Around the ring

Get a flu shot, not the flu
If you’re a UVic staff or faculty member looking to get your annual flu shot, you need go no further this year than the SUB. The new Peoples Pharmacy there, in co-operation with UVic health services, is providing a flu shot clinic for staff and faculty on Oct. 23–25 and Oct. 29–31. You need to make an appointment—call 721-3400—as soon as possible because the supply of vaccine is limited. The cost per shot is $15, and appointments will take about 30 minutes. Patients with chronic illnesses who normally get a flu shot for no charge should see their family physician or contact UVic health services. Students are asked to go to UVic health services for their shot.

No bonfire, but plenty of tricks and treats
Little ghosts and goblins in UVic’s family student housing will find tricks and treats at the UVic Family Centre’s Halloween Party on Oct. 31 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Because the usual bonfire location is a construction site this year, Halloween festivities are being moved inside to Child Care Services Complex B. Party-goers can carve pumpkins, play games and collect treats from campus security services. For more information, call 472-4062.

Japanese co-op hosts forum on food security
A delegation from Seikatsu Club Consumer’s Co-operative, winner of a Right Livelihood Award (otherwise known as the Alternative Nobel Prize) in 1989, will hold a public forum sponsored by UVic’s B.C. Institute for Co-operative Studies on “Food Security and the Conscious Consumer,” on Thursday, Oct. 17 at 1 p.m. in the Campus Room of Cadboro Commons. Started by a Tokyo housewife in 1965, Seikatsu Club has become one of the world’s largest consumer co-operatives and an international leader in promoting fair trade, organic farming, environmentally friendly production, and responsible consumption. For more information, call 472-4540.

Federalism goes under the microscope
European studies graduate students from Canada and abroad will compare changing federal structures both in Canada and in European Union countries at an Oct. 17–19 conference, “Multilevel and Federal Governance: The Experiences of Canada and the European Union”in University Centre A180. Members of the public are invited to attend the opening lecture and roundtable as well as other sessions examining issues raised by federal restructuring. Dr. Amy Verdun, Jean Monnet Chair and director of UVic’s European studies program, will deliver the opening address: “The Challenges to the European Union in Light of Enlargement and Institutional Reform” on Thursday, Oct. 17 at 9 a.m. The full conference agenda is available online at <web.uvic.ca/~europe/>.

Living on the edge
The 18th annual Hispanic and Italian Studies colloquium, on Oct. 24 and 25, will examine “Marginalization in the Hispanic and Italian World.” Over the two days, 10 papers will be presented, in English, by UVic scholars and Lansdowne visitor Gethin Hughes from the University of Toronto. In addition, the UVic Chamber Singers, with guitarist Steve Lochbaum, will perform selected sonnets of Federico Garcia Lorca. The colloquium is free and open to the public and runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 24 and from 9:30 a.m. to noon Oct. 25. For more information call 721-7413.

What have we learned from the Dead Sea scrolls?
The contribution the Dead Sea Scrolls have made to the development of Judaism and Christianity will be explored in the 2002 John Albert Hall Lecture Series. Dr. Eileen Schuller, chair of religious studies at McMaster University, will deliver four different lectures on the topic (Oct. 23, 24, 30 and 31—see Calendar, p.8 for details). The scrolls, discovered in caves along the western shore of the Dead Sea, are made up of about 800 documents, some complete or nearly complete, but most quite fragmentary. They date from about 250 B.C. to 65 A.D and include the oldest copies of the Bible in existence. Since the early 1980s, Schuller has been involved in editing and publication of the scrolls, and was assigned a section of texts that belong to the prayers and psalms category. The lecture series is sponsored by UVic’s Centre for Studies in Religion and Society in co-operation with the Diocese of British Columbia. For more information call 721-6325.

Little Shuswap grads set high standards
Fourteen members of the Little Shuswap Indian Band who received UVic diplomas on Oct. 4 are among the most highly qualified early childhood education graduates in the province. In addition to their First Nations Partnership Program diploma requirements, offered by UVic’s school of child and youth care, the students have also completed the course work needed to care for infants and toddlers, and children with special needs. “Not many people complete all three levels of certification,” says Dr. Jessica Ball, program co-ordinator. “Each of these individuals is now qualified to operate a full-service child care program in their community.” The two-year First Nations Partnership Program incorporates the traditional knowledge and practices of the community partners with the program’s mainstream curriculum. Eight tribal organizations in three provinces have offered the programs in their communities.

Bringing nature to the design table
What would nature do? In seeking sustainable solutions for new energy sources and products, biomimics emulate nature’s time-tested patterns and strategies. Janine Benyus, a life sciences writer whose work is the subject of upcoming episodes of The Nature of Things, will conduct a division of continuing studies workshop “Biomimicry: Bringing Nature to the Design Table” on Monday, Nov. 4 from 10 a.m. to noon at UVic Downtown, 910 Government St. The course fee is $80.25. For more information call 721-8463 or e-mail arts&sci@uvcs.uvic.ca.