magazine | fall 2009 | university of Waterloo magazine | fall 2009 | university of Waterloo magazine | fall university of Waterloo magazine | fall 2009 | university of Waterloo magazine | fall 2009 | university of Water of Waterloo magazine | fall 2009 | university of Waterloo magazine | fall 2009 | university of Wat Waterloo magazine | fall 2009 | university of Waterloo magazine | fall 2009 | university of Waterloo mags on The Move aging research at Waterloo Well schooled Three of WaTerloo’s professional schools geT neW space Making a promise hoW branding goes beyond a logo End_of_Normal_Ad.qxd:SS_larry_final.qxd 3/30/09 4:29 PM Page 1 The End of Normal University of Waterloo economics professor Larry Smith shares his views on how the recession will change the nature of work and shake up our careers – and how Waterloo co-op students can help. How is this recession changing the workplace? I tell students,“You should be looking for work, not a job.”It applies to everyone.This economy will accelerate the move towards contract work. “When things return to normal,”is a phrase that worries me.It’s naïve. The expectation of permanent employment is for minds from the 1950s. When this recession is over, we’re not going back to normal.This is the To really be useful to your organizations – you need to build flexibility recession that will change the world. into your mindset and your skill set. Events are challenging a lot of old assumptions.We were wrong to think that borrowing, evolutionary change and government deregulation are Where do Waterloo co-op students fit into this picture? good and that an organization can be“too big to fail.”Government If I were a manager in an organization aiming for excellence, I’d hire a co- agendas are being pre-empted and politicians are being forced to do op student just to challenge my ideas. The recession’s not going to let you things they’d never have considered, such as propping up failing get away with poor decisions and neither will a co-op. They challenge companies. As a result, we’ll see more interventionist governments and your thinking. They do it with me. They ask questions I’d never thought a tougher regulatory environment.In business, we can expect better due of,see things I don’t see,make observations on things,places and people diligence, more careful oversight, greater demand for accountability and and show me parallels and contrasts in situations.They make me smarter. a struggle to be innovative. No matter how smart you are the things that made you successful won’t The standard of performance was rising, even before the recession, necessarily keep you successful.Co-ops bring more than up-to-date because of competitive pressures that accompany globalization.The knowledge and an appetite for learning.They bring freshness of mind. economic situation is accelerating this. It’s pushing us faster and faster They aren’t weighed down by pre-recession thinking.When you let toward new norms of business practice. students challenge you, you think better.You look good.A co-op student Almost every organization talks about being innovative, responsive is an ally in your career success. and flexible.But you can’t just talk about it; you have to be that way. Junior students, particularly, bring that freshness of mind.You can shape Organizations that succeed will be those who can rise with the them so they become incredible assets.Their unique value is curiosity standards of performance. The same is true for individuals. and energy applied to your business.Senior co-ops,who’ve been What can individuals do? exposed to several organizations through their work terms, bring a range of experience greater than some 40-year- We all have to take some personal risk olds who’ve worked with just one organization. with our careers.You can’t be a clone of There are few investments with high return and your colleagues.Distinguish yourself low risk. Hiring UW co-op students is one. from your competition.Stepping up You and your co-op students can help your is the response to this recession. organization respond faster and with a You can’t wait for your boss or your broader perspective.Co-op hiring lets organization to tell you what to do. you make a unique contribution to your You need to see what the job is and organization that’s not otherwise available. know how to get it done.To advance If you want career success, have a co-op your career you must serve your student help you. organization’s needs.You’re going to have to earn your keep. And you need to be doing work that brings you to life.If you don’t truly That’s what I enjoy what you’re doing, you’ll never create excellence, no matter how hard truly believe. you work or how much you earn.And your employer will get much better value from someone – someone else – who