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BRIEF: Official re-opening of Marquis Hall food centre

After two summers of renovations, Marquis Hall Culinary Centre officially opened Dec. 21.

According to the President’s report set to be tabled at University Council Jan. 26, “This renovation allows the opportunity to attract the best” chefs working in the culinary field.

Currently, there are eight red seal chefs on staff and with the improved facilities the opportunity to invite high-profile guest chefs to campus is more readily available.

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BRIEF: Student group to hold panel on women in politics at Louis’

The student group Women in the Legislature, or WiL, will hold a panel discussion at Louis’ Pub next week to discuss the role of women in politics.

Panelists will be Loleen Berdahl, professor with the political studies department; Jennifer Campeau, Saskatchewan Party MLA for Saskatoon Fairview; and Judy Junor, former NDP MLA for Saskatoon Eastview.

WiL is a non-partisan, student-run initiative to educate students on women’s under-representation in legislatures across the country and inspire more women to become politically active.

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University of Calgary professors develop method to help clean tailings pond water

What started in 2009 as a side project with low expectations has quickly yielded impressive results and garnered funding from the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

University of Calgary biochemistry professor Raymond Turner began working with Howard Ceri, a U of C biology professor, on creating a biofilm that would assist in the detoxification and reclamation of some tailings pond water left over after oil sands excavation.

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BRIEF: Teachers’ group disappointed with Harper’s choice for Canada Excellence Research Chair board

The Canadian Association of University Teachers reacted angrily to the newly-appointed co-chair of the Canada Excellence Research Chair program selection board. Stephen Harper’s federal government named Shirley Tilghman, president of Princeton University, to the post, drawing criticism from CAUT.

“While the President of Princeton University is undoubtedly a distinguished academic… there is no shortage of Canadian university presidents and other distinguished academics at Canadian universities who could more appropriately have filled the role” as co-chair for the Canadian program, said a letter signed by CAUT President Wayne Peters and Executive Director James Turk.

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What happens when a highly contagious virus sweeps through a conference of student journalists?

“Did you eat the slaw? How about you, how much coleslaw did you eat?”

This is how the 74th annual Canadian University Press national conference’s bizarre outbreak of norovirus began. Norovirus, previously named Norwalk, is a highly contagious illness that most often causes violent illness for one or two days, including vomiting, diarrhea and stomach pain.

What ensued was twelve hours of the worst kind of illness. Read on for a full, first person recap of the night’s disastrous and disgusting outbreak.

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U of S space team competing to launch satellite

The year was 2010 at the second annual Japan Space Elevator Technology and Engineering Competition. The University of Saskatchewan Space Design Team had sent a team of people there to compete. Their goal? To build and operate a robotic “climber” that can climb up and then back down 300 metres of cable faster than any other team.

It was no small task, to say the least, and the first attempt ended with the climber crashing back to Earth. But thanks to the ingenuity of the team, they got it repaired and won the competition; their final speed was four times faster than the next team, at a cool 57 kilometres an hour.

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Commerce student starts used book site

At one time, buying and selling used textbooks was a simple process.

Most used books were sold through consignment at Browsers, operated by the University of Saskatchewan Students’ Union. Your book would sit on the shelf and, if sold, the students’ union would take a cut of the profit. This proved wildly successful and generated hundreds of thousands in revenue for the USSU.

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Can Atheists be spiritual? A conversation with Department of Philosophy head Eric Dayton

Philosophy in the Community is a monthly discussion series organized by the Department of Philosophy at the University of Saskatchewan. At this month’s talk on Jan. 11, along with the free coffee, irony brewed thick when Eric Dayton presented the lecture, “Atheist Spirituality: An Oxymoron?” Dayton is the head of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Saskatchewan and the Anglophone Editor of Dialogue, a quarterly journal published by the Canadian Philosophical Association.

The Sheaf sat down with him before the lecture to discuss the topic.

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Industry Liaison Office generates $5.7 million for U of S in 2011

Tomatoes, the iUsask iPhone application and pig virus vaccines. The Industry Liaison Office has turned original research on all three into a huge source of revenue for campus researchers and the university.

Last year alone, the ILO generated $5.7 million in research revenue for the University of Saskatchewan. Of that, roughly $2.75 million was paid out to inventors on campus and $1 million was injected back into the colleges where the licensed inventions were developed.

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Indigenous Students’ Council president steps down; current MSC Jared Brown chosen to lead organization

The Indigenous Students’ Council president Ryan Moccasin stepped down this week to instead focus on completing a degree in sociology and producing hip-hop music.

He was elected to the position in May 2011 and was expected to serve a yearlong term.

Replacing him is current ISC member of students’ council Jared Brown, who has represented the organization at University Students’ Council for the past two years. Brown adopted the role at a late afternoon meeting on Jan. 9, held in the basement of McLean Hall.

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