Keeping the campus beautiful is everyone’s responsibility, says Susan Mark, executive director of Facility Services, and that extends to responsible posting of posters and flyers.

The University adopted a Sign Posting Policy in June 2004 with a stated aim of decreasing paper strewn throughout the campus, but Mark’s department has been receiving complaints about compliance.

“No one enjoys an environment with lots of visual clutter, with litter on the ground, or with chipped paint and smudged windows,” she says.

The policy restricts the posting of flyers to bulletin boards installed for that purpose, and prohibits affixing signs to windows, doors, brickwork or outdoors. Read the full policy online here.

Mark says she hopes that a reminder about the rules will help reduce infractions and that members of the campus community will pitch in to remove material posted improperly.

“This isn’t just a Facility Services policy, it is university-wide,” she says. “Everyone can assist, so we’re looking to students, faculty and other employees to help keep our surroundings beautiful.”

Putting history in perspective and expanding the base of knowledge regarding historical events is not only UWindsor archivist Brian Owen’s calling, it is his passion.

“What we initially may see as possibly a worthless, brown, aged document, may actually have very important value,” says Dr. Owens. “It can really transform the way we think about things. That is what I feel is the most important part of my job as an archivist – being able to take the historical record, interpret it and sew it into other things we already know to make it an exciting document.”

Among the many collections stored and interpreted in the UWindsor archives is the Essex-Scottish Regiment Collection, which Owens began to assemble in 1995. He says its significance to the people and history of the Windsor-Essex County area is immeasurable.

“This collection represents the centre point of military involvement for people of this part of southwestern Ontario and it is a collection that dates back nearly 200 years,” Owens says. “We have a pay list of everyone who served in the War of 1812, defending this part of Ontario. It’s a fantastic document and has some local family names that many of us would recognize.”

Read on to learn about some of the documents in the collection and what they reveal about Canada's entry into World War II.

There’s a popular expression – printed on t-shirts, fridge magnets and other knick-knacks – which urges people to take their moral behaviour up a grade or two: “Be the kind of person your dog thinks you are.”

It’s a phrase that resonates with Alan Beck. A professor in comparative pathobiology at Purdue University’s School of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Beck says that besides making us better, healthier people, having a relationship with a pet has actually become part of our strategy for survival.

“It’s been proven that when you interact with an animal, there are certain behavioural and physiological responses that improve our overall health,” says Beck, who will deliver a free public lecture on the subject here next Monday. “It’s Darwin’s way of rewarding us for being nurturing.”

Beck’s research in the field of anthrozoology over the past four decades has contributed to a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between people and their companion animals. He co-authored the book, Between Pets and People: The Importance of Animal Companionship, first published in 1983 then revised in 1996. In 2011, he edited The Health Benefits of Dog Walking for Pets and People.

Beck said previous research has demonstrated that interacting with animals helps lower blood pressure, improves focus and attention, reduces stress by lowering feelings of loneliness, and encourages exercise, especially for dog owners who routinely walk their pets. Research in Maryland proved that cardiac patients who owned pets had better one-year survival rates after a heart attack than those who didn’t have an animal, he said.

“There are even some people who give up smoking because they know it’s not good for their pets,” said Beck, who has two small dogs of his own. “It’s not a trivial relationship.”

Beth Daly, a professor in the Faculty of Education who launched a new course this year called Animals and Humans in Society, is hosting Beck. She described him as an “engaging and vibrant speaker” and said his lecture will be of interest to anyone who wants to learn more about the relationships between people and their animals.

His lecture, titled The Unique Bond Between Companion Animals and People, will be held Monday, November 14, at 5:30 p.m. in the Oak Room, Vanier Hall.

The School of Music is offering DailyNews readers a chance to win two free tickets to a recital of classical works featuring clarinetist Trevor Pittman, pianist Gregory Butler and violinist Lillian Scheirich, on Sunday, November 13, at 2:30 p.m. in Assumption University Chapel. Tickets are $15 general admission, available at the door or in advance by phone at 519-253-3000, ext. 4212; or online at www.uwindsor.ca/music.

To enter the contest, just send your answers to the following multiple-choice questions on pieces from the concert program. The winner will be randomly selected from all correct responses received by 4 p.m. Thursday, November 10.

1. Of the four movements in Johannes Brahms’ Sonata in F minor, op. 120 no. 1 , which is generally played at the slowest tempo?
      a) Allegro appassionato
      b) Andante un poco adagio
      c) Allegretto grazioso
      d) Vivace
2. Robert Rival’s “Muskoka” Sonata has movements named for what features of cottage country?
      a) Blackfly and Mosquito
      b) Lake and Marsh
      c) Muskrat and Beaver
      d) Sunrise and Sunset
3. In what year did César Franck compose the Sonata in A major for violin and piano ?
      a) 1833
      b) 1886
      c) 1898
      d) 1986

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.

The only thing limiting the possibilities of the industrial courtyard is the imagination of the people working there, according to one of the project’s managers.

“It’s a very new type of space and a new idea and I think it’s going to develop a lot as time goes on,” said Mark Beaulieu, owner of JP Thomson Architects Ltd., the architectural and engineering firm hired by the university to oversee the construction of its new Centre for Engineering Innovation. “It’s meant to generate ideas. This is the place to help get them started.”

Along with Matt Soulliere, project manager for PCR Contractors, Beaulieu took a handful of members from the local media on a guided tour of the CEI’s second phase Wednesday. Currently under construction and scheduled to open in the fall of 2012, that portion of the building will include lecture halls, faculty and administrative offices, students meeting spaces, a green roof and an industrial courtyard.

One of the signature features of the building, that space will be a place where industrial partners can temporarily set up shop to work with student and faculty researchers to develop new business ideas or work on solutions to engineering challenges they’re facing.

