Fall 2009 Issue II

Inside sCo-op

BEER TOWER

how students in 1957 raised

UW’s profile

Lovin’ LiFE IN LIMA

1 girl, 14 boys

& 1 bathroom

STRATEGIC PLAN OF ATTACK

one student’s search for his dream job

When Life Hands You Lemons...

Make Lemonade

The Good, The Bad & The Juicy Truth About Co-op

SUCCESS: Grooming, Gossip & Getting Ahead

Have a comment or suggestion

for the next Inside sCo-op? Email olaf@uwaterloo.ca now!

We’d love to hear your ideas!

InsIde sCo-op ContentsThe Inside sCo-op is an e-publication that is released bi-monthly by Co-operative Education & Career Services at the University of Waterloo.

Last Call: Student of the Year...2Advice on becoming the next co-op student of the year!

Lovin’ Life in Lima...3One student’s South American adventure included 14 boys, one bathroom & daily catcalls on the way to work.

The Great Water Tower Caper...5In 1957, frustration at Waterloo’s nonexistant reputation lead students to pull a prank in the hope of attracting attention to the new school.

The Tatham Centre...8Facts about a typical term at CECS and an introduction to the students who currently work in the building.

Success on the Job...9Career Services Supervisor Jayne Hayden gives tips for a positive work experience for you and your employer.

You’re FIRED...10True stories about students who have been fired from co-op jobs.

Strategic Plan of Attack...11Ryan Iutzi’s successful search techniques helped him get his dream co-op job.

InsIde sCo-op CreditsEditor Karina Graf

Staff Editor Olaf Naese, Communications & Public Relations, CECS

ContributorJayne Hayden, Career Services Supervisor, CECS

PhotosOlaf Naese, Renee Mak, WEAL, Ryan Iutzi

Poverty in Peru3

5Beer Tower

Fired! Sleeping on the Job 10

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Karina GrafMedia & Publications Associate, CECS MA Candidate, English Rhetoric & Communication Design

Hello Friends,

A friend of mine recently gifted me with a treasure: a book called PostSecret by Frank Warren containing a compilation of secrets written on postcards. As you may already know, PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail their secrets anonymous-ly on one side of a postcard. Each week Warren, the project creator, reads the new cards and selects a group to post on his blog: postsecret.blogspot.com

The secrets I like most are those that talk about events which changed someone’s life from bad to better. One person wrote, “I’m so grateful to the psychiatrist I saw when I was nine-teen, who told me I would be fine again. He saved my life.”

There’s truth in the secret: bad situations usually improve.

But it may not feel like it when your co-op job exposes you to depressing situations, such as the case of Renee Mak who spent a work term working in a poverty-stricken area of Peru. Or in Ryan Iutzi’s situation when he couldn’t seem to find his dream co-op job. Students who began studying at Waterloo College Associate Faculties, as the University of Waterloo was called in 1957, had an added challenge: everyone thought their work-study program was a joke, and many people asked “What’s this silly thing about you working in a factory every other semester?”

Ryan, Renee and the students of 1957 all managed to make the best of their situation – they “made lemonade” when life handed them lemons. Check out their stories in this issue. To learn more about having a positive experience of your own, read Jayne Hayden’s article about success on the job. Also, don’t miss the anecdotes about students who were fired from co-op jobs to learn more about what not to do.

What’s my PostSecret? That’s one secret I’ll never tell.

Happy Reading,

Karina

LAST CALLfor applications to become the next

STUDENT OF THE YEAROne winner from each faculty will demonstrate the following achievements: - Receive an “Outstanding” evaluation during 2009 - Maintain an average of 75% or better - Take leadership roles on-campus, at work and in the community

- Contribute to an employer - Contribute to co-op in some way

If you are interested in learning more or if you would like to nominate yourself or someone else, click here: http://www.cecs.uwaterloo.ca/students/SOTYaward.php

Final application packages are due by December 11, 2009.

