Guelph Alumnus Magazine, Summer 2000

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CWe CWere

36

3

message from the

SUMMER 2000

4

in and around the University

alumni Matters

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LUMNI SPIRITS will soar during Alumni Weekend in june. Class reunions, alumni association annual meetings and recognition events to honour distinguished alumni and volunteers highlight the program june 16 to 18. This section also reports on winter events and offers an alumni family discount for Gryphon sports events.

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CADEMIC PROGRAMS take centre stage at U of G with the appointment of Alastair Summerlee as vice-president (academic) and new faces in student affairs and the CSAHS dean's office.

There is more good news in the announcement of new residence and athletics facilities at Guelph and government fu nding to launch the HumberGuelph Centre.

SCHOLARSHIP ALL THINGS SCOTTISH Scotophiles from around the world value U of G's librar y collection and graduate program in Scottish studies.

10

By Mary Dickieson

18

RESEARCH

BIOLOGY COMPUTES Unlikely faculty partnerships are turning U of G into the biocomputing campus of Canada.

By Andrew Vowles

ON THE COVER THE GREAT SEAL of King James V is the most impressive beeswax seal in the U of G Library's Scottish Collection. Attached to a 1542 charter, it confirms the transfer of land and title (Barony of Pentland) from Scotsman William Sinclair to his son.

research 'Notes

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Photo by Dean Palmer/The Scenario

Summer 2000

1

Quelph alumnus Summer 2000 • VOLUME 32 ISSUE 2

Editor Mary Dickieson Director Darlene Frampton Art Direction Peter Enneson Design Inc. Contributors Barbara Chance, BA '74 Lori Bona Hunt Andrew Vowles, B.Sc. '84 Alexander Wooley Advertising Inquiries Brian Downey 519-824-4120, Ext. 6665 E-mail bdowney@exec.admin. uoguelph.ca Direct nil other correspondence to: Guelph Ah1m1uls

Communications and Public Affairs University of Guelph Guelph, Ontario N l G 2W l Phone 519-824-4120 Fax 519-824-7962 E-mail mdickies@excc.admin. uoguelph.ca

Advertise On Campus... ............_

@ Guelph ... the official University of Guelph ......._ _ _ _1 faculty and staff newspaper Four Projects Approved for CFI Funding

www.uoguelph .ca/ucomm/alumnus/ The Guelph Ahmmus magazine is published three times a year by Communications and Public Affairs at the University of Guelph. Its mission is to enhance the relationship between the University and its alumni and friends and promote pride and commitment within the Un iversity commun ity. All material is copyright 2000. Ideas and opinions expressed in the articles do not necessarily reflect the ideas or opinions of the University or the editors.

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Guelph Alumnus Magazine ... offers news, features and information on alumni events

To update your alumni record or change your address, please contact: Development and Public Affairs Phone 519-824-4120, Ext. 6550

For M ore Information ... Call: Brian Downey A dvertis ing Coord inator U nivers ity of Gu elph (519) 824 4 120 Ext. 6665 www.uoguelph.ca/-webadmin/ADGUIDE/

2 GuELPH ALUMNus

Fax 519-822-2670 E-mail jeanw@alumni.uoguelph.ca

UNIVERSITY g;"GUELPH

UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH

message from the President MORDECHAIROZANSKI

C

for the U ofG staff who produce the Guelph Alumnus. The magazine has been awarded a gold medal by the Canadian Council for the Advancement of Education as "best magazine" in a nationwide competition of university publications.

enhance U of G's strategic mission of research-intensiveness while strengthening our core academic areas.

We are also expanding our capacity to respond to the learning needs of future students through the construction of new teaching facilities that are being fundNot only does this achievement recognize the highed by the province. An $8-million addition to the Thornquality work of our editorial staff in Communications brough Building will be completed by fall as part of and Public Affairs, along with the talOntario's Access to Opportunities Proented designers and photographers who gram (ATOP). This will provide classassist them, but it also reflects the valroom space for departments across ue we place on the Guelph Alumnus as campus and will add computing labs a way of staying in touch with U of G and new equipment needed to handle alumni and friends. increased enrolments in computing and As readers, you will continue to enjoy engineering. gold-medal quality in this issue of the U of G has also received $73.6 milmagazine. The cover story features U of lion for two projects from Ontario's G's impressive Scottish Library CollecSuperBuild Growth Fund. A Sciences tion and the interdisciplinary graduate and Advanced Learning and Training program it supports in Scottish studies.

(SALT) Centre to be built on campus These initiatives date back to the estabwill provide a new science complex conlishment of the University of taining high-tech classrooms, Guelph and have earned our labs and a large flexible lecture institution international recoghall that can be reconfigured WE REMAIN nition. Guelph expertise and into smaller units. This hall will COMMITTED TO OFFERING resources in Scottish culture serve the needs of all colleges. have brought scholars and stuYou'll read more about the ACADEMIC PROGRAMS OF dents to campus from around SALT Centre in this issue, along THE HIGHEST QUALITY. the world. with the second SuperBuild A second feature deals with project- a facility to house the growing discipline of bioprograms we are developing computing. U of G faculty are leading the country in through a new partnership with Humber College in this unique area of research that explores the use of Toronto. A new building will be erected on Humber's computer technology to keep track of biological data Etobicoke campus to house fully integrated, joint admisand develop statistical models. A natural outgrowth of sions programs that will allow students to graduate in four years or less with both a U of G degree and a HumU of G expertise in the life sciences and computing science, biocomputing offers the potential for Guelph stuber diploma. These new programs will focus on highdents to learn new skills that will increase their future demand areas of applied study where our institutions employability. have similar strengths, such as gerontology, early childU of G continues to receive recognition and support hood education, tourism, communications and police in response to our distinctive research strengths and our foundations. ability to mobilize interdisciplinary teams of researchers.

The ATOP and Super Build projects will be instruGuelph will receive more than $35 million from the mental in addressing the impending growth and accessibility challenges in Ontario, but they are equally imporCanada Research Chairs Program to fund 18 faculty positions for experienced and world-class researchers tant to us at U of Gas a foundation for creating new and 20 positions for junior faculty who show the potenopportunities in education. We want to create space for tial to become leaders in their fields. This support will more students, but we remain committed to offering help us retain and recruit outstanding scholars who will academic programs of the highest quality.

ONGRATULATIONS ARE IN ORDER

Summer 2000 3

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UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH

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PROVINCE FUNDS GuELPH, GuELPH/HuMBER PROJECTS

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U OF G HAS received $73.6 million from the provincial Super Build Growth Fund$45 million for the University's proposed new Sciences and Advanced Learning and Training (SALT) Centre and $28.6 million for the HumberGuelph Centre for Advanced Education and Training at Humber College in Toronto.

In total, the SuperBuild Growth Fund is providing $742 million in new capital project funding for Ontario universities to build and modernize post-secondary institutions, improve the quality of education and prepare for the expected surge in student demand over the next 10 years.

President Mordechai Rozanski says the SALT Centre "is an ambitious renewal of our facilities, and although it will have a focus on science, it will truly be cross-disciplinary,

Dianne Cunningham, Ontario minister of training, colleges and universities, and president Mordechai Rozanski confer at the minister's Feb. 25 SuperBuild Growth Fund announcement.

providing high-tech 'smart' classrooms, laboratories and a 1,000-seat lecture theatre complex for faculty, students and staff in the sciences, social sciences, humanities and applied and professional programs across campus."

SuperBuild funding will also support major renovations to the Axelrod Building,

providing additional classroom space. In addition, it's expected the SALT Centre will provide the space needed to expand U of G's co-operative education and experiential learning programs.

The Humber-Guelph Centre for Advanced Education and Training at Humber College's north campus will

house a new fully integrated, joint admissions program involving the two institutions.

The pioneering program would allow students to graduate in four years or less with a U of G degree and a Humber diploma and would see the creation of a number of new integrated and applied degree and diploma programs. Ultimately, the centre will accommodate a steadystate enrolment of up to 2,000 students. Programs identified for early development are gerontology, early childhood education, hospitality and tourism, media and communications, wireless technology and police foundations.

SALT's total capital cost of $89.8 million, and the Humber project total of about $40 million, will require additional support from publicand private-sector partners.

Summerlee named VP ROF. ALASTAIR SuMMERLEE, assoc iate vice-president (acade mic), has been

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named U of G provost and vice-president (academic ), effective july 1. ~

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President Mordechai Rozanski, chair of the sea rch committee, says Summerlee's selection "follows an extensive search and the review of an excellent group of candidates, including men and women from diverse disciplines and from institutions across Canada and abroad."

Summerlee, who holds a B.Sc., B.V.Sc. and PhD from the University of Bristol,

4 GUELPH ALUMNUS

joined U of G in 1988 as a professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences. He was named associate dean of OVC in 1992, became dean of graduate studies in 1995 and served as acting associate vice-president (academic) from 1998 until he was officially appointed to the position in 1999. He has also served as chair of the Enrolment Management Committee since 1997.

He will replace current provost lain Campbell, who plans to return to research and teaching in the Department of Physics when his term ends this summer.

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PEOPLE IN THE NEWS • CAMPUS HIGHLIGHTS • UNIVERSITY NOTES

ONTARIO INVESTS IN U OF G RESEARCH PLANTS GROWING on the U of G campus in special chambers that simul ate the atmosphere of space are one step closer to actually making it into orbit, thanks to part of a $12.5-million com-

researchers and span at least 10 departments and three co lleges.

mitment from the Ontario Innovation Trust (O IT).

OIT officials and Guelph MPP Brenda Elliott were on campus March 24 to present a cheque to president Mordechai Rozanski for nine research projects that invo lve close to 200 U of G

and ot her researchers hop e to ~ lea rn how to grow food in space by researc hin g atmospher ic ~ pressure. T h e Jab wi ll include ~ special chambers that duplicate co nditions in space.

"The opportu niti es affo rded U of G researchers by th e co m bined CFI (Ca nada Foundation for Inn ovation) and OJT infrastru ct ure awards are unprecedented in recent tim es," says Dixon. " U of G's success reflects

Among the projects that will ~ benefit from the OIT funding is the space labo ratory where Prof. ~ Mike Dixon, Plant Agri culture, ,~

8 2

Cut line : Close to 200 Guelph researchers will benefit from a $12.s·mil· lion grant from the Ontario Innovatio n Tru st, including Mike Stasiak, left, Prof. Mike Dixon and Nan McKay, who use specialized growth chambers like thi s one to simulate growing co ndition s on the moon .

New dean of CSAHS named Provost lain Campbell, chair of the search committee, says Joseph's "obvious and passionate support for all the college's variegated activities gives him the foundation to represent t he college effectively to the world beyond the campus and to build the kind of partnerships implicit to its mission."

Joseph has been at Guelph for more than 20 years and chair of the Department of

Geography since 1992. He has researched and published extensively on rural studies, particularly the delivery of health and social services to rural populations . He has been a member of national multidisciplinary chair of the Depart-

research projects, including the Canadian

ment of Geography, has been appoint-

Aging Research Network, has contributed to

ed dean of the College of Social and Applied

two special commissions of the International

Human Sciences (CSAHS) for a five-year term

Geographical Union, and has served as a

that begins July 1. He will succeed Prof.

consultant to federal and provincial agen-

Michael Nightingale, dean of CSAHS since

cies looking at new methods of health-care

its creation in 1998.

service delivery to seniors.

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very we ll on the quality of our faculty and research perso nnel."

The $8-m illio n space lab was initially funded through th e CF I, with O IT 's co ntributi o n being the final co mmitment.

The est im ate d value of all Guelph's CFI!OIT-fund ed projects is more th an $30 milli on .

Add iti o nal fundin g for the projects has come from institutional and private-sector partners.

Each of the OIT awa rds w ill have the potential to provide benefits for the broader public in O nta ri o, as well as th e Uni versity and its various partners.

In add itio n to the space lab, the projects suppo rt the infrastructure to advance resea rch o n food safety, geneti c engineerin g, an imal health , crop production a nd indu str ial app li ca ti o ns of biotechnology.

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Summer 2000 5

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in and around the University A watershed aggreement

Honorary degrees awarded

A NEW AGREEMENT between U of G and the Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA) is expected to cement joint teaching, research and outreach activities by faculty and students and lead to new collaborative environmental projects with the GRCA in the local watershed. An existing agreement with Credit Valley Conservation, west of Toronto, was also recendy renewed.

Prof. Stew Hilts, director of U of G's Centre for Land and Water Stewardship, says the agreements will help streamline joint projects involving the conservation authorities and the University. Faculty and students will continue to enjoy access to both conservation areas for their research and teaching projects and will be able to influence watershed planning and management. Besides getting faculty help with needed research, the GRCA expects to see better co-ordination of the numerous research and fieldsite requests it receives routinely from U of G. "The conservation authorities get help with their research needs and the University of Guelph gets help with teaching and research opportunities;' says Hilts, a faculty member in the Department of Land Resource Science.

Since the initial agreement with Credit Valley Conservatio n was signed in 1966, numerous faculty have worked on projects around the Credit River. Hilts says such partnerships may also help in establish ing a proposed research centre in water quality.

6 GUELPH ALUMNUS

U

OF

G

AWARDED

two honorary degrees

and 68o degrees and diplomas d uring

winter convocation ceremonies in February.

Honorary degrees were presented to Paul Cox, director and CEO of the National Tropical Botanical Garden in Hawaii, and Jocelyne Bourgon, president of the Canadian Centre for Management Development in Ottawa.

