Sit in Don Clarke’s office for any length of time and it won’t take long to see why he’s considered kinesiology’s “go-to guy.”

_Don Clarke.

The department’s lone research technician, he can program computer software, make sensors for a wide variety of ergonomic measurement applications and build or repair elaborate pieces of equipment for all manner of projects. But during an interview to discuss the fact that he’s the first-ever recipient of the university’s inaugural outstanding staff researcher award, a faculty member walks in with a key she bent trying open her office door and Clarke demonstrates just one of the reasons why the rest of his colleagues describe him as indispensable.

A few gentle hammer strokes later and professor Marijke Taks is back in her office, hard at work and with a straightened key.

“He’s like a magician,” Dr. Taks said of Clarke, who will receive his award next Monday at the Celebration of Excellence in Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity. “He can fix anything and he can build anything, and he’s so friendly.”

For his part, Clarke – who worked at Diffracto Ltd. for 30 years before joining the university in 2005 – is flattered but a little embarrassed by all the attention. Sitting on his desk is a package of glowing nomination letters from the researchers who rely so heavily on his skill set.

“It brought tears to my eyes,” the 59-year-old grandfather of two said of the praise. “It really did. I never expected to be recognized. I just really like my work and I like doing a good job for people. But at least I can show them to other people and say, ‘See – they really like me.’”

Among those letters is one from Dave Andrews, the faculty’s research leadership chair. He said without Clarke, all the plans he had for enhancing the research culture in his department wouldn’t have been possible.

“I can honestly say that none of the research labs in our building would have been developed or would be operating at the level they are without Don’s expertise, dedication and infectious enthusiasm about research and helping us achieve our goals,” he said. “He is irreplaceable.”

Among the many devices Clarke built is a Propelled Upper Limb fall ARrest Impact System (PULARIS). A complex web of pulleys, lifts, harnesses, video cameras and sensors, it’s used to simulate the position a person would be in when they slip, fall and put out their hands to absorb the impact. It’s used by researchers like Dr. Andrews to understand how tissues absorb shock and protect the body from injury.

“He is a very creative designer and an even more elegant builder of research tools and apparatus,” Andrews said of Clarke.

All of the award recipients will be honoured on February 6 in a ceremony that begins at 4:30 p.m. in the Ambassador Auditorium, CAW Student Centre.

University Players continues its 53rd season with Jane Austen’s classic comedy, Emma. The play runs February 2 to 5 and 8 to 12 at Essex Hall Theatre.

Jane Austen’s characters come to life in this new adaptation of the classic novel Emma, a romantic comedy about a precocious girl who finds matchmaking “the most wonderful game in the world.” She plants ideas in people’s heads which grow feelings in their hearts, and through this meddling she finds her own heart’s desire – but only when she is about to lose him.

The production is directed by Jim Warren, a School of Dramatic Art alumnus and award-winning director. This version of Emma was adapted by Michael Bloom, artistic director of the Cleveland Playhouse, and was first produced by that company in the spring of 2010.

Wednesday through Saturday performances are at 8 p.m.; Sunday matinees are at 2 p.m. On Sunday, February 5, a “Talk Back” discussion with the director and actors will follow the performance. For information or tickets, call 519-253-3000, ext. 2808, or visit http://www.uwindsor.ca/universityplayers.

Volunteering with Students Orienting Students has been a win-win situation for Jordynne Ropat.

“You’re helping new students and in turn you get a more positive outlook on university,” says the second-year student in the behaviour, cognition and neuroscience program.

She says her duties welcoming newcomers during Head Start and the first week of each semester taught her a lot about university services and academic programs. She particularly enjoyed helping students devise a workable course schedule.

“Some of these students have no idea what classes they want to take,” Ropat says. “It’s nice to mentor them in that way.”

She says that the peer relationship is key to the program’s success: “I feel like we play a great role in representing the university in a positive way. It means a lot when it’s students relating to students.”

Students Orienting Students is recruiting volunteers for the 2012/13 year; applications are due by January 31.  Find more information and the online application on the program Web site.

A two-week trip to work with orphaned and vulnerable children at the Kititimo Child Centre in Singida, Tanzania, helped education major Katie Nanson develop a different perspective on what it means to be a teacher.

“My heart is social justice,” she says. “The focus at the Faculty of Education is to equip teachers to meet the needs of every child. We’ve learned about equity versus equality and the idea that while all children need shoes, not all children need the same shoe size—we have to reach them as individuals.”

That experience was as important as anything she could have learned in a classroom, says Clayton Smith, vice-provost, student and international affairs.

“We know that activities that directly involve students are key to the learning experience,” he says. “Our university is committed to fostering those engagements, recognizing they benefit our students as well as the community.”

That’s where the Student Life Enhancement Fund comes in. Administered by the student affairs office, it supports co-curricular activities that enhance student engagement and the student experience, including the Tanzanian experience of Nanson and 11 classmates.