Inside sCo-op 2

Poverty in Peru

“He said my meatloaf wasn’t as good as his Mom’s. So now I

add dog food and smile when he eats it.”

-Anon secret

“As a kid, I thought that I was half-robot.” -anon secret

La Victoria, a district in Lima, Peru, is described by Wikipedia as “one of the most dangerous places in the country.” Apparently “Gang violence, pros-titution, drug trafficking and gunfights are very

common” and tourist bureaus advise people to “stay well clear of the neighbourhood.”

Boldly ignoring the warnings, 4A Planning student Renee Mak entered La Victoria in January 2009. She didn’t know a soul, but that didn’t stop her from hopping on a plane and flying solo to Lima.

With the help of a CECS field co-ordinator, Renee had found a unique position as a Group Home Assistant with CEDRO, a Students Without Borders job in Peru, for her four month work term.

Upon arrival, she met the group of young males who lived at the group home. As the home is a haven for vulner-able youth, the boys came from a variety of backgrounds. “They have abusive families or drug addition or other sort of social or behavioural problems,” said Renee. “The first week I worked there, a lot of them wouldn’t even talk to

Lovin’inLife

LimaWhen Renee Mak arrived in South America,

she couldn’t have guessed the adventures headed her way: 14 boys, one bathroom,

& daily catcalls on her way to work.

BY KARINA GRAF

Inside sCo-op 3

I beliEve South America is a rapidly develop-ing continent in which the countries have

a severe polarization between the poor and the rich. I decided to spend my work term working with marginalized social groups

to give me more exposure with social and ad-vocacy planning. Now I know what I might

expect if I continue on this career path.”

“Every day men would holler at me on the streets.”

even talk to me. These boys have gone through so much and I’m just a stranger to them. It takes awhile to gain that trust.”

Although she had a bit of a rocky start, the boys eventu-ally warmed up to Renee. She acted as a confidant and friend to them.

The boys attend school daily and meet with on-site psychologists. In the summer they par-ticipate in fun classes like dance and carpentry. The youths are also provided the oppor-tunity to train in a trade to prepare for future employment.

Despite the welcom-ing environment at the home, “Boys run away a lot,” Renee said, “new boys will come and other boys will leave. It changes all the time.” The number of boys at the house varied from 10 to 14 throughout her stay.

The home itself home is very small. Fourteen boys shared a single bath-room and the bed-rooms are cramped, with four to a room.“Many Canadians would find the living conditions shocking,” said Renee.

Hygiene standards in Peru are inevitably different from North American standards; Renee and the boys some-times became ill from meals provided by a local soup kitchen.

Surprisingly, despite the many hardships she witnessed every day, “The hardest thing for me was the treatment of females,” said Renee, “Every day men would holler at

me on the streets. It was very difficult because I find it disrespectful. But after awhile I learned to adapt because they don’t mean it as offence. You have to learn the cul-tural difference that they are trying to compliment you; it’s how they’ve been brought up and there’s nothing you can do about that – you just have to learn to accept it. “

The best part of her term, said Renee, was “Just being there. Now I can say I understand poverty. I’ve learned another perspective.”

With the many warnings about the dangers of Peru, Re-nee admits she felt nervous before she travelled to Lima. “I was scared before I was about to depart Canada,” said Renee. “The area was sup-posed to be the most dangerous place in Lima, but once I got there I wasn’t afraid. It’s important to know what areas are dangerous, avoid these areas, don’t be caught there after dark. But I think, for the most part, it’s a misconception. I think people are so frightened of pov-erty they believe people who are impoverished are all criminals – that they are going to ‘get you.’ But by experi-ence in La Victoria, everyone’s very kind,

people would be so friendly. I never had any incidents where I was scared.”

Interested in international work? http://www.cecs.uwaterloo.ca/students/international/finding_international_work.php

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Photos: opposite page left to right: Juan-Carlos, Steffan (a German volunteer) and Luis.