Cox studies the medicinal and health effects of chemical compounds produced in plants. His experiments have led to the identification and patenting of two nutraceutical compounds. He conducts much of his research in Polynesia, where he works to support the culture of indigenous peop le, and holds academic positions at Brigham Young University and Uppsala University.

Bourgon was the first woman to hold the position of clerk of the Privy Council and secretary to the Cabinet. She served in t his capacity and as head of the Public Service of Canada from 1994 to 1999. In her current position, she is addressing the challenge of rebuilding public service leadership.

U of G to build new residence, field house

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WO BUILDING projects approved by U of G's Board of Governors at its February meeting arc designed to meet U of G's increased demand for

available for returning students, a shortage due both to enrolment growth in recent years and an extremely low vacancy rate in the city of Guelph, says l:ken-

residence is slated for completion by September 2001.

Improvements to the Athletics Centre, expected to be completed this fall, involve con-

on -campus housing and athletic f~1cilities .

da \Vhiteside, associate vicepresident (student affairs). In addition, a growing number of returning students are requesting to live on campus. The new

struction of a covered field house and major renovations to the men's locker room. The improvements are being funded by students through the capital building fee.

A new townhouse-style residence will help address the shortage of campus housing

IN FACT...

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council approved almost 73 per cent of Guelph applications for post-graduate scholarships this year, compared with 67 per cent in 1999.

The field house will address critical space constraints, particularly for intramural sports, says Whiteside. It will consist of two indoor fields for intramural soccer, field hockey and Ultimate Frisbee, and a four-lane track for recreational use and training for the intcrvarsity track teams.

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U of G student wins NRC award E

MILY N iCHOLS, a secondyear co-op student in the School of Engineerin g, has been selected to take part in the Women in Engineering and Science program of the Nationa l Research Co un cil (NRC) of

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Nichols is one of 25 students chosen from across Ca nada for the program this year. Worth an average of $ 11 ,000 a year, the award guarantees her a summ er or co-op position in an N RC lab durin g all three remaining years of her undergraduate program.

Nichol s h as h er eye on two of NRC's ll research labs across the country. The Industri al Manufacturing Technologies

WHITESIDE NAMED ASSOCIATE VP

Institute in London recently opened a virtual-reality centre that focuses on automobile design and testing. She's also considering the Ottawa -based Institute for Research in Con-

COLLEGE D'ALFRED RECEIVES HERITAGE GRANT College d'Aifred has received $1 million in funding through the Canada-Ontario Agreement on Official Languages in Education to acquire new technologies in

struction, where she might study health and safety issues in buildings.

Last summer, she worked for Prof. Ron Fleming at Ridge town College developing software for

support of agri-food training

a manure com posting system to help hog farmers improve their waste-treatment practices.

Nichols grew up on a 200acre farm in Blenheim, Ont., and Guelph is the alma mater of both her parents, tan, B.Sc.(Agr.) '78, and jean (Simpson), BA '76.

the Ministry of Economic Devel-

programs and to develop new areas of specialization. Canadian Heritage provides the federal portion of the grant, with provincial funding coming from opment, Trade and Tourism.

College d'Aifred has 120 full-time and 2,045 part-time students enrolled in a range of agri-food,

horticulture

and

nutrition programs.

Mills Hall converts to co-ed

Two-TIME Guelph graduate Brenda Whiteside is U of G's new associate vice-president (student affairs). She earned a BA in management economics in 1982 and an MA in economics in 1983, and was a lecturer in the Department of Economics before being appointed BA pro gram counsellor in 1988, a position she held until being named secretary of Senate in 1991.

In 1998, Whiteside was appointed academic assistant to the provost and managed Guelph's review of the new secondary school curriculum. She has been acting associate vice-president (stu dent affairs) since May 1999, overseeing all student services: health , housing, athletics, child care, first-year studies, and counselling and student resources.

To ACCOMMODATE changing demographics and an increasing demand for co-ed spaces in residence, U of G w ill convert all-ma le Mills Hall to a co-ed residence for fall 2000. A smaller all -male space, consistent with the demand for all-male housing, will be provided within the residence system.

For the past several years, 65 per cent of the entering class at U of G has been female. Demand for male-only residence has been decreasing, while demand for co-ed space has grown. On average, only 18 per cent of new students assigned to MiUs

over the last four years actually requested it as their first choice. Other students assigned to the building had requested a co-ed residence.

The decision to convert the residence is based on both demographics and equity issues.

Patrick Case, U of G's director of human rights and equity, says: " It becomes an equity issue when a relatively large number of students who choose to live in co -ed residences cannot be accommodated in favour of maintaining an all-male residence in which only one- fifth of the students have expressed a clear preference."

Summer 2000 7

UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH

research

otes

SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY â&#x20AC;˘ SCHOLARSHIP â&#x20AC;˘ SOCIAL DEVELOPMENTS BOYS MADE TO BE BOYS?

them to complete the task 65 per cent of the time, compared with

PARENTS MAY BE SOCializing their sons to take more risks than their daughters and providing them with less assistance

only 19 per cent for daughters.

In addition, parents spontaneously provided physical support to help their daughters complete the task 67 per cent of the time, compared with 17 per cent for boys. When a child resisted the request to complete the task, 58 per cent of parents continued to insist to their sons that they complete the task, and in a more insistent manner than that used with girls. Parents' instructions to girls also emphasized injury vulnerability and cautiousness.

This type of parental response may heighten girls' awareness of injury risk and their concerns about their vulnerability for injury, thereby deterring them from engaging in behaviours that pose a threat of injury, the researchers say.

Barbara Morrongiello

in performing dangerous tasks, according to a new study by U of G researchers.

As a result, parents may be placing their sons at greater risk to sustain injury, say psychology professor Barbara Morrongiello and research assistant Tess Dawber. They also conclude that how parents communicate with their children may shape and promote sex differences in children's risk-taking, a littleexplored area of research.

Boys may come to assume that it's appropriate and acceptable for them to engage in risktaking behaviours, the researchers say.

As part of their studies, Morrongiello and Dawber examined how parents taught their children, ages two to four, to slide down a firehouse-type pole.

They found that parents told their sons how to complete the task independently and pressed

8 GuELPH ALUMNUS

HOW TO MANAGE PET PAIN PROF. KAROL MATHEWS of the Ontario Veterinary College's Veterinary Teaching Hospital is trying to determine whether the old doctor's cliche: "Take two aspirin and call me in the morning" works as well for pets

IN FACT...

Aspirin may provide effective pain relief for pets.

as it does for people.

Mathews is researching nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory analgesics (NSA!As) to see if they are efficient and safe for pain management in dogs and cats.

NSAIAs have been used by humans for years, with new ones appearing on the market every year. These analgesics are now becoming more commonplace in veterinary medicine.

"We can make the assumption that ifNSAIAs are good for people, they would probably be good for veterinary use," says Mathews, "but we have to be careful. Cats and dogs are not little people. These animals are more susceptible to the side effects of these drugs than humans are."

Mathews's research has shown that NSAIA's are effective in treating moderate to severe pain in animals. With this in mind, she is also studying how the drugs can be used to best benefit while taking into consideration the side effects associated with them.

NEW TEST SAVES SPUDS A DEVASTATING DISEASE that causes half of all potato losses in Ontario could soon be controlled, thanks to a quick diagnostic test being developed by U of G researchers.

Profs. Jane Robb and Ross Nazar, Molecular Biology and Genetics, are working with Ali Khan of the Department of Plant Agriculture to develop a

method of detecting the verticillium fungus, which causes what's known as "early dying syndrome" in potatoes.

The disease stunts the growth of infected plants and leads to early plant death.

"The syndrome causes major crop losses to potato growers in Ontario and around the world;' says Robb. "It's crucial for us to find ways of detecting the fungus early on

Prof. Jane Robb, right, and research technician Barbara Lee.

before the disease sets in."

Three verticillium species, which are soil-bound pathogens along with a nematode (worms that have long, unsegmented, round bodies) called Pratylenclws- work together to cause the disease.

Traditional methods such as resistant potato lines, testing soil samples and applying pesticides have not been able to effectively detect and fight verticillium infection of potato crops, largely because of the absence of a good diagnostic test.

So Robb and her colleagues are pursuing a detection

method based on molecular genetics that screens soil samples for the presence of verticillium genetic material.

"The economic impact of this technology wi ll be fe lt not only in Ontario where early dying syndrome is a major potato disease, but also on national and global levels," she says.

ARTIST EXPLORES GENETIC CLONING ROF. jEAN MADDISON, Fine Art and Music, spent months researching genetic cloning and finalizing her dramatic and thought-provoking conclusions.

But you won't find them in a scholarly journal or textbook; instead, her research is hanging on the wall.

Maddison, who is director of the University's print-making studio, has created a series of prints on the controversial issue of genetic cloning and birth defects.

The prints have been shown

why man is tampering with our genetic legacy."

An exhibition of her prints titled "DNA Designs II " was featured at the International

IN FACT...

Ninety per cent of smokers pick up the habit before the age of20.

Print Biennale 111 Sapporo, japan . Her prints were chosen by an international committee that selected only 160 artists from some 3,000 submissions for the exhibit. Part of the series was also featured last summer at Trois Rivieres, Que., and in the fall at the art gallery on the University of Toronto's Scarborough campus. One of the more recent prints, Genetic Code III, is now showing at the Barbican Centre in London, England, in the Contemporary Print 2000 Exhibition.

SHEDDING LIGHT ON TOBACCO USE

Jean Maddison

in gaUeries as far away as London and japan. The works are summations of her research, commentaries on a subject she finds both fascinating and frightening.

"This is deeply personal to me- it disturbs me;' she says.

"Look at our genetic heritage, the way conception occurs. We get 23 chromosomes from each of our parents, and one little mistake- one extra genecan create horrible deformities.

I find it difficult to understand

A RECENT STU DIY by U ofG professors William O'Grady, Sociology and Anthropology, found that nearly 28 per cent of Ontario merchants are willing to sell tobacco to minors, with most illegal sales being made to girls and older youth. He also learned that vendors are more willing to make illegal tobacco sales during hours when enforcement officers are less likely to be working. And stores that complied with other tobacco laws- such as posting signs and asking for identification- were the least likely to sell to underage youth.

O'Grady set out to identify and discuss factors influencing the sale of tobacco to underage people in Ontario, the first

study of its kind in Canada.

More than 400 tobacco retailers in 186 Ontario communities were surveyed, using trained youth volunteers.

"About 90 per cent of all daily smokers begin smoking before the age of 20," says O'Grady.

"Because so few people start smoking after their teenage years, prevention efforts are working to curtail access of tobacco products to young people."

The study concluded that larger emotion-arousing warning messages on cigarette packages, supported by graphic images, will encourage some smokers to stop smoking and deter non-smokers from taking up the habit.

EARTHWORMS ARE A FARMER'S BEST FRIEND WHEN IT COMES to plowing fields, farmers might be better off leaving at least part of the job to earthworms, says a U of G soil scientist. "There is a definite lack of appreciation for the precise contribution earthworms have on soil structure;' says Bert VandenBygaart, a research associate in the Department of Land

Vanden Bygaart

Resource Science. "We need to understand their impact on soil, so their benefits can be built on and current agricultura l practices improved!'

In traditional agriculture, farm fields are mechanically plowed every year to aerate soil,

reduce weeds and promote drainage and nutrient cycling.

The problem is that plowing can lead to erosion and loss of valuable soil. And plows kill earthworms, nature's way of aerat ing the soi l.

By digging small tunnels through the soil, earthworms build porous networks that promote efficient water and nutrient cycling. Worms mix the soil by feeding on organic residues at the soil surface and dragging them back down into their burrows, leaving nutrientrich fecal castings in their trail that can be readily taken up and used by plants.

ENGINEER HEADS OMAFRA FOOD RESEARCH PROGRAM ENGINEERING professor Valerie Davidson is using her new research position to encourage scientists to share information with consumers about food safety and quality.

Davidson was appointed director of the food research component of U of G's research program with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA).

Among the items on her plate will be emphasizing that food scientists must be attuned to consumer needs. "Consumers want information to make informed decisions, and scientists must find a way to communicate risks and benefits in an understandable manner."

In addition to food safety and quality, the food research program will focus on value-added products and innovative technologies, processes and systems.

As part of a committee, Davidson will review research proposals to determine which projects to fund from the food research program's $1.5-million budget.

Summer 2000 9

-

The rich colours and textures of parchment, leather and cloth bindings draw the photographer's eye to the rare book section of the University Library's Scottish Collection, but the largest part of the collection by far is housed in the library stacks, where its holdings are easily accessible to library users.

These are just ordinary books that provide extraordinary insight into Scottish and Scottish-Canadian history, literature and wlture. Still accwnulating, Guelph's Scottish Collection is not being built just for students and sclwlars, but for all Canadians who value the country's Scottish heritage.

10 GuELPH ALUMNus

All Things Scottish The University of Guelph explores Scottish culture through an academic program and a library collection that are second to none STORIES BY MARY DICKIESON PHOTOGRAPHY BY DEAN PALMER

in the University of Guelph library archives are seven Scottish charters dating fTOm 1491 to 1547. Legal documents (one bears the royal seal of King james V), they confirm the transfer of land and titles of nobility from one generation of a family to the next.

