Passengers boarding bus at north end of main campusPromised investment in Transit Windsor will make its ValuPass program even more useful to UWindsor faculty and staff.

Transit pass provides value for UWindsor faculty and staff

The ValuPass, which provides discounted travel on city buses to UWindsor employees, has come in handy for James Gauld.

Head of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, he uses Transit Windsor for his daily commute to campus and was one of the first faculty members to sign up for the pass.

“Personally, I like the corporate pass due to its automated payment at a reduced cost,” Dr. Gauld says. “It supports and provides access to public transport.”

Changes to the service promise to make it even more attractive to riders, says Transit Windsor’s Dave Calibaba.

“The transit master plan approved last month by city council will invest approximately $145 million to transform the entire service: quicker routes, more buses, more drivers, more reliable transportation,” he says. “Now the implementation stage begins.”

He directs interested Windsorites to read the plan online.

The ValuPass, available to faculty and staff since 2017, offers unlimited use of the city transit system and provides a 15 per cent discount over regular passes. Its monthly cost of $81.35 will rise July 1 to $82.96, payable through payroll deduction.

The University’s sustainability advocate, Tanya Basok, says encouraging more ridership by public transit will help reduce the institution’s carbon footprint.

“We recognize the importance of addressing the warming of our planet,” she says. “We all have a responsibility to do what we can to mitigate rapid climate change and the destruction of our planet.”

She relates the investment in transit to the city’s plans for climate change adaptation and reducing carbon emissions and improving air quality.

For more information or to purchase a ValuPass, e-mail Dr. Basok at sustainability@uwindsor.ca.

myUWinfo logoThe myUWinfo human resource system will be offline on Saturday, Feb. 29.

Database upgrade to take myUWinfo offline Saturday

An upgrade to the underlying human resource database will take myUWinfo, UWindsor’s gateway to human resource information, offline on Saturday, Feb. 29.

“We wanted to flag this outage in case any faculty or staff members were planning to do their 2019 taxes on Saturday,” says Susan Holiga, assistant director of Information Technology Services. “If so, you will want to log into myUWinfo beforehand to get a copy of your T4 or T4A tax forms from the University.”

On Saturday, any updates about the maintenance period will be posted on the IT Services’ system status webpage at www.uwindsor.ca/itservices/status. The myUWinfo system will be back in operation Sunday, March 1.

Shakael Pryce shakes off a defenderPoint guard Shakael Pryce was named an OUA all-rookie; Lancer men’s basketball teammate Thomas Kennedy also earned an all-star nod.

Men’s cagers named all-stars

Ontario University Athletics recognized outstanding seasons by two Lancer men’s basketball players Wednesday, awarding them all-star status.

Freshman guard Shakael Pryce joined the all-rookie team after averaging 14.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game; second-year forward Thomas Kennedy’s league-leading 258 rebounds earned him a third team berth. He also averaged 18.6 points per game and totalled 38 steals and 29 blocks.

The young pair give head coach Chris Cheng a solid foundation for the future.

“They are both very deserving,” he said. “They both were instrumental to our season and the growth this program has made from last season.”

Read the full story at goLancers.ca.

Legal scholars defend Indigenous rights

A statement condemning violations of Indigenous nations’ internationally-recognized right to free, prior, and informed consent — drafted by UWindsor law professors — has been signed by more than 270 lawyers and legal academics.

Written by professors Beverly Jacobs, Sujith Xavier, Reem Bahdi, and Jillian Rogin with jurist and journalist Azeezah Kanji, the statement was published Monday as an opinion piece in the Toronto Star.

“Canadian law and legal institutions … have long served as instruments of settler colonialism,” it reads. “While Wet’suwet’en land and water protectors are being depicted as transgressors of the ‘rule of law,’ they are in fact upholding Indigenous and international legal orders.”

The signatories call on Canadian governments to respect Indigenous legal orders and the rights of Indigenous peoples enshrined in international law, including the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Read the full statement, “Lawyers and Legal Academics Supporting Rights of Indigenous Land and Water Protectors.”

Irek KusmierczykWindsor-Tecumseh MP Irek Kusmierczyk will engage in an informal discussion of the issue of electoral disinformation, Monday at Windsor Law.

MP to discuss fight against electoral disinformation

Should politicians, political parties, and partner organizations be permitted to flood social media outlets with disinformation designed to confuse citizens on matters of public policy?

Irek Kusmierczyk, Member of Parliament for the riding of Windsor-Tecumseh, will join the campus community for a discussion on “Battling electoral disinformation campaigns,” at noon Monday, March 2, in the Paul Martin Law Library’s Group Room B.

Calling the issue a “matter of grave importance for democracy,” Kusmierczyk will consider legislative and policy approaches to defend the integrity of the electoral system.

The event is free and open to all. Find more details, including an online registration form, on the Windsor Law website.