This page: Renee Mak

Vera Leavoy, then a staff member working in the office of the Waterloo College As-sociate Faculties on Albert Street, clearly remembers the morning of June 3, 1958.

“Someone looked out the window and said, ‘Look at

The Great Water Tower Caper

BY PATRICIA BOWthe tower!” Painted in enormous but well-formed letters across the curve of the 500,000-gallon tank, 125 feet above the ground, was the word BEER. “So we all rushed to the window to see. Then we all rushed to the taps to see if it was beer!”

This is the true story, as Mike Matthews, (Mech ’63) remembers it.

There were three of them: Mike from Toronto, Bill Stephen from Weston, and George Thompson – known as Sandy because of his red hair – from Ham-ilton. They’d started at Waterloo in October 1957 and by next June they were feeling frustrated.

The University of Waterloo did not yet exist, and would not until a year later. Waterloo College Associ-ate Faculties (WCAF), as UW was known then, had no reputation at all. Students were uncertain which college or university would grant their degrees, or it those degrees would have any legitimacy.

The fact that co-operative education, the founding concept of WCAF, was almost unknown in Canada didn’t help at all. “when we went home,” Mike says, “people would ask, ‘What’s this silly thing about you working in a factory every other semester?’” Many

people had the idea that this new college was really just a glorified trade school.

Mike, Bill, and Sandy took classes in a couple of tin-roofed tem-

porary buildings in the Waterloo College parking lot at Albert and Dearborn (now University).

Small wonder they felt the need to draw some attention to their un-known college.

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On the evening of June 1, Mike, Sandy, and Bill were sitting in a Kitchener pub. Mike can still hear himself saying, “We’ve got to do something to get this place on the map.”

“We started batting around something we could do. I do not know how the idea of putting BEER on the water tower came up.” All of them were living within a few blocks of the college, and the municipal wa-ter tower stood to the north-west, on Lester Street. Mike speculates that the daily sight of this landmark may have already planted the idea in someone’s mind that: “Boy, it would be great to put beer in that thing.” That evening, as glasses were raised, the idea surfaced.

The planning began. “We decided from the very be-ginning, this would be something that had to be fun, hopefully startling, but not injurious in any way to anybody, mentally or physically, and something that didn’t damage property.” Sensibly, they decided not to drink at all before climbing the tower. “We were stupid, but we weren’t dumb.”

Next day they gathered supplies: brushes, ropes, thinner, and a gallon of paint.

Bill Stephen volunteered for the most dangerous job, probably because he’d worked as a painter, Mike recalls. “We decided we were going to tie under his arms, and then kind of a jock strap-type thing around his midsection. I remember Bill expressing some interest as to whether I really knew what to do with the ropes, and we assured him that I did. I had spent the summer before working as a deck hand on one of the lake tankers.”

At about 2:30 a.m. on June 3, they walked up Les-ter Street carrying their supplies, flashlight, and a kerosene lantern which “I think we purloined off a construction site.” The town was dark and quiet. They scaled a fence around the tower and climbed the spiral stairs around the central support pillar.

At the top of the stairs they found a locked trap door opening down from the base of the tank. They broke the lock – the only real damage they did, Mike says – and climbed a ladder up a tube inside the tank. At the top of the tube they emerged onto a circu-lar railed platform above the water. For a few eerie moments they stood watching the coal-black liquid gleaming in the moving lights.

(continued on page 7)

Three engineering students climbed the Waterloo water tower and one of them (Bill Stephen) hung from a rope 125 feet above the ground, and painted BEER on the tower in dark red paint.

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Then came another climb up a straight ladder to the ceiling, where a trap door opened outward. They climbed out, but stayed close to the ladder. All around them, the huge curved surface of the tank “just sort of disappeared” downward.