The weathered ornate script on linen parchment is difficult to read, but the charters reveal much about Scotland's complex system of land ownership and privilege, which carried on for centuries. Paradoxically, the same social system that kept the Scottish nobilit y rooted to the so il created a highly mobile lower class and eventually contributed to the large numbers of Scots who immigrated to the New World in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.

The first Scots in Ca nadian territor y probably landed with the Vikings (c. I 000 AD), but the first wave of modern settlers came in the early 1600s as indentured servants. Since then, Canada has received more Scottish immigrants than any other country in the world. They've been a remarkably successful people who have made countless contributions to Canadian government, education, culture and enterprise.

In fact, the contribution of Scots throughout North America has been well documented and is recognized as an important area of stud y at a number of major universities.

But none earlier than the University of Guelph, which has offered a graduate program in Scottish studies since 1965.

When Stanford Reid came from Montreal to head U of G's first history department in 1965, he surely recognized the strong Scottish heritage in this part of rural Ontario, and he knew the City of Guelph was founded by a Scotsman's axe. Those who

S

OME OF THE OLDEST MATERIALS

worked with Reid say he was committed to the establishment of an academ ic program devoted to Scottish studies and saw it as an important area in which the new University of Guelph could make a unique and significant contribution.

Dedicated to the study of Scottish history and culture, the Scottish studies program was one of Guelph's first graduate programs in the liberal arts and is still one of the most popular. The program has 74 alumni and 12 students currentl y enrolled in master's and PhD programs.

"Fac ult y from across Canada, the United ~tates and Europe send their students to Guelph for graduate work because of the quality of our academic program and our library collection of Scottish material," says Prof. Jamie Snell, current chair of the Department of History.

From the rare charters governing Scotland's rugged landscape to the numerous letters and diaries written by Scottish families who immigrated to Canadian territory, Guelph's Scottish Co ll ection is one of the finest in the world. Snel l says it is the best Scottish collection in North America and one of the Un iversity's biggest drawing cards for historians.

The library attracts international scholars researching Scotland 's history, literature and culture, as well as the descendants of Scottish immigrants looking for genealogical materials to help trace their ancestry.

Like two sides of a shilling, U of G's academic program and library collection in Scottish studies have grown in value together. The Scottish studies program created a reason for Guelph to build a library coll ection, while relying on it for the resources that wou ld attract faculty and students to help the academic program grow.

Summer 2000

11

BUILDING A NATIONAL TREASURE

IM SAUER TELLS wonderful stories about his experiences in helping to build U of G's library collection in Scottish studies.

In the company of Ted Cowan, a previous chair of Scottish Sstudies, Sauer made some of the early pilgrimages to Edinburgh to browse through local bookstores. Their finds included a box of one-act plays - 200 in all - that they bought for 40 cents apiece.

As head of library collections, Sauer later negotiated with a Scottish book dealer to purchase I ,600 novels. Almost 1,200 were books U of G didn't have, including a nearly complete collection of novels by 191"-century author Annie Swan. Although not in the league of other Scottish literary greats, Swan enjoyed a huge following and wrote a book a year for 60 years. She has recently been rediscovered by scholars delving into women's literature, Sauer says.

The Gue lph library maintains a standing order with Scottish book dealers to continue to build its collection of local histories. Each year, hundreds of visitors head for the library's third-floor history section to browse through books on genealogy, clan histories, travel, politics and economics. In this location are extensive holdings of Scottish historical and antiquarian society publications, including one of the few complete sets from the Scottish History Society, which was founded in 1886 and is still flourishing.

There is also a rare set of works by Sir William Fraser, an amateur historian who recorded the stories of numerous Scottish families, which includes portraits, family seals and legal documents.

Maps, travel guidebooks, government documents and Scottish newspapers are other valuable resources. The library has the longest run in existence (from 1774 to 1814) of the Edinburgh Advertiser, once Scotland's most influential newspaper.

Cowan built on the Scottish library collection and the graduate program established by the Department of History's founding chair, Stanford Reid. While Reid's interest lay primarily in history and religion, his successors in the department and other faculty in the College of Arts have sought

T

12 GuELPH ALUMNUS

funding to increase holdings in literature, culture and other areas. "This is a library collection focused on Scottish studies in the broadest sense," says Sauer.

During the 1970s, the library benefited from a series of grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council as part of a federal program to help Canadian

THERE IS ALSO A RARE SET OF WORKS

BY SIR WILLIAM FRASER, AN AMATEUR HISTORIAN WHO RECORDED THE STORIES OF NUMEROUS ScoTTISH FAMILIEs, WHICH INCLUDES PORTRAITS, FAMILY SEALS AND LEGAL DOCUMENTS.

libraries build collections of national importance. Over a 10-year period, the U of G Library received more than $1 million (most of it matched by the University) to acquire material for the Scottish Collection.

Through the years, there have also been significant additions to the collection through private donations of material and purchases funded by private foundations.

One of the first was a 1975 gift from the Macdonald Stewart Foundation that purchased an original collection of Jacobite works, including rare books with flattering tales of Bonnie Prince Charlie and English newspaper clippings from 1745 to 1747 that present anti-jacobite views in the flamboyant journalistic style of the times.

The most recent acquisition was funded by the Toronto-based Scottish Studies Foundation- a seven-page pamphlet produced in the late 1600s by the Royal Bank of Scotland. One of only two known copies, the promotional pamphlet was an economic prelude to the 1707 Treaty of Union between Scotland and England and describes the new Royal Bank's lending strategies designed to encourage manufac-

turing and economic development in a nearly bankrupt Scotland.

The Scottish Collection draws sc holars from around the world and people from Canada and the United States who are interested in tracing their Scottish ancestry. "1n the literature section, we have tons of stuff -books and poetry- written by someone's aunt or grandfather," says Sauer. " It see ms everyone in Scotland thought they were gifted poets. Every now and then, a family member will discover one of these gems in the library and will be disappointed when we tell them the material is not for sale."

The library's rare book and archival collections are the purview of Bernard Katz, who picks the Ewen-Grahame manuscript collection as the most important in historical value. It contains more than 12,000 items that document the history of one family from 1732 to 1892. John Ewen was a merchant in Aberdeen who corresponded with people from all walks of life on a plethora of topics from art to politics and business to lunatic asylums. Legal documents, letters, diaries and business and personal papers provide an unusual look at everyday life over a span of 160 years, says Katz.

In terms of Scottish-Canadian history, the scrapbooks of 1830s rebel William Lyon Mackenzie stand out, along with the extensive holdings of material from other immigrant families. Some 15,000 Scots came to Canada before Co nfederation. Among the most prized possessions they brought from Scotland were books, as evidenced by the large Lizars family library that forms the basis of Guelph's Pioneer Collection. Daniel Lizars was one of three so ns of an uppermiddle-class Edinburgh family who settled in Goderich, Ont., in 1833. His books were well used by family and pioneer neighbours, and he continued to expand the collection with additions of Ca nadian works.

Katz tells us that one of the daughters of Daniel Lizars married the son of john Galt, the novelist and adventurer who founded Guelph in 1827. A prolific writer, Galt published close to 100 books and is cred ited with writing the first political novel, as well as a historical novel on how to sett le in Canada.

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A hand-coloured illustration in the 1832 Atlas of Scotland by engraver William Lizars sets the tone for the Lizars Pioneer Collection, which includes several hundred books brought to Canada by William's son Daniel in 1833. An upper-middle-class Edinburgh family, the Lizars owned a printing and publishing business. Historians speculate that Daniel came to Canada when mechanizatio11 in printing reduced opportunities at home. Books were among the most valuable possessions brought to Canada by Scottish immigrants. The Lizars library covered a variety of topics and was wei/used by the family and neighbours in the settlement town of Goderich, Ont.

A literary critic and Galt historian, Sauer says the novelist was often hounded by creditors, so he produced many mediocre works just to make money. Galt used pseudonyms and published what he thought were his best novels without any author's credit. Sauer has compiled a descriptive bibliography of john Galt materials and published it on the Internet at www.books.lib.uoguelph.ca.

He has also placed some of Galt's first

novels on the Web site. These first-edition books are physically located in Guelph, but scholars and students anywhere in the world are ab le to read them page-by-page on a computer screen from digital images that are stored at both U of G and the University of Glasgow.

The Internet provides a new way of sharing the library's resources just as it is expanding outreach activities of the Scot-

tish studies program through distance edu catio n courses. The broader exposure will enhance Guelph's reputation as a reposito r y of Scottish materials, says Sauer. "After all, we didn't build this col lect ion just for undergraduate and graduate students at Guelph. We built it as a national collection.

And it's a wonderful Scottish studies co llection - one of the finest in the world and undoubtedly the best in North America."

Summer 2000 13

STUDYING THE ScoTs

y 1832, THE SETTLERS of Upper Canada were fed up with the British government's indifference to their hardships, so they sent a scrappy Scotsman to London to air their grievances. Armed with a list of economic woes dating back to the War of 1812, William Lyon Mackenzie filled British newspapers, parlours and political watering holes with stories from the colonies for nearly two years- and filled his own scrapbooks with newspaper clippings, letters and notes to document his efforts.

Among those British subjects who took exception to Mackenzie's view of life in Upper Canada was john Galt, another Scot and a popular novelist who had travelled much of the territory on behalf of a British development company known as the Canada Company. In 1827, Galt felled a large maple tree to found the town of Guelph, but by 1832, he had been recalled to the United Kingdom and was trying to publish another book to stay ahead of his creditors.

The paths of colourful Scots crossed often in the early years of Canada's history and arc still weaving themselves through the country's development. Half of the Fathers of Confederation, 13 prime ministers since Sir john A. Macdonald and more than two million Canadians today trace their ancestry to Scotland.

There is in North America a tremendous public interest in all things Scottish because of Scotland's romantic history; because of the renaissance of Celtic music and art; because of the tremendous impact Scottish traditions, literature and culture have had on the development of Canadian and U.S. society; and, for many of us, because of great stories about pioneers and rebels like Galt and Mackenzie.

These are the things students devour and analyse in U of G's Scottish studies program.

Originally established by the Department of History, the graduate program now offers interdisciplinary graduate degrees with the disciplines of English, music, philosophy, art history, land resource science and geography, and draws additional support from graduate faculty at the Scottish universities of Glasgow, Strathclyde, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and St. Andrews, as

B

14

GuELPH ALUMNUS

well as Canada's University College of Cape Breton. Guelph faculty also maintain collaborative links with the National Archives and National Library of Scotland, the School of Scottish Studies and the National Museums of Scotland.

Student exchange programs with three universities in Scotland provide Guelph stu-

THE PATHS OF COLOURFUL SCOTS CROSSED OFTEN IN THE EARLY YEARS OF CANADA'S HISTORY AND ARE STILL WEAVING THEMSELVES THROUGH THE COUNTRY'S DEVELOPMENT.

dents with an international perspective, and community involvement at the local level adds meaning to their research initiatives.

Scottish studies graduate students are encouraged to share their knowledge by participating in heritage events and by speaking at genealogical and historical societies.

They are primary contributors to the annual Scottish studies journal Scottish Tradition and share the podium with international scholars at an annual colloquium where academics meet Scotophiles.

Community outreach begins with the faculty who teach Scottish studies courses.

History professor Elizabeth Ewan has been known to give as many as four public talks a month. The topic could be anything Scottish, but her research on women in medieval Scotland- particularly the role of women as brewers- has been popular with local service clubs and Scottish societies across the country. She was the first woman ever invited to speak to the Burns Society in Vancouver and looks forward to participating in clan events and Highland games.

"This is the kind of interaction that makes Guelph's Scottish studies program unique,"

says PhD candidate Scott Moir. He helped deliver a public lecture in 1999 that ended in a discussion with the audience about the practice of birching in Scotland's schools. "Some people shared their personal experiences, and we had a lively debate about corporal punishment;' he says. "You rarely get that kind of discussion at an academic conference."

Moir's research involves Scottish criminal law and includes the application of law in cases of witchcraft. He says Scotland had huge witch hunts, out of proportion to the country's population, that were fuelled by a combination of religion, cultural beliefs in supernatural forces and a judiciary willing to prosecute on the basis of those beliefs.

His lectures on witchcraft filled the seats in an undergraduate course he taught last year and have earned him numerous invitations to address off-campus groups.

Moir also manages U of G's Scottish studies office, which was established in 1996 to provide a direct link with the community and is funded by the Scottish Studies Foundation.

That Toronto-based group actively promotes the recognition of Canada's Scottish heritage and does it primarily by supporting the Scottish studies program at Guelph. Moir says the enthusiasm shown by foundation members is duplicated by the people who call the Scottish studies office. During one week last semester, he provided a speaker for a clan association meeting, arranged for U of G participation at the Fergus Highland Games, answered questions from a CBC reporter, helped third-generation Scots find genealogical material in the library collection, and gave several mini lessons on why Scotland wanted to reopen its parliament.

"There's a lot of interest in Scottish topics because so many people in Canada have a personal connection to Scolland;' says Ewan.

Her parents were both Scottish, and she is a former Highland dancer, but she says it was a university exchange program at St. Andrews University that turned her interest into a career in Scottish history and archeology. She _ _ _ _ _ __.

I

left an academic position at the University of Victoria in British Columbia to come to Guelph because U of G "is the best place to do Scottish history work in North America."