“The idea of the fund is to provide one central place that students know to come to when they are seeking sponsorship for their special projects, activities and events,” Dr. Smith says.

The fund provides up to $1000 for group requests, and up to $500 for social events or individual activities.

Find more information, including funding guidelines, eligibility criteria and an online application form, at www.uwindsor.ca/sponsorshiprequests.

Robert Benton, an instructor of tuba and euphonium at the School of Music, will perform concertos by Antonio Vivaldi and Wolfgang Mozart before concluding with Gilbert Vinter’s The Playful Pachyderm, in recital today.

Benton is currently pursuing a Doctor of Music degree at the University of Michigan. He won several concerto competitions as a student at Oakland and Michigan State universities and most recently travelled to South Korea for the Jeju International Wind Ensemble Festival Brass Competition, where he was a finalist.

The recital, part of the Take 4 series, is free and open to the public. It begins at 4 p.m. in the Music Building’s room 139.

School achievement gaps stem partly from inequalities among children’s opportunities to learn outside of school, particularly during the summer, says Scott Davies. Some children entertain themselves over summer breaks from school, while others enjoy a menu of enriching activities.

The “summer setbacks” compound, eroding the literacy skills of disadvantaged children and attributing to an achievement gap by high school, says Dr. Davies, a professor of sociology at McMaster University.

He will discuss the implications for theory and policy in a colloquium entitled “Cultural Capital and Summer Learning Gaps,” Monday, January 30, at 5 p.m. in room 1123, Education Building.

In partnership with Ontario’s Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat, Davies co-launched Canada’s first summer learning project and has collected data on thousands of Ontario children in grades 1 to 3.

He says that using a “seasonal learning” design, the project is finding that

• rates of summer learning loss are substantial;
• literacy gaps widen between children from different socioeconomic backgrounds during the summer months; and
• summer literacy programs can reduce achievement gaps.

Dr. Davies’ research revolves around a core theme -- change and inequality in education. He is an associate editor of Canadian Public Policy and has served on the editorial boards of Sociology of Education, American Journal of Education, and Sociological Inquiry.

His presentation today is sponsored by the Faculty of Education as part of its Educational Research Colloquium Series.

Southwestern Ontario was a front in some of Canada’s defining wars, and that history will come under exploration during the seventh Windsor Military Studies Conference, this weekend at the Major F.A. Tilston VC Armoury.

Titled “War & Memory,” the conference is a collaboration between the UWindsor Humanities Research Group, the Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies, the Essex and Kent Scottish Regiment, the HMCS Hunter, the Windsor Regiment, and 21 Windsor Service Battalion.

Several presentations focus on the War of 1812, including Friday’s keynote address by military historian Terry Copp, entitled “The War of 1812: Creating Memory.” A Saturday afternoon session will include “A Hidden History: The Story of Springwells in the War of 1812” and “Tecumseh and the War of 1812.”

In addition, the home front during the world wars comes under consideration in “Chatham and the First World War” and “Windsor Goes to War, 1939.”

The conference runs February 3 and 4 at the armoury, 4007 Sandwich Street. Registration is $20 (including lunch), $10 for students with ID, and is open to history buffs, students, and the general public.

More information and registration are available through the Humanities Research Group at 519-253-3000, ext. 3506 or 3508, hrgmail@uwindsor.ca. Registration will also be possible at the door, but organizers prefer attendees pre-register to facilitate planning.

The two main functions of peer review of teaching – improvement and evaluation – are the subject of an interactive session for faculty and staff on the UWindsor campus February 9.

Nancy Chism.

“The very mention of peer review of teaching summons the image of a quick but unnerving visit to one’s classroom, later summarized in a cursory evaluative note written by a reluctant colleague” says moderator Nancy Chism of Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis. “Small wonder that this approach isn’t the universal companion to student evaluation of teaching.”

Dr. Chism is professor emerita of higher education and student affairs at UIPUI and served as its associate vice chancellor for academic affairs and associate dean of the faculties from 1999 to 2006.

Her February 9 presentation begins at 2:30 p.m. Participants will examine the main advantages of and objections to peer review of teaching, and the major components of a good system; and will generate ideas for how a peer review of teaching system might be constructed in a way that is suited to the context of UWindsor.

Register for the event at https://ctl2.uwindsor.ca/workshops/ctl/2/.

The finance department has issued a notice reminding the campus community to consider the Reading Week closure when planning for February.

The University’s US customs warehouse in Dearborn, Michigan, will be open as usual through the month, but because campus offices will be closed February 20 and 24, people ordering perishable shipments should request delivery no later than February 21 to ensure they arrive in Windsor before the weekend.

Also, cheque pickups in accounts payable regularly scheduled for Friday, February 24, will not be available for pick up until Monday, February 27, between 1 and 3 p.m.

The University has declared an M.G. Butler glass shredder/chipper for sale by bid as Disposal File 862. Please click here for details.