Now to suit up Bill. “We got him tied up and tested all the knots, and out he went. Sandy had one rope which was around Bill’s shoulders and I had the rope that was around his crotch…. We had it tied to the ladder and we left some slack in it, so if he lost his footing, or if we lost him, he would be caught hang-ing in mid air…. Nothing would happen to him except for scaring him to death.”

They practised letting him down a few times, getting the hang of maneuvering him across the surface. It was tricky, because they couldn’t actually see Bill once they had lowered him beyond the curve of the tank.

“He took his paint and his brush, and I don’t think it took him more than 15 minutes. He had sneakers on, so he kind of walked on the surface of the tank, even when he was on the side. And he would say, ‘Up on the shoulders…down on the crotch…. Down on the crotch, up on the shoulders….’ The ropes moved along, and he did a very neat, nice job considering it was the middle of the night, and he was hanging by ropes.”

The job done, they climbed down again, closing trap doors behind them. “Then we just went home and hit the sack. I don’t think any of us slept very well. I guess we planned to meet in the morning and look at it. And it was then that we realized – ‘My God, you can hardly see it, because it’s up on the top curve there.’”

All the same, their exploit was the talk of the cam-pus, and very soon their names were circulating. “We must’ve looked guilty. Or proud.” But there remained the disappointing fact that their message was not as visible as they’d meant it to be. The class as a whole, which included a couple of trained pilots, agreed that they needed a record of the achieve-ment. “We decided to rent an airplane, and we would go up there and stand on the top, shaking hands, while they flew over and took the pictures.”

When the airplane failed to appear they came down again, only to find a crowd of spectators and sev-eral police cars waiting. The officers who arrested them “were giggling the whole time. Nobody took it seriously.” However, the charge of public mischief, which came under the Criminal Code, was no laugh-ing matter. Luckily, by the time Bill and Mike had their day in Waterloo Magistrates’ Court, on June 18, public mischief had been changed to the less serious charge of trespass (Sandy Thompson, who did not return to the water tower for the photo session, was not arrested, and his friends avoided mentioning his name. This gave rise to the belief that only two students were involved).

Magistrate Kirkpatrick spoke severely to the two culprits. “You could have been injured or you could have fallen in the water and drowned,” he said. “I’d hate to think of how Waterloo’s water supply would be contaminated then. We’d mourn your loss, but we would also suffer the loss of our water supply.”

Mike and Bill received suspended sentences and were told to keep the peace. They also had to pay the cost of repainting the BEER section of the tower: about $100. It was a lot of money in those days – tuition was about $125 at the time.

What happened next is among Mike’s warmest memories. As he recalls it, Vera Leavoy decided that when the students came to turn in their chemistry equipment to get their deposits back, she would ask them if they’d like to contribute to the Tower Fund. “I think the deposits were $3,” Mike days. “And about everybody did.”

It didn’t end there. The Record photo of the young man with the hose (who was not one of the three culprits) appeared in newspapers across Canada, bringing the new college its first taste of national publicity. So Mike, Bill, and Sandy did achieve their goal. “It was exactly what we wanted and a factor of about a thousand more than we ever expected. Peo-ple were calling from all over the country when they saw this picture come across the wires…. Waterloo College Associate Faculties was now on the map!”

THE Tatham CENTRE

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This article was originally printed in the May 1999 issue of The Faculty of Engineering Alumni Newsletter (WEAL).

Updates on the story can be found in the December 1999 and October 2000 issues of WEAL.