Ewan's scholarly work will be recognized

â&#x20AC;˘ The personal scrapbooks of William Lyon Mackenzie document his 1832 expedition to London on behalf of the British subjects in Upper Canada. The rebellious Scot was Inter elected the first mayor of Toronto, tried unsuccessfully to establish a provincial reform party, and led a group of armed insurgents in a bid to overthrow the government. He fled to the United States in defeat and lived in exile for more than a decade, but spent his later years back in Toronto.

Unfortunately, Mackenzie died 13 years before the birth of his grandson- and future Canadian prime minister- William Lyon Mackenzie King.

this summer when she receives a prestigious award from the Royal Historical Society at University College London for an article she wrote on defamation and gender in late

Not all Scotophiles are Scottish, however.

It wasn't family background that drew history professor Linda Mahood to Scottish studies, but an interest in women's history and

medieval Scotland. It appeared in a publication called Medieval Scotland that was edited by Andrew MacDonald, a professor at University College of Cape Breton who happens to be a 1993 PhD graduate of Guelph's Scottish studies program.

social history. When she had an opportunity to do graduate work at Glasgow University, she used the time to study the Scottish system of social welfare, charities and women's shelters. Now looking at the juvenile reform movement, Mahood says Scotland led the way

in Britain and also influenced the development of Canadian juvenile facilities.

All Canadians feel the impact of social, political and economic structures that are based on British models, says Mahood. "It's quite remarkable that the strategies suggested to deal with the 21 51 -century problems of prostitution and street kids are simi lar to those attempted by the Victorians." And as happens too often today, she says, Victorian

Summer 2000 15

CELEBRATING ALL THINGS SCOTTISH WHETHER YOU'RE one of the two million Canadians with Scottish ancestry or you think you might have some Scottish blood or you just like Scotch whiskey, you'd be welcomed as a member of the Scottish Studies Foundation. The Toronto-based group isn't large, says chair Ed Stewart, but it has a lot of enthusiasm for all things Scottish.

A former Ontario deputy minister in the Ministry of Education and the premier's office, Dr. Stewart says his Scottish heritage has always played a key role in his life. His parents immigrated to Canada in the 1920s, and he grew up in the company of Scottish relatives and friends in Ontario and kept close contact with aunts, uncles and cousins still living in Scotland.

Stewart's story is not unique among members of the foundation, nor is his interest in recognizing the contributions Scots have made to Canadian society.

Since it was established in 1985, the organization has tried to raise awareness of Scottish heritage in Canada, primarily by supporting the Scottish studies program at U of G. Through membership fees and

remedies improved the lot of some people, ruined the lives of others and ultimately failed to solve the underlying social problems.

Another area of particular interest for the history contingent in Scottish studies is the migration of Scots throughout the world and particularly to Canada. From 1783 to 1803, some 12,000 Scots sailed to Canada, most to Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and Upper Canada, where there were already small centres of Highland culture and spoken Gaelic. Scottish immigrants to Canada followed the same settlement pattern for the next century, eventually leapfrogging west and north across the entire country.

Scottish migration is a research interest of the department's newest faculty appointment, Kevin James, who will join the program in December. James will fill a vacancy created by the retirement this summer of Prof. Ron Sunter. James is now completing doctoral studies at Edinburgh University.

"His dedicated focus on Scottish immigration will enrich the program at Guelph and

16 GuELPH ALUMNus

Ed Stewart, chair of the Scottish Studies Foundation, left, and U of G professor Elizabeth Ewan congratulate the organization's Scot of the Year, Lynton "Red" Wilson, OC, of Montreal, chair of CAE Inc. fund-raising, the foundation supports graduate scholarships, a scholarly journal,

benefit the growing public interest in Scottish-Canadian heritage," says Prof. Jamie Snell, chair of the Department of History.

That public interest translates into increased educational opportunities for students and employment opportunities for Scottish studies graduates. MacDonald is one of many who have gone into academia, including Janet Fyfe, PhD '86, at the University of Western Ontario, and Stuart MacDonald, BA '8 1, MA '82 and PhD '98, who is dean of students at Knox College, University of Toronto.

Other Scottish studies graduates are involved in library science, arch ival work, teaching and related fields. Eli zabeth Morgan, PhD '86, began an academic career in Britain, but is now a Presbyterian minister in Arkansas.

David Howie, PhD '83, is principal at St. John's-Kilmarnock, a private school near Guelph. And Brian Mearns, PhD '89, who learned Gaelic while completing his degree, is now teaching the language in Scotland.

Guelph faculty hope that an undergraduate Scottish studies program devel-

an annual colloquiwn, workshops and the Scottish studies office at Guelph. Foundation members have also raised funds to acquire material for the U of G Library collection, including the scrapbooks of William Lyon Mackenzie, which are on permanent loan to the Scottish Collection.

"We try to be supportive when an opportunity to build the library collection comes along;' says Stewart, who has been a foundation board member for five years.

The organization also hosts an annual Tartan Dinner to recognize and honour a Canadian Scot who is continuing the legacy of Scottish influence in Canada. And in a major undertaking, the Scottish Studies Foundation is currently raising funds to endow a chair of Scottish studies at U of G. The academic position will be another Canadian first for the Scottish studies program and will expand its outreach activities across the country.

Stewart and his colleagues envision that this scholar will strengthen Scottish studies initiatives in all areas of Canada and will lecture at Scottish events throughout North America.

oping at B.C.'s Simon Fraser University wi ll offer new opportunities for cross-Canada collaboration and perhaps create more channels for new appl icants and alumni of Guelph's graduate program.

At U of G, the largest growth in undergraduate courses related to Scottish studies is taking place in distance education and open learning. The Scottish studies program currently offers five distance courses, four of them Web-based. Some 500 people took advantage of these courses last year, and enrolments are increasing, primarily from students at other North American universities.

"This is one of our most important outreach activities;' says Ewan, who has begun discussions with Mearns about developing a distance course in Gaelic and hopes to launch a certifica te program in Scottish studies to recognize people who complete five distance courses.

The Internet also enables Scottish scholars to collaborate more effectively, no matter where they are in the world. Ewan maintains

.,

U of G library holdings in Scottish literature introduce readers to Scotland's "best" and "worst" poets, Robert Burns and William McGonagall, as well as popular 19th-century novelist Annie Swan, who wrote a book a year for 60 years. The Guelph collection also boasts Canada's best selection of john Galt titles, more than 500 Scottish chapbooks and a book of engravings used to illustrate the novels of Sir Walter Scott. Library shelves contain the works of Scotland's major authors as well as tons of poetry written by someone's aunt or grandfather that, truthfully, has more historical than literary value.

an online Scottish Women's History Bibliography linked to the U of G Web site at www.uoguelph.ca/history/scotstudy.lt's a list of primary and secondary resources that cover the subject from medieval times to the 20th century. Because it's on the Internet, it can be quickly updated as scholars from around the world contribute information, and it's available for use by everyone everywhere who has an interest in Scottish women's history.

Scottish studies faculty are also enthu-

siastic about posting some of Guelph's library resources on the Web. The library catalogue is available now through the U of G Web site, but a pilot project this summer will explore ways of making Web postings of the library's archival collections and Scottish Collection more user-friendly. Ewan and other faculty also hope to tap into resources at other institiutions and envision the University becoming the Web centre of North America in Scottish studies pro-

gramming and library resources.

Perhaps the most exciting initiative in Scottish studies, however, is the proposal to establish a Scottish studies academic chair.

It would be the first in North America, says Snell, and the scholar hired in this position would focus primarily on outreach activities, travelling widely to attend Scottish events, to lecture and to strengthen initiatives in all areas of Canada where there is a significant population with Scottish ancestry. ga

Summer 2000 17

-

by Andrew Vowles

NEW PARTNERSHIPS ARE MAKING U OF G THE BIOCOMPUTING CAMPUS OF CANADA N A WAY, IT WAS FOOD

that brought together the

otherwise disparate worlds of computer science professor Stefan Kremer and Cybelle Fernandez, a master's graduate of the Department of Food Science. Until a year ago, Kremer had little reason to venture from his office in the Reynolds Building across Gordon Street to the recently renovated Food Science Building. That's when he received a call from Fernandez, who posed a novel question: Could the computer scientist help the food scientist measure the volume of apple cells? It was this project- what might be dubbed a twist on "apple computers"- that whetted Kremer's appetite for new research opportunities involving equally unlikely partners.

Today, more and more biologists are knocking on the doors of computing and information experts, looking for computing tools and techniques to help them make sense of ever-increasing amounts of biological information.

Not surprisingly, many of those bonds are being forged here on the Guelph campus, where researchers in biology, agriculture, food science and veterinary medicine are meeting their counterparts in computing science, engineering, mathematics and statistics. Their common ground: biocomputing.

The word isn't even in the dictionary yet, but already U of G sci-

18

GUELPH ALUMNUS

entists are refining this new discipline to move beyond classifying and managing data to analysing and simulati ng real-life biological systems in both plants and animals- in effect, turning information into knowledge.

"Interest in biocomputing is growing aro und the world because of advances in information technology and biotechnology," says Prof. Jim Linders, chair of the Department of Computi ng and Information Science (CIS). He sees this field as one that will bring together research in both the College of Physical and Engineering Science (CPES) and the College of Biological Science and cement U of G's

••

Cybelle Fernandez

expertise in biology and computing. "We want to be known as the biocomputing campus of Ca nada," he says. " It's a good strategic move for the Un iversity."

Comparing apples with apples FERNANDEZ FIRST APPROACHED Kremer because she needed more precise information about microscopic changes taking place in foods undergo ing osmoti c dehydration, a preprocessing step already w ide ly used for preparing everything from frozen vegetables to candied dried fruit and fru its used in yogurt. The technique shortens the time needed for subsequent dehydration or freezing, thus preserving food qua lity.

Hoping to learn mo re abo u t why d ifferent foods exchange water and solids at varying rates, Fernandez wanted a more precise method than traditiona l m icroscopy to ana lyse hundreds of images opticall y sliced from apple samples. In particu lar, she needed a fast, reliable method of calcu lat ing th e vo lume of cells undergoing osmotic dehydration as an alternative to her laborio u s manual measu rements and approximations. Along wit h her superv isor, food science professor Marc Le Maguer, she found her way to Kremer's office in C IS. "She sent me images of apple cells and wanted to know the vo lu mes of the cells," says Kremer. Image processing is a high ly intensive computational task, but just the challenge for Damiaan Habets, an undergraduate student interested in vision and pattern recognition. Habets adopted the task as a semester project, then continued working on it last summer with Kremer. They developed a way to measure cell volumes by defin ing a point inside the cell, then projectin g lin es outward in all direct ions to intersect with the cell mem brane.

"We called it the spider algorithm because it grows legs that reach out to the cell walls;' says Kremer.

Now armed with a prototype, Fernandez wants to refine the software so the biologist using it can simp ly cl ick on a cell and have the computer calculate its vo lume. She says the system might eventually be used by ot her researchers in food science, horticulture or plant physiology. For industry, such software m ight h~ l p in modell ing and deve loping processin g parameters- temperature, duration of processing, solution concentration- during dehydration, which wou ld help in design ing industrial applications for the process, she says. "The end goal is to help food processors get the greatest benefit from osmotic dehydration and to improve the quality of the fina l product."

"Apple computers" are just one example of the

20 GuELPH ALUMNUS

Food scientist Stefan Kremer

Computer scientist Howard Dobson

Veterinarian Deb Stacey

Computer scientist jim Dickey

Human biologist Bob Dony

Engineer David Noakes

Zoologist Simon Yang

Engineer Alan Wildeman

Biotechnology centre director Chris Gray

Physicist

growing use across campus of computers and computational techniques for understanding and using biological data. CIS professor Deb Stacey says that growth is occurring because of the everrising mountains of data being collected in biologica l fields. Perhaps the most high-profile example is the data on the roughly 100,000 genes in human DNA currently being compiled by public- and private-sector organizations involved in the Human Genome Project. But information is also piling up in numerous other fields, from environmental sciences data needed for policy decisions under global trade to information on plant and animal species around the world.

Here at Guelph, the Computing Research Laboratory for the Environment run by principal investigator and CIS professor David Swayne brings computational science to bear on complex, data-heavy environmental problemsusing expert systems to model sediment transport in watersheds, data mining to extract nuggets of information from a welter of environmental statistics, and creating software on sustainable community indicators to be used by municipal decision-makers.

Looking elsewhere, Stacey paid her first-ever visit this spring to U of G's Axelrod Institute of Ichthyology to discuss ecological databases with research associate Rob McLaughlin and zoology professor David Noakes. They're involved in a binational collaboration assessing the biological effects of stream barriers built for sea lamprey control around the Great Lakes, and they've developed a database from a field survey of almost 50 streams as well as more than 100,000 sampling records compiled over the past century in Canada and the United States. 1n a recent paper, they reviewed lessons learned from their project for fisheries scientists, managers and funding agencies, including the challenges in developing a database that integrates biological and physical data of varying quality from many different sources.

Turning mountains into megabytes KEEPING TRACK OF MOUNDS of information is one thing. More important is how to make the best use of it.

Much of the interest in biocomputing- and the aspect perhaps most recognizable to most people -lies in bioinformatics or the use of computers by geneticists and molecular biologists to analyse the genomes of various species, from viruses and bacteria to mice and humans. Current newspaper headlines about the Human Genome Project dwell on the race among various world players to catalogue the human genome and on disputes over the patent-

ing of the stuff of life, but biologists are just as eager to develop and manage the genome database. (Scientists estimate that the human genome catalogue would fill some 200 telephone books, each about 1,000 pages long, and would take 26 years to read.)

