rose is a 2016 recipient of the Stockholm Water Prize, holds MSU’s Homer Nowlin Chair in Water Research, and co-directs its Center for Water Sciences and Center for Advancing Microbial Risk Assessment.

“My research has taken me to some of the most exotic waters in the world,” she says. “Water remains as vital to the environment as it is to people, and it never ceases to amaze me.”

Wednesday’s event is part of the Distinguished Speaker Series on Global Environment Governance, sponsored by the UWindsor departments of Political Science and Earth and Environmental Sciences.

Joe Comartin, the incoming consul general for Canada in Detroit, will lead a discussion about the future of trade between the United States, Canada, and Mexico — and the implications of the new trade agreement — at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law on Monday, Dec. 3.

A two-time UWindsor grad and a sessional instructor at Windsor Law, Comartin (BA 1968, LLB 1971) represented the riding of Windsor-Tecumseh in the Canadian Parliament from 2000 to 2015.

His appearance Monday is free and open to the public, sponsored by Detroit Mercy Law in partnership with the University of Windsor’s Faculty of Law and Cross-Border Institute.

It will begin at noon and promises lunch for attendees; RSVP online by Nov. 28.