Windsor’s best undergraduate programmers butted heads Saturday in the regional competition of the Association for Computing Machinery International Collegiate Programming Contest held in the Erie Hall and Lambton Tower computer science labs.

The IBM-sponsored regional programming contest was organized for undergraduate students in the East Central North America Region to sharpen and demonstrate their problem-solving, programming and teamwork skills.

Saturday’s competition had a total of 24 teams from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Ontario, and Indiana battle it out in order to advance to the world finals. Each team of three students and a coach was expected to solve nine problems in five hours using the C, C++ or Java language.

The contest marks Windsor’s third year hosting this regional event and providing students in Ontario with a unique and exceptional experience, says Ziad Kobti, director of the School of Computer Science.

“This is a critical time for us in IT—the demand for skilled computer programmers is increasing and there is a pressing need for highly competitive candidates. This type of competition brings out the best of the best to compete from all over the world,” Dr. Kobti says.

Over 130 teams from 63 colleges and universities throughout western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, eastern Ontario, and Indiana participated at the other contest sites in Ohio and Michigan.

The overall winners and the only team that solved all nine problems represented Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The top-performing UWindsor contestants were:

• Team Windsor Black, who solved three problems, placed ninth locally and 22nd overall
• Team Windsor Brown, who solved two problems, placed 12th locally and 42nd overall
• Team Windsor Gold, a group of freshmen who attempted two questions and benefited from the experience.

The School of Computer Science will host a similar contest for high school students on December 7 and will hold preparatory workshops on November 16 and . For more information, visit the School of Computer Science Web site.

— by Chantelle Myers

David Phillips (BA 1967) is more than just a weatherman.

Senior climatologist for Environment Canada and spokesperson for its meteorological service, the best-selling author is the creator of the country’s most-popular calendar and has received two Public Service Merit Awards, honorary doctorates from the University of Waterloo and Nipissing University and the Order of Canada.

Next week, he will add to those honours the Alumni Award of Merit, one of two recipients at the University of Windsor Alumni Association’s annual general meeting on Thursday, November 15. The award goes to UWindsor graduates whose distinguished accomplishments  have brought honour to the University of Windsor in any field of human endeavour.

“I am deeply and sincerely touched by the honour, especially given the outstanding body of alumni who can proudly call the University of Windsor their alma mater,” Phillips said.

His Canadian Weather Trivia Calendar joined books The Climates of Canada, Blame It on the Weather and The Day Niagara Falls Ran Dry on bestseller lists.

The other honouree is educator and music professional Maureen Harris (BMA 1997, MEd 2006).

Creator of “Mozart & the Young Mind,” a music and movement curriculum for children, Harris continues to share her musical knowledge with fellow educators throughout the world. Most recently, she began a new position as executive director of Lakeview Montessori School.

Her dedication to teaching won recognition from the Canadian Federation of Music Teachers Association with the presentation of the Hugheen Ferguson Lifetime Achievement Award. She also received the Prime Minister’s awards for teaching excellence and excellence in early childhood education.

The November 15 event will begin with a cocktail reception at 5 p.m. in the CAW Student Centre’s Ambassador Auditorium before the formal program begins at 6 p.m. The meeting and awards presentation are open to the public. If you plan to attend, RSVP by November 9 online at www.uwindsor.ca/alumni or e-mail alumni@uwindsor.ca.

Wearing UWindsor- and Lancer-themed clothing Friday is a good way for faculty and staff to demonstrate pride in the institution to visitors during the Fall Open House recruitment event, says Zora Savic, student communication and events coordinator for the liaison office.

She is encouraging employees to wear appropriate clothing that bears a UWindsor or Lancer logo—or even is simply blue and gold.

“Not only does it show school spirit, it also helps our visitors identify people who may be able to provide basic directions,” Savic says.

Her office expects up to 2,500 prospective students and members of their families to attend the November 9 event for presentations on academic programs and student services as well as tours of the campus.

All guests will start their day with a check-in at the CAW Student Centre. Find a detailed itinerary on the open house Web site.

Leslie Andrew.

Two UWindsor music instructors will present a program of favourite arias and Broadway showstoppers during the “Wild, Witty and Wise Women of Opera” recital, Friday, November 9.

Soprano Leslie Andrew accompanied by pianist Elsie Inselman will perform works by Handel, Bizet, Verdi and Puccini, as well as Rodgers and Hart, Lerner and Loewe, Leonard Bernstein and Irving Berlin.