On a computer screen in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics is a colour-coded schematic of the rather smaller genome of a virus. It resembles a train of alternating boxcarsgreen for genes themselves, red for "junk" stretches of DNA. That schematic is the first step in learning more about the genes themselves through genomics, or DNA sequencing, says department chair Prof. David Evans. Analysing those sequences and their complementary proteins involves studying huge amounts of DNA and requires powerful computers- sometimes even robots. U of G's Laboratory Services uses a robotic device to stamp out DNA "chips" or microscope slides containing grids of DNA samples, which can be screened for genes quickly and effectively. The other step to analysing genes involves computer modelling of incredibly complicated protein structures to learn about the protein's function.

Glancing at his PC, Evans says the computer can handle the viral genome, but for anything larger- even bacteria- "that becomes an astonishingly difficult number-crunching project."

Understanding how the 100,000 or so genes in the human genome interact to produce proteins is a massive computational problem, says Prof. Alan Wildeman, Molecular Biology and Genetics, who is director of U of G's new Food System Biotechnology Centre. For his studies of how genes regulate cell growth, particularly cancerous cells, he must examine large numbers of genes at once. Imagine hunting for, say, half a dozen pertinent genes from perhaps 30,000 potential sites along a plant's genome. How do you find them? "It's like somebody hands you 30,000 marbles, all shades of blue, but only five are exactly the same shade of blue," he says.

Until the advent of genomics and related technologies, finding those genes- let alone analysing them further- could be handled only laboriously, if at all. Even today, says Wildeman, you can do these kinds of computations on a desktop PC, but it still takes far longer than using a high-powered computer. "Part of bioinformatics is having data accessible to a lot of people."

as heart arrhythmia, ultimately to help pharmaceutical companies develop drugs or, eventually, to allow scientists to repair rogue DNA through genetic engineering.

The Toronto-based Membrane Biology Group recently received $80,000 from the Medical Research Council to build a supercomputing cluster to be shared by Guelph and Toronto researchers.

Goldman says they are trying to understand the structure and dynamics of these life processes, using X-rays to provide snapshots of ion protein channels and computer simulation to anticipate how they work.

Without computers, Prof. jim Wilton, Animal and Poultry Science, might still be trying to keep track of family trees of livestock using index cards. He's director of the Guelph-based Centre for the Genetic Improvement of Livestock (CGl L), which maintains records

DEFINITIONS The marriage of computer jargon and scientific terminology yields a whole new vocabulary.

Biocomputing - Using computer technology to simulate, classify and use data about biological phenomena.

Biodiversity - A variety of species.

Biological data - All the stuff we know about life forms, from tiny bacteria to humans.

Bioinformatics -

The computational analysis of biological

sequences. Used by geneticists and molecular biologists to analyse the genomes of various species. An example is the Human Genome Project.

Computational biology - The application and development of computational methods to study and simulate the structure and function of biological entities, usually at the molecular level.

Functional genomics - The study of the functions of genes and other DNA sequences to increase understanding of gene expression and control, proteins and mutations that alter function in organisms.

Neural networks - Biologically inspired computations that simulate neurological processes to help computers "think" more like humans, such as doing parallel processing and complet-

Simulating life forms and functions PROTEINS AND COMPUTERS also OCCupy much of the attention of Guelph physicist Prof. Chris Gray and chemist Prof. Saul Goldman.

Bio-simulation, a mix of theoretical physics and chemistry and computer simulations, allows them to model the workings of channels in membranes that selectively permit the passage of sodium, potassium and other ions into and out of cells. These scientists use a computer model that is currently the only way to simulate the effects of altering the structure and function of ion channel proteins.

Their work involves research associate Igor Tolokh and graduate student Hendrick De Haan, who are helping to explore potential applications in human and animal medicine. Cystic fibrosis patients suffer from mucous-clogged lungs because of malfunctioning chloride channels, and heart disease is connected to defective sodium and potassium ion channels. As co-investigators with scientists at the University of Toronto, Gray and Goldman are also trying to learn more about the role of ion channels in diseases such

ing numerous computational tasks at once rather than in a strictly sequential order.

Genetic algorithms - A computational technique based on the mechanisms of Darwinian evolution to perform a parallel search through a large solution space. It has been used to solve optimization problems, as well as to aid in the classification of data.

of cattle, pigs and sheep that serve as a library for associations and individuals needing information for breeding purposes.

Not only does this electronic pedigree trace connections among the roughly three million dairy cows in Canada, but it also includes records on economically important traits and health information for each animal. The centre keeps similar records for beef cattle, sheep and pigs in Ontario, and about 500,000 new records are added each year.

Keeping track of all that information and using it for breeding purposes require plenty of computing power, housed on workstations in

Summer 2000 21

Pointing to a schematic on his computer monitor, Thomason explains that gauges hooked to a horse's foot yield information on the angle and magnitude of strain at different points on the hoof as well as how those variables change through the horse's stride. Measurements collected with each stride can be combined with additional information on whether the horse was being ridden or hand-led, turning or moving straight, shod or not, to yield "hundreds of thousands of numbers," he says.

Thomason has used statistical analyses to hunt down patterns in the data, but these methods don't lend themselves to making predictions about individual cases. "They may be able to distinguish all lame horses from all healthy ones, but not a single lame horse. This is where neural nets come in."

By chewing through piles of numbers and grouping and labelling the information, the neural network would quickly "learn" the rules for telling healthy and lame horses apart, creating a new diagnostic tool. Perhaps a tool that veterinarians can carry to on-farm visits to help them discern precisely what ails a lame horse beneath its hoof. Armed with a kind of electronic veterinary assistant, "there's no reason someone couldn't be employed by farmers to test horses on a regular basis," says Calvert.

"This is a biocomputational project, an alliance between something biological and something computational;' he says.

the basement of the Animal Science Building.

Researchers plumb the CGIL database to determine whether genetic information is associated with desirable traits. "The more computer power we have, the more sophisticated statistical procedures we can use;' says Wilton, adding that biocomputing includes "any computing processes associated with biology, and in our case, the biology we're talking about is the production of animals."

In a related project, Prof. Mary Buhr, Animal and Poultry Science, works with companies that provide artificial insemination (AI) services for livestock producers. Some 70 per cent of Canada's dairy cattle and more than half of its swine are produced using AI. Explaining that AI companies rely on no more definitive information than sperm motility to gauge the breeding quality of particular bulls, Buhr says the industry needs more sophisticated tests that would incorporate information on several variables.

She wants to predict the ability of sperm to fertilize a cow's egg, and she has taken the problem to CIS professor Dave Calvert, who conducts studies of neural networks.

"When you're trying to apply a whole bunch of perspectives to come up with one solution, you're talking about networking," she says. "You're linking these disparate results from disparate tests to see if they come together. A neural network will 'think' its way through all the data you give it to see if there's a pattern there. When you have a pattern, you can apply it to give a prediction."

She envisions marrying fertility information obtained from a neural network with CG!L information about traits like milk or meat production to screen the pedigrees of cattle.

Linking pain to strain JusT AS Buhr pleads ignorance about the details of the computing smarts underlying neural nets, Calvert confesses that he has rarely set foot in a dairy barn, let alone considered how to select high-quality bull semen. Horse stables are equally removed from his desktop in the Reynolds Building, but that hasn't stopped him from striking up yet another neural network partnership, this time with Prof. Jeff Thomason, Biomedical Sciences. Their nas.::ent project- and a related biocomputing collaboration between researchers at the Ontario Veterinary College and CPESmight yield more precise diagnosis and treatment of hoof and leg ailments in racehorses.

In the first project, Calvert and Thomason plan to feed data about mechanical stresses on horses' hooves into a neural network "trained" to distinguish between normal and lame animals.

22 GuELPH ALUMNUS

Mary Buhr Animal scientist

jim linders Computing science chair

Jeff Thomason Biomedical scientist

Dave Calvert Computer scientist

David Evans Molecular biologist

Saul Goldman Chemist

Igor Tolokh Research associate

George Harauz Molecular biologist

Hendrick De Haan Graduate student

David Swayne Molecular biologist

Blending engineering and medicine BACK AT THE STARTING POST is yet another OVC/CPES collaboration aimed at diagnosing the causes of lameness in racehorses, this time between Prof. Howard Dobson, Clinical Studies, and Prof. Bob Dony, Engineering. They plan to blend their respective skills in radiology and signal processing to construct a more sophisticated imaging device that might save horses- and their owners- unnecessary grief when the animals are being checked for orthopedic and neurological problems.

Current magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) equipment can be used only if the animal is anesthetized and lying down. Because of the risk of complications, racehorse owners shy away from exposing their animals to general anesthetic.

Using a device envisioned by the Guelph researchers, a veterinarian would need only sedate the horse, which would be imaged while walking .....,_ _ _ __.;;;;;;;~IIIII

I

between two halves of the device, roughly analogous to an airport electronic detector. Besides making the process less stressful, this proposed MRI device would give the vet a clearer picture of the loads on the horse's leg. Dobson explains

that the device would typically be used to diagnose the cause of lameness, such as arthritis or infection.

Dony's work in signal processing has found earlier application in medical imaging, such as image processing and compression for chest X-rays taken at a Hamilton hospital. "The logical next step was to work with someone at OVC," he says. He envisions working on software design for the MRI. "!would like to be involved with the engineering and development of the physical device and the computer processing that goes into creating the image." He would also analyse the images, including trying out new computational techniques to gain clearer pictures of the health of an animal's hoof and leg.

Neural networks are increasingly being investigated for their use in medical diagnostic imaging, although still on a small scale. Guelph projects that are geared to human health include the work of Profs.

Jim Dickey, Human Biology and Nutritional Sciences, and Simon Yang, Engineering, who are studying the relationship between lowback pain and spinal motion in a collaborative project with colleagues at McMaster University. Yang is also working with Health Canada scientists to develop a dose-response model for food-borne pathogens using neural networks. If you knew the exact relationship between ingested doses of pathogens and infection, you could make accurate predictions about the likelihood and onset of illness.

In human health or veterinary medicine, devices based on neural networks could be used to complement existing diagnostic tools and refine the practitioner's ability to do diagnosis.

Networking for results GuELPH FACULTY SAY biocomputing itself is a natural outgrowth of the University's strengths in biological sciences and its niches in computing science. Along with fellow researchers, professors in CIS and the School of Engineering have already laid the groundwork by forming the Guelph Natural Computation Group. This consortium - the largest such research group at a Canadian university- concentrates on neural networks and genetic algorithms used in classifying and clustering biological information. " It's a unique strength in Canada;' says Kremer. "There is no other place in this country that has that concentration of people interested in these topics." Adds Stacey: "If you look at biocomputing, you involve more people and people in all four science colleges at U of G. There's a lot more potential for interdisciplinary work than there ever was:' That's the sentiment behind a much larger U of G initiative involving numerous departments in a bid to develop a supercomputing cluster on campus. Supporters envision establishing a Canadian centre for biocomputing that would join research interests in various aspects of biocomputing in the life sciences, agri-food and veterinary medicine.

At U of G, the web of interest in biocomputing includes faculty in the science colleges, but also in the College of Arts and College of Social and Applied Human Sciences, specifically economists and philosophers interested in bioethics. In support of the proposed centre for biocomputing, Stacey says: "We need a champion to organize things on campus and connect with other universities."

In fact, inter-university connections are already under way.

Guelph is one of several university partners in southwestern Ontario that have jointly developed a proposal for a shared supercomput-

ing network; the Guelph centre for biocomputing would be one of its user partners. Called SHARC-Net (Shared Hierarchical Academic Research Computing Network), the $50-million project would be funded by governments, business and the five universities involved. Led by the University of Western Ontario and including Guelph, McMaster, Windsor and Wilfrid Laurier, the entire project would become a centre for computational research in science, engineering and business.

Profs. Chris Gray, Physics, and George Harauz, Molecular Biology and Genetics, are principal investigators in the project and helped draft applications for funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the Ontario Research and Development Challenge Fund, noting "the explosive growth of computing technology over the past 20 years that has allowed computation to become an integral part of academic research and industrial problem solving."

SHARC-Net would link clusters of workstations at each campus to work as a distributed-memory parallel computer. That would create a computational power grid, analogous to an electrical power grid, for academic users in southwestern Ontario. SHARC-Net would offer its partners supercomputing power by connecting up to 600 individual processors without the cost of a supercomputer.

It's proposed that the SHARC-Net cluster of workstations at U of G be instaLled in a renovated Richards Building. By fall, the building will be linked to the Thornbrough Building by a new structure that will house labs for the School of Engineering and CIS, as well as a I 00-seat lecture theatre and administrative and faculty offices.

The new facility is being funded by the provincial Access to Opportunities Program (ATOP), which provides money to universities and colleges to increase their enrolment in high-demand engineering and computing science programs. As a result of the ATOP support, U of G will be able to add 639 new spaces to its undergraduate and graduate programs.

These new facilities will speed the process of Guelph efforts to integrate biocomputing research into the classroom. Faculty are already planning new multidisciplinary degree programs that include a major or minor in biocomputing. The School of Engineering plans to introduce biomedical engineering courses for undergraduate and graduate students to meet the demand in that field. At the undergraduate level, these efforts will be novel in North America.

The explosive growth of computing technology is rapidly increasing the need for people trained in both biology and computing.

