U of W website one of Canada’s best

The University of Winnipeg website, www.uwinnipeg.ca, has been recognized by www.web50.ca as one of Canada’s top-50 websites. The websites are judged according to several design criteria, including colour scheme, photos, written content, organization and user-friendliness. The new U of W site, which launched this past April, was created by university webmaster Marnie Loewen, Simian Systems programmers, Elemental Motion Media designers and Daemon Defense hosting solutions. Websites for The Tragically Hip, Much Music and National Post also made the list.

Visit http://web50.ca/ to see the complete top-50 list.

U of W president and dean of grad studies chosen as torchbearers

University of Winnipeg president and vice-chancellor Lloyd Axworthy and dean of graduate studies Sandra Kirby will both carry the Olympic torch along its path to Vancouver. Kirby will carry the torch through Pointe-au-Père, Que. on Nov. 30. Kirby competed in rowing in the 1976 summer Olympics in Montreal. Axworthy will carry the torch Jan. 5 in a location between Kenora and Winnipeg that is yet to be determined. Kirby and Axworthy are two of roughly 1,200 torchbearers, many of whom are selected through community programs.

Axworthy for sustainable freight

University of Winnipeg president and vice-chancellor Lloyd Axworthy will chair an advisory group looking at sustainable freight transportation in North America. The transportation sector contributes 26 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions, and at least a quarter of that is from transporting freight, according to a press release from the university. The group, assembled by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, is comprised of members from non-governmental organizations, government agencies and transportation industries.

Round up your rubber duckies!

The Jewish Students Association (JSA) will be supporting local women in need and raising public awareness of women’s issues through the Bathtub Project. The students will set up stations at the University of Winnipeg and the University of Manitoba where they will be collecting new and gently-used clothing, toiletries, shoes, books and toys. The collected goods will be donated to Osborne House, a local women’s shelter. Donations can be made at the U of M’s University Centre on Wednesday, Nov. 25 and at the U of W near the Info Booth on Wednesday, Dec. 2.

U of T prepares for PanAm Games

The University of Toronto will be seeing some major developments to their already extensive sport and recreation facilities, faculty and staff newspaper The Bulletin reported last week. The university will play host to several of the events for the 2015 Pan/Parapan American Games, which will be held in Toronto. The largest development will be a $170 million sporting complex that will include a multi-sport field house, two Olympic-size swimming pools and a diving tank. The complex will be a joint project between the City of Toronto and the University of Toronto Scarborough.

Published in Volume 64, Number 12 of The Uniter (November 19, 2009)