Recent nursing graduate Alyssa Thrasher will undoubtedly spend the holidays looking at her family and her living conditions with a greater sense of appreciation after spending several weeks during the fall on two separate trips helping villagers in some of the poorest regions of Central America.

“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” she said of her early-November trip to set up temporary medical clinics in El Triunfo and Los Tiestos, two remote villages in Guatemala she thought were the most poverty stricken places on earth.

“The people lived in huts and they had nothing more than the clothes on their backs,” she said. “It was just so emotionally exhausting.”

After graduating last June, Thrasher decided she wanted some meaningful international experience. Through a family friend, she made contact with a doctor at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit who conducts an annual surgical mission to a village in Honduras. As a student, she had some operating room experience during a placement at Hôtel-Dieu Grace Hospital and managed to sign on with the group. She went on that eight-day trip with a 20-member team in mid-September, working 14-hour days in the village hospital assisting with such routine surgeries as hernia repairs, appendectomies, and gall bladder removals.

“It was exhausting, but it was a lot of fun,” the Holy Names High School graduate said. “The people were truly appreciative. They were beautiful. It was very rewarding, but also very humbling.”

Not long after arriving back home from that trip, she signed on with a Woodslee-based group called Guatemala Hope to help victims of severe flooding there. The 16-member team set up a clinic in an old school and treated more than 2,500 patients suffering from such flooding-related ailments as parasites, infections and respiratory problems.

Accommodations during that trip consisted of tents that were pitched in the yard of a local teacher. Temperatures most days were well over 38C and simple things like a daily shower were unavailable.  On both trips, medical equipment and working conditions were nowhere near the standards she was accustomed to as a nursing student, but forced her to be resourceful in unfamiliar circumstances, which  proved to be invaluable experience.

“You have to work with what you have in those kinds of environments,” she said. “I don’t think you really start learning until you’re outside your comfort zone. There are going to be lots of situations in the real world that you’re not prepared for and you have to just learn to deal with it. You make the best of tough situations and do the best you can for your patients.”

Thrasher hopes that experience will serve her well. She’s considering pursuing a master’s degree, but has also applied to several medical schools.

“As a nursing student, you want every learning experience you can get,” she said.

Everybody was a winner at the conclusion of the Leddy Library Food for Fines program which wrapped up December 9.  The Iona College student food bank received 648 canned goods and other food items, and many library patrons were breathing a sigh of guilt-free relief at getting their library materials back to their rightful home.

The program, organized by the Access Services staff, credited each non-perishable, non-expired food item donated at the Leddy’s circulation desk at a rate of $2 off outstanding overdue fines, to a maximum of $50 per person.

“I’m really happy at the response,” said Karen Pillon, head of Access Services, “We love the fact that the campus community is helping their own and we’re so pleased to see how many staff and students used this opportunity to pay down their fines. We really hope we can do this again in the future.”

Leddy Library's Marisa Bonasso and Dino Spagnuolo

A traditional law practice was never in the cards for Windsor Law graduate Anny Strojin (’83), and that was the very thing that attracted her to UWindsor nearly 30 years ago.

Strojin, a St. Catherine’s native, recently attended a UWindsor reunion at the Shaw Festival, where she heard University President Alan Wildeman encouraging grads to share stories of why they are proud to call UWindsor their alma mater.

“I thought to myself, ‘I am proud and I’m going to take a few minutes out of my day to do that,’” she says. “You don’t always hear people’s positive feedback and it’s nice when someone says, ‘I really appreciate what you’ve done for me.’”

She says she was attracted to the University of Windsor’s law school because it had a reputation of stressing social justice issues.

“They were known to be very proactive in this area and it conforms with my values,” she says. “It makes you realize that you have options and that you can use the skills you acquire in a way that benefits society. It doesn’t always have to be about power and status and money. There is a greater good – these are intangibles, these valuable things you can’t measure.”

After law school, Strojin took a job with the Ontario Human Rights Commission doing mediation and investigating issues pertaining to the Ontario Human Rights Code. She is currently employed as a Human Rights Specialist with the City of Hamilton and says the skills she learned in law school are a good fit with Hamilton’s mission and vision statement.

“They want to be the best place in Canada to raise children, promote innovation, engage citizens and provide diverse economic opportunities. Their values are honesty, accountability, innovation, leadership, respect, excellence, teamwork, and equity,” she says. “The people I met in law school were similar-minded and it reinforced that I’m not alone – it gives you faith in humanity.”

Strojin says that a large number of Windsor Law graduates don’t pursue a traditional law practice and often branch off into human rights and social justice driven careers.

“The people part of my time at the University of Windsor made such a big difference,” she says. “I have eight children and I always tell them, ‘the best time I ever had was when I was in law school.’”

He’s big and sturdy with a generous heart, a great sense of humour and a wicked ride.  Sound like every woman’s dream? It’s no wonder Lara MacMillan has a Thing for Santa.

Singer-songwriter MacMillan, a UWindsor alum (Ed ’96), has written and recorded I’ve Got a Thing for Santa, which has been getting airplay around Ontario after the song’s debut at Stratford’s Santa’s Parade of Lights on Nov. 27.

“The song is a bit of a spin on looking for Mr. Right and finding him in Santa Claus, a character we all know and love,” says MacMillan. “Sure, it may sound funny, but really, Kris Kringle would be a great catch.”