Experts are needed in such industries as pharmaceuticals- for computer-designed drugs- as well as in agri-food companies involved in plant and animal breeding. In the environmental sciences, such talent is needed in law and policy-making. And there's a growing demand for experts in biomedical imaging and in the mining of databases from biodiversity to soils.

To develop companion skills in both database management and biology, ichthyologist McLaughlin sees the need for hybridization.

"Biology students- environmental and molecular biology - are going to need more training in how to handle large volumes of data and what's involved in putting databases together," he says, but the stream flows both ways. "Students being trained in computing and information science are also interested in biology. They need to talk to each other." ga

Summer 2000 23

UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH

TRILLIUM AIR TAKES OFF at home and still be in Ottawa by 8 a.m."

That may not be the official slogan of Trillium Air, the new flight company operating out of the Waterloo Regional Airport in Waterloo, Ont., but it's how co-owner and U of G alumnus Jason O'Brien describes his company's quick and easy ser~ vice to the capital city. ::;!

In less time than it takes someone living :gI in the Golden Triangle to drive to Pearson ~ International Airport, he or she can travel i3 to Breslau, board a Trillium Air jet, fly and i5 land in Ottawa. ~ "The flight is less than an hour," says j; O'Brien, who received bachelor's and masE;; ter's degrees in history from U of G in the early 1990s. "The whole idea developed iE from the concept that there is an entire pop"HAV E BREAKFAST

V)

l5

24

GUELPH ALUMNUS

ulation not being served; they are forced to drive to Toronto for air service. Because we are the only independent carrier left in southern Ontario, we were able to go in and do this."

O'Brien and his father, Del, started Trillium Air last summer, with twice-daily flights to Ottawa at 7 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

Passengers fly on Jetstrem 31/Super 31 jets, 19-seater planes with stand-up cabins and washrooms. Flights to Montreal are scheduled to begin in July, and there are plans to add trips to New York, Chicago and Detroit.

The airline employs eight full-time staff, with plans to add another half-dozen in the near future.

The father and son team also run PemAir, a family-owned flight company and school out of Pembroke that has been flying for 30 years, servicing Pembroke and the northern Ontario communities of Elliot

Lake and Manitoulin Island . Jason is general manager of Pem-Air and operational president of Trillium Air, which maintains the company's mission to link remote and unserviced areas of Ontario with major centres and look after smaller routes the large carriers are neglecting. Trillium is providing the first regularly scheduled passenger service from the Waterloo airport.

The O'Briens anticipated their customers would be primarily business people, but Trillium Air is also carrying a number of leisure travellers, including senior citizens and university students visiting family. jason will undoubtedly be a frequent passenger on both airlines as well, as he commutes from Waterloo to his home in Pembroke, where he chairs the Pembroke Chamber of Commerce. He also runs a 600acre cash-crop farm that exports hay to the United States.

atters HIGHLIGHTS • GRAD NEWS· OBITUARIES • CALENDAR

Alumni directory goes to print U OF G alumni directory is in the final phase of production and will be ready for delivery in August.

Michael Somerville, direc tor of alumni programs, says more than 8,400 books and 1,900 CD-ROMs have been pre-ordered. "We are confident that alumni will be pleased with the final product from Harris Publishing and will stay connected with classmates through the directory listings," he says .

All U of G graduates will be listed in the directory unless they

A

NEW

The annual Florida Alumni Reunion brought together 116 U of G alumni and friends at Maple Leaf Estates in Po rt Charlotte, Fla., March 1. Jack Hanna, BSA '5 3, chaired the organizing committee, whose members gathered here for a group photo .

UGAA honours volunteers/builders Alumni Weekend june 16 to 18, the University of Guelph Alumni Association (UGAA) will present its Alumni Volunteer Award to Ann Smith, BSA '52, for her vo lunteer leaders hip on behalf of the Arboretum, the Arboretum Auxiliary and the restoration of Alumni House and the Conservatory and Gardens.

The UGAA will also recognize Lawrence Kerr, BSA '29, as Alumnus of Honour. He has been an outstanding lon gtime supporter and builder of the University through the Board of Regents of the Federated Colleges, U of G's Board of Governors and the OAC Advisory Council.

D

UR I NG

The Ontario Veterinary College Alumni Association will present its Distinguished Alumnus Award to joan Budd, DVM '50. A renowned wildlife pathologist, she was the first female faculty member at OVC and a founder of college programs in wildlife and fish diseases.

All three awards will be presented at the President's Luncheon june 17 at noon . That evening, three U of G student groups will receive Go rdon Nixo n Leadership Awards at the Golden Anniversary DinnerCreative Enco unters With Science, th e Ontario Engineering Competition 2001 executive team and the Co-op Education Students' Society.

requested anonymity.

During production, Harris Publishing contacted alumni to verify name, address and other graduate information . Those address updates will now benefit other Development and Public Affairs mailings, including the Guelph Alumnus.

The directory was offered through advance sales on ly and will not be sold or distributed for commercial purposes, says Somerville. If you have questions about the directory project, call him at 519-824-4120, Ext. 6544.

ORDER OF OAC GROWING

Bill Campbell, BSA '55 and MSA '57, and Dorothy Campbell, B.H.Sc. 'ss. were inducted into the Order of OAC in April in recognition of their $10o,ooo gifts to the OAC Alumni Foundation. The presentation was made by Clay Switzer, BSA '51 and MSA '53.

The Campbells are known for their contributions to the North American sod growers' industry through the establishment and expansion of Fairlawn Sod Nursery in Lynden, Ont., and Turfpro Investments Inc. The Order of OAC was established by the foundation in 1999 to recognize significant contributions to its endowment fund. Membership in the order is limited to the first so individuals who give $10o,ooo or more as bequests, irrevocable insurance policies, planned gifts or cash donations. Gifts may be appl ied as endowments to the OAC Alumni Foundation or to the college, as approved by the foundation directors.

Summer 2000 25

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HIRE AGUELPH CO-OP STUDENT Physical Sciences • Applied Math & Statistics • Biochemistry • Biophysics • Chemical Physics • Chemistry • Computing & Information Science • Physics Commerce • Management Economics in Industry & Finance • Hotel & Food Administration • Housing & Real Estate Management • Agricultural Business • Marketing Management B.Sc. (Technology) • Pharmaceutical Chemistry • Physics and Technology Biological Sciences • Biomedical Technology • Environmental Toxicology • Food Science • Microbiology Engineering Sciences • Biological • Engineering Systems & Computing • Environmental • Water Resources Social Sciences • Child Studies • Economics • Family & Social Relations • Gerontology • Psychology Environmental Sciences MA Economics

Water Resources Engineering Co-op Student Polycon Industries

alumni Matters ACADEMIC PROGRAMS BENEFIT FROM INCREASED GIVING

The OAC Alumni Association's 42nd curling bonspiel was held March 31 and April l. Forty social and 20 competitive teams participated. Key organizers for the event were, from left, Dwight Greer, B.Sc.(Agr.) '72 , who also acted as drawmaster; Scott Buchan, ADA '95 and B.Sc.(Agr.) '98; OAC alumni officer Carla Bradshaw, BA '88; Doug Yungblut, B.Sc.(Agr.) '72 and PhD '79; and Doug Lane, B.Sc.(Agr.) '67 and M.Sc. '73.

CHEER ON THE GRYPHONS!

Discount rates for U of G alumni Buy an all-events alumni family pass to Gryphon games -

bas-

ketball, hockey, football, volleyball - for only $150 ($100 single).

Alumni "perks" also include athletics memberships with access to all fitness facilities for $368 a year and recreational skating in win路 ter for only $3.50 per session. Just show your alumni card at the W.F. Mitchell Athletics Centre!

FACULTY AND STUDENTS acrOSS campus say they have more money to spend than they did a year ago as a result of increased giving to U of G's 1999 Annual Fund. The extra dollars are being used to address college priorities such as graduate student assistantships, undergraduate scholarships and upgrades to facilities and equipment.

Total giving to U ofG in 1999 was $11 million, 30 per cent higher than in 1998, says john Mabley, vice-president (development and public affairs). "That alone is good news;' he says, "but the results reported by individual colleges can be traced to the spring 1999 restructuring of U of G's fund-raising programs."

A year ago, senior development managers were moved into the colleges to serve as strategists and to form a direct link between Development and Public Affairs (D&PA) and faculty, staff and students in the colleges- Bruce Hill in the College of Arts; William Rowe, colleges of Biological Science and Physical and Engineering Science; Tim Mau, College of Social and Applied Human Sciences; Paulette Samson, Ontario Agricultural College; and Laura Manning, Ontario Veterinary College.

OVC's Pet Trust continues to be directed by Maire Pratschke, senior manager of OVC public relations and development.

These professionals work with Rudy Putns, executive director of campaign programs, Annual Fund manager Tara George and other staff in D&PA to identify fund-raising opportunities and translate them into institutional support.

FARM ANIMALS RESTORED FOR NEARLY HALF a century, students at the Ontario Veterinary College have rested eyes and minds on a large mural called Farm Animals. Created by artists Florence Wyle and Frances Loring in 1954, the plasterwork is considered one of the most significant bas-relief panels of this type in Canada. The OVC Class of 1950 funded a restoration of the mural, which now hangs in the McNabb Room of the OVC Learning Commons. The gift will be recognized at the OVC Alumni Association's annual general meeting june 17.

MACLACHLAN SOCIETY MEETS ON MARCH 31, Development and Public Affairs hosted an afternoon reception at the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre for members and friends of the ).D. MacLachlan Society. Founded in honour of the University of Guelph's first president, the society recognizes individuals who make a planned gift of $10,000 or more to U of G. MacLachlan was an outstanding teacher and research scientist in the Ontario Agricul tural College's Department of Botany when he was appointed president of the college in 1950.

He guided OAC through 18 years of growth and the transition to university status. His contributions to the founding of the University were recognized in 1968 when he was appointed U of G's first president and are remembered today through the ).D. MacLachlan Society.

Ross Butler, director of planned giving, says 55 people attended the March event, which included a high tea and a tour of exhibits at the art centre.

Summer 2000 27

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GRAD NEWS 2000

Coming Events

Physical geographers combat data

june 16 to 18- Alumni Weekend.

june 17- HAFAAlumni Association annual general meeting, 11 a.m., HAFA 121, followed by lunch at the Woolwich Arms. june 17 - Alumni association annual meetings: 9 a.m.

Mac/FACS in HAFA 129, 9 a.m. OAC in Mac Hall 149, 10:30 a.m. OVC in OVC 1714, 11 a.m. HAFA in HAFA 121, 11 a.m. HK/HB in Powell207, 4 p.m. CBS in Powell212.

July 2ooo '65 reunion in New Brunswick, call Doug Maddill at 905774-6866.

July 5 to 8 - CVMA in St. John's, Nfld.; class reunions for OVC '70 and '75. july 7 to 9 - B.Sc.(H.K.) '75 25th reunion. Contact Lynn McFerran at PLM@the hospital.net or Alan Fairweather at 519-824-4120, Ext. 2220. july 22 - OAC '59 A reunion at Alumni House, call Tom Sawyer at 905-689-5982.

Aug. 11 to 13 - OAC '70 Engineering reunion at Oakwood Inn Resort, Grand Bend, Ont., contact Andy McBride at Amcbride@wcl. on.ca.

September 2000 - BLA '90 reunion, contact Mark Peters at markpeters@home. com.

Sept. 8 - OACAA annual golf tournamen! at Victoria Park West Golf Club in Guelph, contact Carla Bradshaw at carlab@alumni.uo guelph.ca.

Sept. 16 - Cross-Country/Track and Field Alumni Dinner at Gryphs Sports Lounge, U of G, contact

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28

GuELPH ALUMNUS

â&#x20AC;˘ What's the common thread among the shoreline of Lake Ontario, the forests of British Columbia and the Zambesi River basin in Africa?

The answer we' re looking for is software built to run information management systems designed by Mark Law, B.Sc '86 and M.Sc. '89, and Christian Stewart, M.Sc. '87.

Graduates of U of G's program in physical geography, Law and Stewart are the founding partners of Orca Technologies International Inc., a company that specializes in information tracking and knowledge management systems. They are based in Victoria, B.C., but their experience spans the globe.

Projects have included a comprehensive shoreline classification and recession rate database of the North American Great Lakes, a forest practice code information system for British Columbia and an Internet-based wetland information system for the Zambesi River basin.

The software solutions they develop help environmental engineers, conservationists and foresters manage and analyse Nadine Devin at ndevin@ alumni.uoguelph.ca or Dave Scott-Thomas at dscottth@ uoguelph.ca.

Sept. 21 to 24- OVC '60 reunion in Ottawa, call Peter Wybenga at 506-392-5284.

Sept. 28- Mac '60D reunion dinner at home of Ann Collom bin, call Ann Dobbin at 416-924-0903.

Sept. 29 & 30 - OAC '55 reunion at the Talisman Resort, call James Anderson at 519-822-7733.

data that can help stabilize and maintain delicate ecosystems. In addition, the ORCATEC team has developed a client case management system for social service agencies, a grant tracking system for government and funding agencies, and an office management system.

Before the launch of Orca Technologies in 1998, Stewart concentrated on coastal geography in the Great Lakes, including water levels and floor and erosion hazards. He worked on a binational Great Lakes water-level study and did consulting work for Environment Canada and the U.S.