loves the work. Co-operative Education & Career Services University of Waterloo www.coop.uwaterloo.ca [email protected] 1-877-928-2667 magazine | fall 2009 | university of Waterloo magazine | fall 2009 | university of Waterloo maga sity of Waterloo magazine | fall 2009 | university of Waterloo magazine | fall 2009 | Waterloo m university of Waterloo magazine | fall 2009 | university of Waterloo magazine | fall 2009 | univer Waterloo magazine | fall 2009 | university of Waterloo magazine | fall 2009 | university of Water on the move: aging reSearch at waterloo pg. 12 at waterloo, our approach to aging research is uniquely action-oriented. we’re not just interested in health and aging: we’re interested in changing it for the better. Patricia Bow well Schooled pg. 20 pharmacy, optometry, accounting and finance: three of waterloo’s professional schools showcase their bold ambitions with three newly opened landmark buildings. Patricia Bow making a promiSe pg. 26 rebranding was meant to show waterloo to the world as we are and aspire to be — bold, daring, creative. reaction to a proposed new logo showed that waterloo’s students exhibit creativity in spades. kelley teahen aging reSearch at waterloo well Schooled pg. 12 pg. 20 making a promiSe pg. 26 editorial pg. 2 commentary pg. 3 heard on campus pg. 5 talk of the campus pg. 8 hics P class noteS pg. 32 ra g W u calendar pg. 39 laSt word pg. 40 : chris hughes, O t O Ph On the cOver Staying phySically and mentally fit iS eSpecially important aS we grow older. thiS Strategy iS emphaSized by many UniverSity of waterloo groUpS and professorS involved in reSearch on aging. PhOtO: JOnathan Bielaski What's inside 1 « editorial THE UNIVERSITY hiding waterloo’s lights under a bushel OF WATERLOO MAGAZINE Mary Jane Braide had her “ah-HA!” moment at the Math C&D. FALL 2009 That’s one of several “coffee and doughnut” shops run by student societies across Waterloo’s publisher campus. The Math C&D has become an interesting place to grab lunch as the managers have MEG BECKEL engaged local caterers from different ethnic traditions. So while there are the usual urns of editor KELLEY TEAHEN coffee and racks of chips, there also are falafel, tabouli, jerk chicken, and chana. assistant editor PATRICIA BOW As the university’s associate director of communications, I had been assigned to be Braide’s “Sherpa” contributing editors during her trips to Waterloo to do research on the university’s identity (see “Making a promise,” BETH BOHNERT, CHRIS REDMOnD page 26). I suggested the Math C&D for lunch, and described the culinary richness awaiting. advisory board sunshine chen (BES ’95, BARCH ’97) And then, we walked onto the second floor of the Mathematics and Computer building. Martin Degroot (Ba ’79, Ma ’81, PhD ’95) chris harOlD (BES ’00) Patrick MYles (Ba ’97) There it was: the plain white-on-black hallway sign stating, “Math Coffee & Donut.” Lorie Soper (Ma ’87) By the entrance, the dominant signs exhorted, No Backpacks In Store. ex officio JASOn cOOlMAN “This is soooooo Waterloo!” Braide exclaimed. “This is it!” MARTIN VAN NIEROP advertising What is “it,” exactly? Call it the “light under the bushel” syndrome. BETH BOHNERT The inherent mojo of an institution where practical beats pretty business manager ALISOn BOYD (although that’s changing with our recent building projects … creative director see “Well schooled,” page 20). It’s not modesty, exactly, but a CHRISTINE gOUCHER profound distaste for “showing off.” If plain will do, and plain design is cheaper, plain it is. uW GRAPHICs The Math C&D relies mostly on word of mouth to let people know the University of waterloo magazine is published twice a it has diverse food offerings. In many ways, compared with our aski year for graduates and friends iel brethren in higher education, Waterloo has operated on the same of the University of waterloo. all material is copyright ©2009, athan B athan University of waterloo, and may principle: we have a quiet confidence that if we do good things n be reprinted only with written : JO here, they (students, faculty, researchers, partners, donors) O t permission. O will come. Marketing is for cereal. Ph printed in canada by commercial print-craft limited They still do come, of course. But in context of the university’s ambitious Sixth Decade Plan goals, iSSn 1207-778X Waterloo will need to tell its story more widely and be better known to form more international Send editorial correspondence to: University of waterloo magazine attachments, attract more graduate students, and ramp up the intensity of research (for an communications and public affairs example of that growing research, see “On the move,” page 12) – all in service of building a better University of waterloo waterloo, ON canada n2l 3g1 future, for Canada and the world.