MacMillan was a performing arts teacher with the Toronto District School Board for 14 years before moving to Stratford in 2010 and opening MacMillan Music Studio, where she offers instruction in piano, voice and song-writing, though on Christmas Eve she'll be waiting under the mistletoe.

"The song is my 'Santasy,'" she says. "A sweet musical crush on Santa."

UWindsor International students hoping to share Christmas festivities with Canadian families may not all get their wish this holiday season without some last minute help from UWindsor faculty, staff and the Windsor community.

“We have 32 applications and only 11 families have come forward to host,” says Enrique Chacon, International Student Advisor. “The program is a great way for students to get a sense of what a Canadian Christmas celebration is all about, and for host families to learn about holidays in other cultures.  It’s always been a wonderful experience for everyone involved and we want to make sure every student who is interested has a place to spend Christmas.”

Chacon says host families and students can apply online by December 16 to be matched in time for the holidays.

The Educational Development Centre will be hosting Winter Orientation for both full-time and part-time students who will be attending the University in the upcoming 2011 winter semester.

The orientation will be held at the Ambassador Auditorium, CAW Student Centre, from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 4.

Students who attend Winter Orientation will:

• Receive their student cards
• Sign up for their University of Windsor webmail accounts
• Receive student planners
• Learn about various campus services
• Have the opportunity to ask questions and interact with staff members
• Meet new people and have fun!

Students can sign up for the orientation by visiting the Web site at: www.uwindsor.ca/winterorientation.

If you have any questions about Winter Orientation, please contact Laura Prada at laurap@uwindsor.ca or call 519-251-3000, ext. 3471.

Shida Azari is using the holiday season as a chance to count her blessings and express her thanks.

“I feel extremely fortunate for the opportunity to study, research and discover at the University of Windsor,” says the fourth-year women’s studies major. “I can look forward to the new year with optimism because of the support I receive from faculty and staff.”

Among her blessings, Azari counts an alumni in-course scholarship.

“My scholarship allowed me to dedicate more time to my studies,” she says. “I especially appreciate the donations by staff and faculty. They really understand student needs and their financial generosity is just one more way they give of themselves to make my university experience exceptional.”

As the year winds down, she wanted to remind faculty and staff that it’s not too late to make a gift benefiting students – and earning a 2011 charitable tax receipt. To donate online, click on the Give Now button at right.

Every contribution from a UWindsor employee will count towards the Plant a Seed campaign. The University will fill a garden outside the Leddy Library with a flower representing each donor, to be unveiled in spring 2012.

The following union position is available to internal bargaining unit members only. Bargaining unit members interested in this position are requested to apply in writing by completing an 'Application for Transfer' form and forwarding it to: Department of Human Resources on or before 4:00 pm on the posting closing date. Please note: Union positions are covered by the union collective agreement, therefore, please be aware that we must allow our qualified unionized staff the first opportunity for transfer or promotion to these positions. This opportunity is not available to external applicants.

CAW 2458 FT

FINANCIAL AID CLERK ‘7’

in Student Awards and Financial Aid

POSTING REFERENCE: 2011-FT-24

The following posting closes December 21, 2011 at 4:00 pm

The Financial Aid Clerk (FAC) is accountable for providing students with accurate information relating to eligibility and the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) as well as assisting with the administration of the OSAP program and the University of Windsor’s Undergraduate Awards Program.  Typing 40 NWPM. Demonstrated ability to work well with the needs of a diverse student population.  Must have excellent communication and interpersonal skills in order to be able to relay government and institutional policy and procedural information in a concise, easily understood and sensitive manner.  Must have excellent problem-solving skills, and ability to exercise discretion and tact.  Must have good technical skills in use of multiple software programs, including Microsoft Word and Excel.  Must be able to multi-task, work well within a team environment, as well, as being able to work well independently with minimal supervision.  Testing:  Typing, MS Word, MS Excel

SPSS 20, AMOS 20 and Maple 15 are now available on the Software Depot.

The new licensing for SPSS, AMOS and Maple have arrived and are now available for order on the Software Depot at www.uwindsor.ca/softwaredepot. 

Highlights of SPSS 20

• Quickly access and analyze massive datasets
• Easily prepare and manage your data for analysis
• Analyze data with a comprehensive range of statistical procedures
• Easily build charts with sophisticated reporting capabilities
• Discover new insights in your data with tables, graphs, mapping capabilities, cubes and pivoting technology
• Quickly build dialog boxes or let advanced users create customized dialog boxes that make your organization’s analyses easier and more efficient
• Operating systems supported: Windows, Mac

Highlights of AMOS 20

Specify, estimate, assess, and present your model in an intuitive interface to show hypothesized relationships among variables. Amos offers a non-graphical method to specify models.

Highlights of Maple 15

The guiding principle behind Maple is to make sophisticated mathematical algorithms easily accessible. Maple 15 adds over 270 new functions and over a thousand enhancements to existing algorithms. Maple 15 solves large classes of differential equations that nobody else can touch. The efficiency of many core algorithms has seen tremendous improvements, and the breadth and depth of computations in areas like differential geometry is far ahead of the nearest competitor. Maple 15 also allows you to compute previously unavailable parametric solutions to systems of equations and summation problems.

In addition to the media charge, the single user version of SPSS 20 is $95 for Faculty and Staff, $75 for Students, AMOS 20 is $80, and  Maple 15 and SPSS 20 Network version are available to Faculty and Staff for no additional charge. 

Note:  The network version of SPSS 19 is compatible with the current license manager.  So any users of SPSS 19 Network version should experience no problems and will be able to continue to use that version.