Army Corps of Engin eers. He is married to Carolyn (Taylor), MA '85, and they have two children, Michael and jason.

Law also studied Great Lakes water levels and helped develop geographic information systems throughout Ontario's conservation authorities. He worked for another software development company before launching his own consulting firm to undertake work for the B.C. Ministry of Forests. He and his wife, Nellie Hutchison, have one child, Carlie.

To find out more about their work, visit the ORCATEC Web site at www.orcatec.co m.

October 2000 - OAC '65A

Oct. 14 - Engineering '90

reunion in Niagara Falls, call George Robinson at 519766-9512 .

October 2000 - OAC '75A reunion, contact Jeff Stager at shadynook@golden.net.

Oct. 1 to 3 - OAC '55A reunion in Orillia, contact Barry james at 262-784-6784 or bnj@execpc.com.

Oct. 14 -Homecoming concert with Holly Cole at the River Run Centre, 8 p.m., tickets $36, call 519-763-3000.

and '95 reunio n, contact Sharon Schaj noha at SS@rwdi.com.

Year 2003 - Macdonald Institute alumni will celebrate the 1OOth ann iversary of the college in 2003, call Shirley Surgeoner at 519-843-5236.

For more information about any alumni event, call the U of G extension Listed at 519824-4120 or send e-mail to alumni@uoguelph.ca.

Let your spirit soar AT ALUMNI WEEKEND 2000 • George Robinson, ADA '65 and B.Sc.(Agr.) '93, is chair of the 2000 International Plowing Match and Farm Machinery Show to be held Sept. 19 to 23 at Elora, Ont., next door to the U of G Elora Research Station. He is a former manager of U of G's Research Stations Operations.

19705

• Phyllis Colton, B.Sc.(Agr.) '77 and DVM '84, and her husband, Andrew Petriw, celebrated the birth of Mary Laryssa in November 1999. They live in Weiland, Ont., and she works for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency in a regulatory position.

• Neil Dolson, B.Sc.(Agr. ) '77 and MBA 99, was a member of U of G's first online executive MBA program. He is general manager/vice-president of Alpine Liquid Plant Foods in New Hamburg, Ont., with growing responsibilities in the United States as well. He's been married for 22 years to Gail, B.Sc.(Agr.) '77, and they have three children: Rachel, 19; Pamela, 16; and Scott, 11. Neil's mother, Eileen, B.H.Sc. '52, is a Guelph grad, as was his late father, Darrel, BSA '50 and MSA '52.

• Jack Green, BA '72, recently published the bo ok Contact: A Guide to Developing Effective Call Centre Skills through NelsonThomson Learning. His company, Entretel Inc., is located in Oakville, Ont., and provides consulting on the performance management of call centres.

JUNE 16 TO 18 FRIDAY, JUNE 16 4 p.m. Lecture Series: C RI S PY, CRUNC H Y AN D D ELIC IOUS- T H E SC I ENCE OF POTATO C HI PS F RAN K ENFOOD- WHY ALL T H E FUSS ABOUT GMOS? F I ND I NG SC I ENCE I N I CE CREAM

5:30 p.m . Welcom e Barbecue 7 p.m. Hot-Air Balloons on johnston Green (weather permitting) Class Reunions and Hospita lity Events

SATURDAY, JUNE 17 Morning Constituent Alumni Associat ion Meetin gs Noon President's Luncheo n and Alumni Awa rds Presentatio n 2 p.m. Dedication of the Portico Restorati on McLaughlin Library Exhibit "Where Past Meets Presen t" 3 p.m. UGAAAnnual Meetin g 4 p.m. Rutherford Conservatory & Ga rd ens Donor Appreciation Eve nt 5 p.m. Receptions fo r th e Class of 1975 6 p.m. Golden Anniversary Dinner Silver Anniversary Dinner Class Reunio ns and Hospitality Events

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SUNDAY, JUNE 17 9 a.m. Ecumenical Service 9:30 a.m. Farewell Breakfast For program details, contact A lum ni Programs at 5 19-824-4 120, Ext. 6544, or vikkit@alumn i.uoguelp h.ca.

Summer 2000 29

STAY IN TOUCH U of G Alumni Association Scott vanEngen, president ......... . .. . .. . ................ . e-mail: alumni@uoguelph.ca .. ...... . ....................... . ..... . ............... . . www.ugalumni.uoguelph.ca Alumni Programs Michael Somerville, director .. ..... .. . . . . . . ....... e-mail: msomervi@alumni.uoguelph.ca Carla Bradshaw, alumni officer ...... . ..... .. .. . ...... e-mail: carlab@alumni.uoguelph.ca Laurie Malleau, alumni officer . . ...... . . . ..... . ..... e-mail: lauriem@alumni.uoguelph.ca Gayle Anderson, alumni communications .......... e-mail: gaylea@exec.admin.uoguelph.ca Vikki Tremblay, alum ni programs office .. . .. .. . . . . . .... e-mail: vikkit@alumni.uoguelph.ca Alumni Records Velma Reddon, records clerk .... . ................... e-mail: velmar@alumni.uoguelph.ca Jean Williams, records clerk ........... . .............. e-mail: jeanw@alumni.uoguelph.ca Guelph Alumnus Mary Dickieson, editor ........................ e-mail: mdickies@exec.admin.uoguelph.ca ......... . ...... .. ......... . ..... ... . . ..... . . For telephone contact, call519-824-4120

Entretel's Web site ts www. ent re tel. com.

1980s • Stewart Gill, PhD '84, h as been appointed dean and dep uty warden of Trinity College at the University of Melbourn e in Australia. Since leaving Guelph , he has enjoyed a successful academic career in Australia, most recently as a lecturer in church history at Ridley College and an associate of the history department at Mel-

bourne. He has published widely on various aspects of church history in Scotland, Canada and Au stralia. His history of the United Aborigines Mission will be published this year. An active Anglican layperson and mem ber of the Melbourne Anglican Synod since 1997, he has experien ce with many church and academic bodies, including histori cal associations such as the Scots-Australian Studies Associati on o f Victoria, which h e found ed with Stuart Macintyre.

Born in St. Andrews, Scotland, Gill is an MA graduate of the Uni ve rsity of Ed inbu rg h and compl eted post -gradu ate wo rk at th e Unive rsity of Toronto before coming to U of G. He and his Ca nadian wife, Hea th er, have two sons, Malcolm and Alex.

• Rezan Gokcen, BA '82, has an extensive collection of Turkish m arbled p ap er - includi ng this sample - that she has used as the basis for building a Web site dedi cated to Turkish book

arts and to her father, an artist who studied at the Giizel Sanatlar Akademisi in Istanb ul and introdu ced her to th e art of paper marbling. Visiting the site at www. uoguelph.ca/-agokcen is an ed uca tion al an d art isti c experi ence- and a char itable one. O n the Web site, Gokcen introduces a Year 2000 calendar she has pro du ced as a fun dra iser to p rovide a scholarshi p for a stude nt affected by the recen t earthquake in Turkey.

The calendar sells fo r $30 Cd n.

For in for mation, visit th e Web add ress, or write to Gokce n at rgokce n@uoguelph .ca or Box 290 10, RPO Eato n Cen t re, Guelph, ON N 1H 8JK. • Darren Keyes, B.Sc. '84, recently joined Aquatic Sciences Inc. as senio r operati ons man-

GRAD NEWS UPDATE FORM Name

Degree & Year _ _ _ _ _ _ __

Address

City

Prov./State _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

Postal Code _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

Home Phone _ _ _ _ _ _ __

Fax

E-mail

Business Phone _ _ _ _ _ __

Fax

E-mail

Occupation Grad News .Update - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Send address changes and Grad News to: Alumni Records, University of Guelph, Guelph ON N 1G 2W 1 Phone: 519-824-41 20, Ext. 6550, Fax: 519-822-2670, E- mail: jeanw@alumni.uoguelph.ca

30

GuEL PH ALUMN U S

ager, after serving as general manager and marine geophysical technologist at McQuest Marine Sciences Limited for 12 years. He has a strong background in underwater search and recovery investigations, geological and hydrographic surveys, archeological and environmental surveys and fish habitat studies.

• Rossana McKenzie, DVM '88, has been practising in the United Kingdom since late 1988 and recently established a small-animal practice in Lymm, near Manchester. She says she uses a lot of complementary medicines such as acupuncture and homeopathy and was recently featured as the "alternative vet" on a popular national TV show. She is married and stays in touch with a few OVC grads who live in the United Kingdom.

• Ann Milovsoroff, MLA '85, is the imagination behind many botanical displays at the Royal Botanical Gardens (RBG) in Hamilton, Ont., and was recently elected a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA).

Milovsoroff lives in Burlington and has worked at the RBG since 1989. She is responsible for the design of display gardens, natural areas and show gardens and was instrumental in creating the REG's award-witming feature gardens at Canada Blooms in Toronto in 1998 and 1999.

• Laurel Price, B.A.Sc. '84, and her husband, John Nugent, announce the arrival of Aidan James Dec. 14, 1999. Price completed a master's of social work in 1987 and is a registered marriage and family therapist with Family Services Durham in Oshawa, Ont. Aidan is the first grandchild for John, DVM '52, and Sherry Price of Vernon, B.C., and Miriam Price, B.H.Sc.

'54, of Port Perry, Ont. • William Shotyk, B.Sc.(Agr.) '81, completed a PhD in geochemistry at the University of Western Ontario in 1987, did a post-doc at UC Riverside and has been a lecturer at the Geological Institute of the University of Berne in Switzerland since 1989. His research focuses primarily on the environmen tal geochemistry of trace metals. 1n 1998, he founded EMMA Analytical Inc. in Elmvale, Ont., to design and build high-sensitivity X-ray fluorescence spectrometers used for quantitative measurement of trace elements in micro samples. EMMA instruments have been sold to universities in Canada and Europe, and regular users of the lab include scientists from many countries.

Shotyk is married to Beth Haas, and they have two daughters.

• Sue Sibley, B.Sc. '84, lives in Georgetown, Ont., with her husband and three children: Jarrod, 4, and Moira and Caleb, 2. She has been employed by Bayer Inc. as a regulatory affairs project manager since 1991 and welcomes e-mails from former classmates and friends at ijzerman@pathcom.com.

U of G Degrees ADA= Associate diploma

in agriculture =Associate diploma in horticulture BA = Bachelor of arts B.A.Sc. = Bachelor of applied science B.Comm. = Bachelor of commerce B.H.Sc. = Bachelor of household science BLA = Bachelor of landscape architecture BSA = Bachelor of science in agriculture (pre-1965) B.Sc.(Agr.) = Bachelor of · science in agriculture B.Sc. = Bachelor of science

ADH

19905

• John Span, B.Sc(Agr.) '80, and his wife, Anne, have three sons, Joel, Caleb and David. They plan to move to West Africa in August to work for Christian Reformed World Missions.

• Rob Southwell, B.Sc.(Agr.) '81, operates a small ranch in southern Alberta with his wife, Elyse, their daughter, Sarah, and his father, Peter, producing organic beef and poultry products. Rob also works for FritoLay Inc. His e-mail is rob.southwell@fritolay.com.

• Daryl Vanderburgh, B.Sc. '83 and M.Sc. '86, left the world of biotechnology two years ago and is now manager of direct marketing for Kronos Incorporated, a leading supplier of software solutions for front-line labour management. He lives outside Boston in Wayland, Mass., with his wife, Linda, and two daughters, Dana, 6, and Jaime, 4.

B.Sc.(Eng.) = Bachelor of science in engineering B.Sc.(Env.) = Bachelor of science in environmental sciences B.Sc.(H.K.) = Bachelor of science in human kinetics B.Sc.(P.E.) = Bachelor of science in physical education DHE = Diploma in home ec(\Jlomics D.V.Sc. = Doctor of veterinary science DVM = Doctor of veterinary medicine GO = Graduate diploma MA = Master of arts M.Agr. = Master of agriculture

• Bojana Ambrozic, BA '91, went on from U of G to earn a degree in social work at York University. She is employed by the William Osler Health Centre in Etobicoke, Ont., working primarily with the elderly. Her e-mail address is bbamckay@ sympatico.ca.

• Sheila (Turner), BA '95, and George Andriessen had a second daughter, Bronwyn Sheila, Oct. 25, 1999, in Listowel, Ont. Their e-mail address is gandriessen@sgci.com.

• Jessica Braden, BA '97 and MA '98, and Chris Patrick, BA '98, plan to be married in July.

They met during the U of G London semester in 1996 and will be returning to England after the wedding. Braden, who's been working since graduation as an exchange co-ordinator for the University of Western Ontario, has accepted a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship to pursue a teaching degree in England. Patrick is a supply teacher for the London Catholic District School Board and plans to teach in Exeter at the primary or secondary level.

They say they share great memories of Creelman food and sit-

MBA = Master of business admininstration M.Eng. = Master of engineering MFA = Master of fine art MLA = Master of landscape architecture MMS = Master of management studies M.Sc. = Master of science M.Sc.(Aqua) = Master of science in aquaculture ODA = Ontario diploma in agriculture ODH = Ontario diploma in horticulture ODR = Ontario diploma in recreation PhD = DoctQr of philosophy

Summer 2000 31

ting with friends on Johnston Green on warm spring days .

Contact them through e-mail at bilbo.baggins@sympatico.ca.