THE Tatham CENTRE

12,997 students (including undergradu-ate students, graduate students, students studying on-campus and students on a work term) are registered in a co-op program

4,962 co-op students scheduled out to work for Winter 2009

Approximately 55,000 job applications are made by students for Winter 2009

18,396 total interviews in Fall 2008 (for Winter 2009 jobs)*

826 interviews on each of the two busiest interview days: October 7, 2008 and October 17, 2008*

55 interview days in total

737 students returned to past employers in Winter 2009

340 students working internationally in Winter 2009

377 co-op students hired by the Univer-sity of Waterloo in Winter 2009

151 co-op students hired by the top non-UW employer in Winter 2009

41 countries outside Canada in which UW co-op students worked in Winter 2009

*based on our average of 7 students interviewed per

each employment position

Fall 2009 Co-op StudentsWorking at the Tatham Centre

A Typical Term at CECS

Back row (left to right): Matthew Carew Web Developer; Rojhat Demirer Job-Mine/Technical Support Representative; Melissa Pound Senior Program Assis-tant; Ken Postill Customer Relations & Special Project Associate; Ben McDonald Events Assistant; Matthew Faubert Teaching/Program Assistant; Andrew Blakey Teaching/Program Assistant. Middle row: Michael Nyman Teaching/Program As-sistant; Darly Dash Teaching/Program Assistant; Vince Pileggi Teaching/Program Assistant. Front row: Jenna Dawson WatCACE Research Intern; Olivia Ng Teach-ing/Program Assistant; Victoria Haid Teaching/Program Assistant; Edith Wu Employer Services Advisor; Karina Graf Media & Publications Associate; Megan Hill Teaching/Program Assistant; Delia Garrido Senior Program Assistant; Man-sien Wu Teaching/Program Assistant. Missing from photo: Doreen Chiu Math/CA Advisor Assistant; Sirisopha Khankhet Student & Faculty Relations Assistant; Amanda Leigh Teaching/Program Assistant; Anka Wang Business Analyst

Inside sCo-op 8

You’ve landed the job, now what? Committing to a co-op job means committing to the standards of your employer’s workplace. Each will have its own standards regarding attendance, dress and

behaviour. It is your responsibility to adapt to the work-place environment. Learn what these standards are and act accordingly. Find out about company policies, then behave appropriately. Come in with an open mind.

Regardless of individual workplace policies and standards, there is indeed general advice that can be applied to most, if not all, workplace settings.

An organization can’t operate without dependable work-ers. A supervisor must be able to rely on employees coming to work every day on time. When a worker is late or absent, it causes many problems. In fact, employers list absenteeism as one of the major reasons for firing employees. Plan to arrive on time or even a little early, and leave on time or a little later. Demonstrate your com-mitment to your job and to the organization. When you know you will be late or absent due to illness, it is your responsibility to contact your supervisor.

Studies show that just about everyone conducts some amount of personal business on company time -- check-ing email, making weekend plans, buying stuff online. However, this is considered a form of theft as you are being paid to work and are “on company time”. Your goal, therefore, is to keep your personal business to an abso-lute minimum – or at zero – and stay focused on your work. If you don’t you may find yourself, as a number of co-op students have unfortunately found themselves, out of a work term job. Don’t let this happen to you!

Success

on the

JobA few simple rules for workplace

behaviour can mean the difference between success and failure.

BY JAYNE HAYDEN

Inside sCo-op 9

Many employers require a conservative appearance that is professional and not distracting. Be well-groomed and dress the part. Know the dress code and dress on the high end of this for the first while. Even if it is a casual dress environment, always project yourself professionally. Don’t wear provocative or otherwise distracting clothing and remove excess jewelry. Avoid unusual hairstyles and unnatural hair colours.

It is also important to behave professionally at all times – not just at the office. Company social functions are not opportunities for you to party hardy. It is best to refrain from drinking alcohol, or at least, limit yourself to one drink. Think about how you would like to be perceived, then set yourself up for success by behaving in a manner that reflects well on the organization. Think before speak-ing and acting, and consider the implications both of your words and actions.

Always be pleasant and smile – no matter what kind of mood you’re really in. People wish to be in the company of those who exude a cheerful disposition, and would rather avoid those who often appear sullen or who regu-larly complain. Leave your personal problems outside the door and strive for an unwavering positive attitude.

Here’s a cardinal rule to live by: don’t get involved with office politics and gossip.

