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News Briefs

News Briefs

Follow the leader, leader, leader...

The University Students' Council will host its first-ever Women's Leadership Conference later this month.

The conference begins Friday, Jan. 25 at 12 p.m. in the University Community Centre atrium. Keynote speakers include London Mayor Anne Marie DeCicco, media, information and technoculture student Kate Kerr, MIT professor Carole Farber, Vicky Baxter from The London Free Press and Irshad Manji, author of Risking Utopia: On The Edge of a New Democracy.

"We hope [the conference] inspires people to find their niche and empowers them to find their path," said Sera Vavala, University Students' Council VP-campus issues. "Wherever you are in life, you can end up where you want to be."

Registration begins Jan. 21 at the USC Front and continues throughout the week. Registration is $10 and it includes a delegate package, entrance to the forums and lunch on Saturday.

–Jillian Van Acker



I thought "A" was for art

Artists will be hoping to convince Western students that "E is for Art" during the annual University Students' Council's Festival of the Arts, slated for next week.

The University Community Centre will be a hub of creative endeavours all week, with many activities and a week-long visual arts exhibit, said Festival of the Arts commissioner Jenny Dyck. Daily events include a battle of the bands, poetry readings, break dancing and improvisation.

"E is for exciting, eccentric – all those artsy things," Dyck said, outlining the "E is for Art" theme. "Most importantly, art is for everyone."

Students' submissions for the art display will be accepted tomorrow in the UCC atrium.

–Joel Brown



Western gets connected

A new program available to the Western community will allow students, past and present, to become even closer.

Western and Ramius Corporation – an Ottawa-based software development company – have created a joint initiative called Purple Circles, which allows faculty, staff, alumni and students to create an interactive community with friends, family and colleagues.

"This service allows individual groups remote from campus to have their own intranet back to campus," said UWO Alumni Association president Gary Blazak.

"For instance, [within one university] the Alumni Association and Board of Directors could be part of the same circle," he said, adding this means more effective and direct communication between various groups, allowing them to keep in touch and updated on various issues.

This service is free and can be found at http://www.purplecircles.uwo.ca

–Jeff Hignett



What's your major?

For students who are not quite sure what they have been doing since September, the Academic Affairs Committee wants to help them come back for another year.

Beginning Monday and running throughout the week, What's Your Major week will be part of a three-week joint initiative by the Centre for New Students and the University Students' Council academic affairs committee. The program will help students register for next September in the program of their choice.

For students living on-campus, each residence will host a two-hour information session where students can hear about different programs and have the opportunity to ask questions. A session for off-campus students will be held in the University Community Centre atrium on Tuesday, Jan. 22 between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m..

"This first week of the three-week program is intended to make students more aware of the services offered to help them," said Josh Morgan, USC academic programming commissioner.

"Every faculty is slightly different so we're trying to make students aware that they have to put some thought into how they will register for next year," he said.

–Tait Simpson