• Jacquelyn Hollywood Brown, B.Sc. '90 and M.Sc. '93, and her husband, Capt. Kevin Brown, celebrated the birth of Olivia Rose Nov. 16, 1999. They also have a son, Marc.

• Karen (Kapusniak), B.Comm.

'92, and Robert Chin announce the arrival of their daughter, Olivia, Aug. 18, 1999. They are living in Vancouver and would love to hear from other Guelph grads at k_r_chin@hotmail.com.

• Elton Cryderman, BA '96 and MA '98, is an analyst for the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics at Statistics Canada in Ottawa and would like to hear from friends at elton.cryderman@statcan.ca.

• Patricia Davis, B.A.Sc. '93, received a diploma in travel and tourism from Humber College

in 1996, then worked for two years at Signature Vacations. In early 1999, she switched careers and is now an account co-ordinator for !COM. She says she loves living in Toronto and invites any old / new friends to send e-mail to pdavis@icom.com .

• Michael Downer, B.Sc. '91, lives in Midland, Ont. , and is president of Marine Insurance Services. He also teaches courses for the Insurance Institute of Canada associateship program and can be reached by e-mail at downer@marineinsureservices. com.

• Charles "Chad" Fairbairn, BA '93, is a computer and network support specialist with The Associates Financial Services of Canada Ltd. (formerly Avco Financial Services) in London, Ont. He and his wife, Julie, were married in 1992 and have a two-year-old daughter, Aman -

da. He'd like to hear from other history grads by e-mail to chadnj ulie@home.com.

• Aaron Gerow, ADA '91, is the farm manager for Nexia Biotechnologies Caprin e Production Farm (CPF) in St. Telesphore, Que., Canada's o nl y facility dedicated to producing transgenic farm animals. CPF's 650-head goat herd produces recombinant proteins in their milk that are used in pharmaceutical, biomedical and industrial applications. Aaron and his children, jacob and Alicia, welcome e-mail at agerow@nexiabiotech.com.

• Joel Grineau, BA '93, lives in Saskatoon with his wife, Debra Woods. He earned a master's degree in European history from the University of Saskatchewan last year, as well as three certificates from the Heinze Institute in applied computer technology. Now part of the Internet

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• Selma Gl!igard, PhD '99, won the 1999 thesis award from the International Society for the Advancement of Supercritical Fluids for her work on "Solubilities in Supercritical Fluids."

She is now an assistan t professor in the civil and environmental engineering department at the University of Alberta.

• Peter Krek, BA '95, completed an MA in philosophy and social policy in Washington, D.C., 111 1998. He IS now enrolled in a doctoral program at York University and works in the financial sector. He says he'd love to hear from old pals and can be reached at pkrek@hotmail.com.

• Stephanie McClellan, BA '96, was presented with a King

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Clancy Award in February at a gala reception in Toronto hosted by the Canadian Foundation for Physically Disabled Persons and the Rotary Club of Toronto-Don Valley. The award recognizes her 1999 wheelchair marathon journey from Vancouver to Ottawa to promote awareness of disability issues.

• Kirsten Mercer, BA '99, says she lived a dream in February when she had an opportunity to interview Archbishop Desmond Tutu during his visit to Toronto. A youth outreach co-ordinator for the Primate's

World Relief and Development Fund, Mercer had written to the archbishop months earlier about her interest in doing graduate work in restorative justice, but she never expected to receive a call, much less an invitation to meet Tutu. "He's so receptive;' she says. "You feel like you're talking to someone you've known your whole life."

• Janet Morrison, BA '92 and MA '94, earned a PhD in higher education studies in Bowling Green, Ohio. She is now director of student programs in the Faculty of Environmental Studies at York University. In addition to coping with the administrative problems of 1,700 students, she teaches several courses.

• Jocelyn Neysmith, B.Sc. '96, is employed by the National Water Research Institute, working on wetland habitat restoration. Her proud father, john,

says her job has taken her recently to Brazil and Malawi.

• Jeff Plante, BA '97, earned an MA in history from Wilfrid Laurier University in 1998 and has completed with distinction the comprehensive examinations in a PhD program at York University. He is in the planning stage of his dissertation research, which will focus on travel and imperialism in 19th_ century Ontario and Quebec.

He is also teaching history at York and geography at Brock University.

• Marty Pullin, BA '97, is director of his own private local history museum in Sheffield, Ont. He also works part time in a family farm supply store, teaches folk dancing and plays the bagpipes and fiddle for hire. He can be reached at mpullin@ easynet.ca.

• Laura (Beukeboom), DVM '96, and Tim Rodger, B.Comm.

'9 1, were married in February 1999. She practises at the Dover Animal Hospital in Port Dover, Ont., and he works in sales at Rick McCall Pontiac Buick GMC in Simcoe.

• Sue Senior, B.A.Sc. '90, and Stephan Crispin, BLA '95, are engaged to be married in the spring of 2001. Senior graduated from McMaster University Medical School in 1998 and is currently a resident in psychiatry at the University of Western Ontario. Crispin is a landscape architectural intern with Dougan and Associates m Guelph.

• Saeed Soltani, B.Sc.(Eng) '90 and M.Sc. '94, moved from Haifa, Israel, to Maseru, Lesotho, in 1998. He worked as an engineering manager for a year, then accepted a job with the Lesotho government as the contract manager for a $ISmillion road contract m

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34

GuELPH ALUMNUS

http://

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OBITUARIES Valda Andersons, B.Sc. '77, July 10, 1999 Elizabeth Atkinson, DHE '37, date unknown James Baker, BSA '28, Nov. 14, 1999 Inga Brazus, B.Sc. '78, date unknown Maj. Vincenzo Buonamici, BA '78, Jan. 26,2000 Connie Burns, BSA '46, March 2, 2000 Brian Campbell, B.Sc. '92, Aug. 4, 1999 John Carter, BSA '36, date unknown Donald Cherry, DVM '45, April 13, 2000 Jessie Crombie, BA '73, date unknown Bruce Cumming, ADA '49, Sept. 25, 1999 Marilyn Cumming, B.Sc.(H.K.) '76, March 5, 2000 Joseph Day, DVM '48, March 2000 Donald Drummond, ADA '47, March 22,2000 Leone Duga, DHE '62, date unknown Robert Fitts, DVM '44, date unknown Sandra Fleischer, B.H.Sc. '67, Dec. 26, 1999 Harriet Fleming, DHE '24, Nov. 6, 1999 John Gilliland, BA '72, June 1997 Donald Glover, B.Sc.(Agr.) '75, date unknown James Goin, DVM '49, Feb. 13, 2000 Susan Hall, B.A.Sc. '70, Nov. 8, 1995 William Hamilton, H.D.Sc. '94, March 2000 Morris Hanson, DVM '48, Dec. 1, 1999 James Henry, DVM '55, March 2, 2000 Richard Herring, BSA '64, date unknown Gerald Hukish, B.Sc.(Agr.) '90, date unknown Howard Hunter, BSA '34, date unknown Catherine Kingston, B.A.Sc. '77, December 1999

Maseru. In February 2000, he enrolled in a part-time program at the University of Oranje Free State in Bloemfontein, South Africa, to work on a master's degree in sustainable agriculture. He can be reached at soltani@lesoff.co.za.

• Jerome Teelucksingh, BA '97,

Ruth Knorr, DHE '39, Jan. 25, 2000 Joseph Kozulis, BSA '54, in 1998 Vern Lougheed, DVM '41, date unknown Kenneth MacDonald, DVM '54, April 13, 2000 Edmund MacKinnon, DVM '70, date unknown Clements Maynard, B.Sc. '70, date unknown James McKivor, B.Sc.(Agr.) '64, date unknown Ronald McRae, BA '81, March 14, 2000 Harold Mills, ADA '49, March 2, 2000 Arnold Morphet, BSA '38, Feb. 2, 2000 Charles Morris, DVM '48, Jan. 19,2000 John Mulders, BSA '56, Nov. 3, 1999 Gerard Nieuwhof, B.Sc. '73, date unknown Erin O'Connor-Cox, B.Sc.(Agr.) '81, date unknown Colleen Oddie, BA '75, date unknown Sten-Erik Olsson, H.D.Sc. '77, March 14,2000 Oswald Paddon, BSA '37, Feb. 9, 2000 Leslie Porter, B.A.Sc. '89, date unknown Stewart Rumble, BSA '40, date unknown Peter Ryan, B.Sc. '87, date unknown Thomas Sage, BA '92, March 4, 2000 Michael Silvestri, B.Sc. '78, date unknown Donald Smith, BSA '51, date unknown David Stirton, DVM '78, March 30, 2000 Albert Taylor, BSA '64, date unknown Kenneth Thorn, BSA '40, March 3, 2000 Walter Tiessen, BSA '50, date unknown Heather Topp, B.H.Sc. '65, March 15, 2000 Karl Vander Meiden, BA '75, date unknown

lives in Trinidad and maintains a personal Web site to promote global peace and understanding. Friends can visit his site at www.geocities.com/jtluxing.

• Mark Walker, B.H.Sc. '91 and M.Sc. '94, recently moved to Mississauga, Ont., and has opened a Tim Hortons franchise.

Mildred Vanstone, DHE '28, date unknown Friends Bob Auger, U of G associate registrar, March 28, 2000 Dorothy Dimech, Feb. 27, 2000 George Dodge, April 10, 2000 Ruby Edgington, October 1999 Doreen Gerrie, March 22, 2000 Marjoria Haner, Feb. 28, 2000 Stanley Heap, Feb. 20, 2000 William Mounfield, Nov. 18, 1998 Sergei Murumets, March 13, 2000 Beverley Phillips, Jan. 6, 2000 Ingeborg Secord, March 2000 George Smith, Oct. 28, 1999 Faculty John Bruce, Philosophy, April 16, 2000 Norman Gibbins, Microbiology, April 15,2000 Douglas Morrison, BSA '49, Animal and Poultry Science, April 6, 2000 Glen Warlow, BSA '42, Rural Extension Studies, April l, 2000 Corrections An obituary that appeared in the winter 2000 issue of the Guelph Alumnus confused Mrs. Olive A. Thompson, Mac '35, with Miss S. Olive Thompson, who graduated from the Macdonald Institute in 1933 and died in December 1999. We apologize for the error and thank Mrs. Thompson for being so gracious in accepting our regrets.

We also apologize for incorrectly recording the date of death of Herbert Pettipiere, BSA '49. U of G's first registrar died jan. 12, 2000.

He invites U of G alwnni to drop by the office at the corner of Mavis and Central Parkway.

• Gillian Webster-Groenewegen, B.Sc. ' 92, runs Workable Solutions, a small ergonomic consulting company specializing in the horticulture industry, and helps her husband, Bill, run

a large garden centre/nursery in London, Ont. They have a 16month-old daughter, Hannah.

• Terry Worrall, BA '91, is a pilot with Air Canada. He's based in Toronto but lives in Barrie and would like to hear from U of G friends by e-mail at terry. worrall@sympatico.ca.

Summer 2000 35

UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH

the 'Way 'We 'Were FROM THE ARCHIVES

J\NANNUAL HOMECOMING parade during the 1970s J-\ and 1980s helped unite the University of Guelph campus. Winding its way to downtown Guelph, the parade attracted a lot of attention from the public for the University's academic programs and athletic teams.

Publicity was also the reason behind Guelph's inaugural Homecoming football game in 1923. It was organized by OAC president George Christie as a competition between graduate players and the current varsity team. He believed that a good college football team and an annual event to honour alumni would bring great

36 GuELPH ALUMNus

attention to the college and build good relations.

Some of the early Homecoming events at Guelph were held in conjunction with a Halloween dance and the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto. Now one of the University's biggest celebrations, Homecoming still features a graduate/varsity football game called the Glory Bowl, played just prior to the annual intercollegiate event.

The Gryphons will take to the gridiron for this year's Glory Bowl and the intercollegiate Homecoming game against the Concordia Stingers Oct. 14 at Alumni Stadium.

Alumni Collection Clothing

Rugger Shirt, as shown, S-XXXL ................................ 79.95 Golf Shirt, white or tan, S-XXL .................................. 49.95 Quarter-Zip Cotton Fleece, red, S-XXL....................... 59.95 Cotton Tee, grey, S-XXL ............................................. 24.95 Sherpa V-Neck, cream or navy, S-XL ......................... 69.95 Ladies Tee, white, S-M-1.. ......................................... 22.95 Adjustable Cap, as shown ......................................... 19.95 Nylon Hooded Jacket, navy, S-XXL ........................... 75.00

Alumni Collection Gifts

Marble Mug with Portico Design .............................. 6.98 Tie silk face, as shown ............................................. .59.95 Portico Design Decanter ........................................... 49.95 Matching Old-Fashioned Glass .................................. lO.OO Cedar Card Box ........................................................ l9.95 Piece-of-the-Cannon Paperweight ............................. 29.95 Wooden Alumni Pen Set ........................................... 49.95 School RinwJewellery (Call for information)

---

Return the completed order form to: University Bookstore, MacNaughton Building, University of Guelph , Guelph, ON NlG 2Wl. Allow 2 weeks for delivery.

Customer Name

- - - -- -- - - - -

Item Name

Quantity

Size

Unit Price

Total Price

Address

City Telephone ( Credit Card:

Postal Code

)

0 MC

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0 AMEX

Card No.

-

Expiry Signature Ship to Address

~~ Phone: (519) 824-4120 X3715

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Fax: (519)763-1921

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E-mail: bookstor@uoguelph.ca

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