“They’ll be able to draw on the resources of researchers specific to whatever kind of commercial activity they’re engaged in,” Beaulieu said.

The building’s first phase, which consists primarily of research space, opened in June. Through the summer, researchers set up their labs to welcome their students back in September. Last Friday, about 700 people attended an open house there to get a first-hand look at the space.

Soulliere, whose firm is leading the construction, said building on the second phase is progressing smoothly and on schedule. To date, about 13,055 cubic metres of concrete have been poured, almost half of the precast panels have been erected, and about 59,600 person hours of work have gone into the building.

Wednesday’s tour also gave Soulliere and Beaulieu a chance to show off what they call “the egg,” a large, oval-shaped lecture hall that will be divided down the middle to provide seating for 125 students on each side. Members of the media also got a glimpse of the main lecture hall, which will seat 350 students, and the 10,300 square foot green roof, which will include aesthetically-pleasing meeting spaces and slow-growing, low-maintenance vegetation to help absorb rain water that would otherwise flow into storm sewers.

Laurie Freeman-Gibb, a lecturer in nursing, won Wednesday’s DailyNews trivia quiz and the prize of four tickets to see a screening at the Windsor International Film Festival.

Her name was drawn from all those who correctly identified the featured works of UWindsor filmmakers: Josh Mellanby’s No Shelter , Kim Nelson’s Berliner and Owen Eric Wood’s Return.

Students eligible for free film festival passes

A partnership between the University of Windsor Students’ Alliance, the Social Science Society, and transit Windsor will send 600 students to the Windsor International Film Festival this weekend.

The alliance is giving away 600 packages that include a ticket to one of six film screenings and return bus fare. The adventure begins in the alliance’s offices on the second floor of the CAW Student Centre today – Thursday, November 10 – at 9 a.m.

“It’s first-come, first-served,” said UWSA president Andre Capaldi.

The tickets provide admission to a block of six films early Saturday evening:

• The Future
• Take Shelter
• The Skin I Live In
• Sleeping Beauty
• Dirty Girl
• Irvine Welshs Ecstasy

Capaldi hailed the partnership, noting the festival’s cooperation in scheduling appropriate films and the student society’s willing to cover the costs.

Ontario University Athletics named six Lancer football players to its all-star team Wednesday.

First-team all-stars are Jordan Brescacin at the position of inside receiver, Seamus Postuma at defensive tackle, Matt McGarva at defensive half, and Shea Pierre at cornerback. On the second all-star team are quarterback Austin Kennedy and wide receiver Cory Fernandes.

Windsor’s defence was led by McGarva, who finished the season with 48 total tackles and one touchdown – an interception he ran back 109 yards. Pierre finished the year with 23 tackles and an interception, while Postuma’s 16 tackles included two sacks.

Brescacin and Fernandes headed up the province’s most potent receiving corps. Each finished the season with 50 receptions; Brescacin’s 773 yards ranked him third and Fernandes’ 644 yards ranked him fifth in the OUA.

Kennedy’s 20 touchdown passes tied him for the most in the country, and his 2108 passing yards were second in the OUA. He also ran for 432 yards, placing him eighth in Ontario.

Read the full story on goLancers.ca.

With a theme of “Making our Mark!” a delegation from UWindsor residence took home several major awards from the Great Lakes Affiliates of College and University Residence Halls conference this past weekend – including the right to host the event next year.

“This is the first time in 20 years that this conference has travelled to Canada and the first time ever hosted at the University of Windsor,” said Jacqueline Mellish, residence life coordinator for Macdonald and Electa halls.

Members of residence life staff joined with the Windsor Inter Residence Council at the conference, hosted by Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. It brought together more than 600 student leaders from Ontario, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin to discuss programming and advocacy issues.

There, the Windsor delegation took home three awards – best sculpture, best roll call and most spirited delegation.

“For our roll call, we each took a different colour and added it to a banner that spelled Windsor in rainbow colours when we lifted it up,” Mellish said. “We blew everyone out of the water this year.”

Windsor’s turn to host comes in November 2012 and will use the theme “I BeLEAF,” building on values expressed during the Vancouver Winter Olympics: BeLEAF in Unity, BeLEAF in Teamwork, BeLEAF in Leadership, and BeLEAF in Diversity.

The UWindsor delegation won three major awards at the Great Lakes Affiliates of College and University Residence Halls conference: Heidi Lamb, Kate Larkin, Megan Nicol, Melissa Faulkner, Jillienne Simone, Jacqueline Mellish, and Brent Oneschuk.

The Faculty of Human Kinetics Distinguished Speakers Series presents Jeff Horowitz delivering a free public lecture entitled “Exercise and Dietary Effects on Fat Metabolism that May Improve Metabolic Health,” at noon on Friday, November 11, in room 145, Human Kinetics Building.

Dr. Horowitz is an associate professor of movement science in the University of Michigan’s School of Kinesiology, and director of its Substrate Metabolism Laboratory.

He studies the regulation of fat, carbohydrate, and protein metabolism in humans, with particular interest in how exercise and diet affect energy metabolism. His research takes an integrated approach which makes it possible to associate cellular adaptations to exercise with clinical outcomes, and could lead to improved methods to treat chronic diseases or to advancements in “healthy aging.”

Representatives from Guangzhou College / South China University of Technology visited the University of Windsor on Wednesday, November 9.

The universities share memoranda of understanding and agreement, says Clayton Smith, vice-provost, students and international.

“We are hopeful that this visit will result in a further strengthening of our relationship with GC/SCUT,” he said.

The delegation met with the UWindsor deans of business, engineering, arts and social sciences, as well as president Alan Wildeman and other officials.