Contents
Search
Campus Life
While it's doubtful that anyone in Newfoundland takes beautiful foliage for granted, there's now someone on campus who takes a particular interest in our natural surroundings. Christopher Baird is Memorial's new horticulturist. Born in St. John's, he is the son of a merchant who farmed in Quebec and Ontario during the war years. Chris, who says that he came by his interest because of his father, was hired in February to plan, direct, and oversee gardening and landscaping projects on the St. John's campus. Horticulture covers many disciplines, including vegetable, fruit and greenhouse production as well as ornamental landscaping. Chris say his job is to make the plans provided by a landscape architect into a reality. Graduating from the two-year horticulture program of Niagara College in St. Catherine's, Ontario, Chris returned to Newfoundland and set about putting his skills to the test. "I worked in Pippy Park under Mike Manning. Mr. Manning was the director and my mentor; he taught me how to apply what I'd learned in Ontario to Newfoundland`s unique climatic conditions." From there, Chris went on to become superintendent of Bowring Park, a position he held for 15 years until the division was downsized in 1994. He then began his own business -- Glenmire Horticultural Services -- which he has been running successfully for the past six years. Chris' first major project at Memorial was to tackle the revitalization of the university's atriums. Work was carried out on cleaning the plant material, then a fertilization program was implemented. To control the insects inherent to an interior garden, predator ladybugs were introduced. In recent months the focus has been on the outside landscape. He has implemented maintenance work on trees, flowerbeds and gardens. Most recently, he coordinated a planting at the new University Centre. The main challenge in rendering Memorial a picture-perfect campus is dealing with its age and climate. "This university campus is relatively young: the oldest trees here were planted in the 1960s, so the campus hasn't matured like a lot of older campuses in Canada. Memorials' campus has some unique problems that can be attributed to Newfoundland. We have to garden here; we can't just plant and expect things to grow, we have to work at it. Wind is one of the mitigating factors. Years ago, single specimens plantings were the order of the day and the wind and other factors have just devastated them. In later years, group plantings were used and more success can be attributed to this method." The construction and location of new buildings on campus can also have an effect on whether trees and plants are successful. "The addition of a new building can create a favourable micro-climate resulting in better growing conditions or it can hinder the growth," Chris explained, adding that he expects the new Field House currently under construction will also alter the profile of the grounds. Chris is enjoying his position at Memorial so far, and says he appreciates working with the Facilities Management staff. "We only have a small workforce supplemented with summer students and together, they do yeoman's service. There are lots of projects on campus that need to be done yet. I'd like about five or six years to get it into shape, with regular maintenance and more planting." Chris's involvement with Memorial actually started a long time ago. When he was in grade seven, he was recruited by swim coach, John Drinkwater to train for a position on the Memorial University swim team. In the early 1970s he was employed by the university's marine lab as a scuba diver, carrying out underwater surveys in various Newfoundland bays for Irish moss. The survey was being conducted to see if there was potential for a commercial harvest. Chris sits on the board of directors for the Botanical Gardens. He is married and has two children.
Negotiations are continuing between the university and technical, administrative and administrative support employees represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 1615. The negotiations are being conducted using an interest-based approach to bargaining. This process is fundamentally different from the traditional, more adversarial positional-based bargaining. With the aid of external facilitators, both sides discuss issues together and try to arrive at mutual perspectives. Generally, interest-based negotiations take more time and involve much more discussion. The union has applied for conciliation services from the department and labour but that is not expected to slow the negotiations. "Conciliation is part of the process. We feel the talks are moving at a reasonable pace and we are making significant progress," said Monty Green, the university's chief negotiator. He added that scheduling conflicts have presented minor problems, but both sides were working to address them. "The university would have preferred to continue meeting on a regular schedule throughout the summer, but that was impossible because some of the union negotiators had other commitments. However, we are meeting when possible and we expect the pace of those meetings to pick up over the next few weeks."  Their Excellencies Governor General Adrienne Clarkson and John Ralston Saul recently toured the Fine Arts Building at Sir Wilfred Grenfell College. In addition to a special preview of a theatre production being rehearsed at the college, they viewed a number of student artworks. Here they examine a sculpture.  The Atlantic Association of College and University Student Services held its annual conference at Sir Wilfred Grenfell College in June. At the closing reception at Marble Mountain Ski Resort, Grenfell Principal Adrian Fowler and AACUSS past president emeritus Shelley Clayton shared in the cutting of a cake that recognized the 25th anniversaries of both organizations.
The Memorial University Health and Dental Plans provide for an extension of coverage beyond age 21 for dependent children of plan members. The provision extends the age limit from age 21 to 25, on a year-by-year basis, for dependent children who are:
To ensure that coverage is maintained beyond the age of 21 years, plan members are required to submit a Dependent Registration Card to the Department of Human Resources at the time the child reaches age 21 and in September of each subsequent year. Employees may obtain a card by visiting the Benefits and Pensions Office of the Department of Human Resources in Room A-4025 of the Arts and Administration Building or by calling a benefits officer at 737-7406.
|