The show begins at 7:30 p.m. in Assumption University Chapel. Admission is $15, with a student rate of $5. Order tickets by phone at 519-253-3000, ext. 4212, or purchase online at www.uwindsor.ca/music. Find more details on the school’s Web site.

A free public event Wednesday, November 7, will discuss the efforts of native leader Tecumseh to secure a place for First Nations during the Anglo-American conflict leading to the War of 1812.

The Humanities Research Group presents “Tecumseh and the Quest for a Native Homeland,” at 4 p.m. Wednesday, November 7, in Alumni Hall’s McPherson Lounge.

Historian Sandy Antal’s presentation will

• trace the evolution of the Anglo-Native connection;
• outline the Native struggle for their land prior to the war of 1812;
• examine the rationale of the renewed Anglo-Native alliance in 1812;
• discuss British government attitudes toward the Native alliance;
• follow the losing allied struggle that culminated in the battle of Moraviantown;
• discuss the Native homeland issue at the Ghent peace talks; and
• summarize the legacy of Tecumseh and his quest.

Darryl Stonefish, tribal historian of the Moravian Band Delaware Nation, will speak on the impact of the War of 1812 on the Native tribes, particularly on the Moravian Delaware of Fairfield.

Judith Humphrey, president of the corporate communications firm The Humphrey Group, will speak on campus Thursday, November 8, as the next instalment of the Odette School of Business Breakfast with Champions series.

Humphrey’s firm, which she founded in 1987, employs a team of 23 instructors who provide seminars and one-on-one coaching in leadership communications to leaders at all levels, all over the world. Her book, Speaking as a Leader: How to Lead Every Time You Speak, distils their advice and is already in its third printing.

Thursday’s event will begin with a continental breakfast at 7:30 a.m., follow with the presentation and discussion at 8 a.m., and conclude by 9 a.m. in room 108, Odette Building.

The Breakfast with Champions speaker series is free and open to the public, but pre-registration is required. RSVP by November 7 on a first-come, first-served basis to Barbara Barone at 519-971-3678 or e-mail bbarone@uwindsor.ca.

How did the portrayal of people with disabilities shift in the wake of the U.S. movement for civil rights?

David Mitchell, a visiting professor at the University of Michigan’s Institute for the Humanities and an associate professor in the College of Education at Temple University, will examine this question in a free public lecture entitled “The Capacities of Incapacity: Disability and Neoliberal Novels of Embodiment,” on Wednesday, November 7, at 110 a.m. in Vanier Hall’s Katzman Lounge.

Dr. Mitchell’s publications include three books: The Body and Physical Difference (1997), Narrative Prosthesis (2000), and Cultural Locations of Disability (2006); four award-winning documentary films: “Vital Signs: Crip Culture Talks Back” (1995), “A World Without Bodies” (2002), “Self Preservation” (2005), “Disability Takes on the Arts” (2006); and the five-volume Encyclopedia of Disability (2005).

Is water a commercial good like running shoes or Coca-Cola? Or is water a human right like air?

In her 2010 documentary Water On The Table, filmmaker Liz Marshall features Maude Barlow, whom she dubs an “international water-warrior” for her crusade to have water declared a human right.

“Water must be declared a public trust and a human right that belongs to the people, the ecosystem and the future, and preserved for all time and practice in law,” Barlow says. “Clean water must be delivered as a public service, not a profitable commodity.”

The film captures Barlow’s public face as well as the unscripted woman behind the scenes. More than a portrait of an activist, Water On The Table presents several dramatic opposing arguments from economic experts who argue that water is no different from any other resource.

The International Wednesdays documentary series will hold a free public screening of the film at noon Wednesday, November 7, in the International Student Centre on the second floor of Laurier Hall.

Watch a trailer here:

A reception Thursday, November 15, will allow friends and colleagues to bid farewell to academic integrity officer Danielle Istl, who is leaving the University’s employ on November 16 after more than eight years.

Vice-provost, students and international Clayton Smith says his office will provide light refreshments for the event, which runs 3 to 4:30 p.m. in Katzman Lounge, Vanier Hall. RSVP to Maureen Friest at 519-253-3000, ext. 3929.

A group of business students will hold a charity bowl-a-thon in support of the Windsor-Essex United Way on Wednesday, November 14.

The event runs 9 p.m. to midnight at the Rose Bowl, 2458 Dougall Avenue. The cost to enter is $15 per person. To register, phone 519-981-7377 or 519-819-7589.