And what about the work and job itself? Go above and beyond what is expected of you. This is, without fail, a winning personal attribute that employers always look for in their employees. So, go ahead, and take the initiative. If you have completed your required tasks, ask for ad-ditional work. Or, if you see something that would benefit

the organization, seek permission to undertake it – pro-vided it does not compromise your specified responsibili-ties.

Learn all you can about your own job, as much as pos-sible about others’ jobs, and what it takes to succeed in this organization.

Take on challenging projects and demonstrate your skills through your work. Be prepared to put in extra time – more in the beginning when your learning curve is steep and you are trying to get up to speed. Again, this shows a dedication and commitment that will not go unnoticed.

Nothing works like kindness and genuine appreciation. So, show your appreciation to everyone who helps you learn the ropes during your first days on the job -- from your co-workers to receptionists to the human resources folks.

Keep your manager informed of how you are doing. Request meetings with your boss on a consistent basis to establish rapport, build a relationship, and to review performance. Be sure she/he knows you are a self-starter and hard-worker. Just don’t bring him or her every little problem; instead, for minor issues, ask for help from co-workers.

Being a co-op student employee is both challenging and exciting. You’ll be faced with both difficulties and oppor-tunities, and your goal should be to make the most of all situations. Remember to relax, keep your mind open, get to know your team members, and do your work -- and you should go far in making a lasting impression and reputation.

You’re FIRED! Yes, it’s true. Students get axed from co-op jobs. Here are a few real-life stories:

BY KARINA GRAF

Josh* liked video games. Josh played video games at work. Josh was asked to stop playing games several times. Josh continued playing video games at work. Josh’s job performance was poor. Josh was fired.

Judy* liked to read. Judy liked to play video games. Judy liked to sleep. Judy read, played games and slept at work. Judy was fired.

Joe* liked jokes. Joe created a program at work as a joke. Joe ran his program at work as a joke. The company information system crashed. Joe was fired. No joke.

*All names have been changed

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Strategic

AttacK

PLANOF

BY KARINA GRAF

Inside sCo-op 11

As he scrolled through the listings on Job-Mine, 4A Nanotechnology Engineering student Ryan Iutzi didn’t see his dream post-ing. Having worked in a variety of industries throughout his previous co-op jobs, he

wanted to spend his final 8-month work term conducting research. Ryan was positive his dream job existed, so he set out to find it on his own.

Initially, Ryan spent hours at the computer; he investigat-ed research teams across North America and narrowed his targets to a short list of professors to approach.

He strategically devised a plan of attack. “You have to do it right,” Ryan explained. “I didn’t just send a lame email.” He created a professional application package, which included a résumé, cover letter and letter of recom-mendation. He mailed the package directly to his target employer.

“You can’t send a lazy application,” said Ryan. “When you’re a student searching by yourself you almost have to act as if you’re the CECS department. You have to explain the University of Waterloo and the co-op system because it’s not necessarily something they’re familiar with.”

His diligence paid off. Although Ryan prepared multiple application packages, the first one he mailed was a winner.

Ryan connected with a professor at Carnegie Mellon Uni-versity in Pittsburgh and secured his job as an undergrad-

uate research student with a team he was excited to work with. The team was small, said Ryan, and lead by “a fairly young professor who seemed quite aggressive. I could tell this is a group that doesn’t just do small things. They want to make big changes and push the field forward.”

Transistors were the main focus of Ryan’s research. As cell phones and other devices that use transistors become smaller, explained Ryan, “we’re starting to hit a brick wall. You can actually count the number of atoms in some of these devices, and the technology is no longer behaving the same.” Ryan investigated how to make the devices more controllable.

Research was often frustrating. Ryan said, “When I first started doing my projects, I thought, ‘Things aren’t work-ing, I have no clue what I’m doing, I’m in over my head.’” For his first four months, everything seemed to be going wrong and Ryan said he felt ready to rip out his hair.

“And then all of a sudden,” he continued, “BAM! A result made sense and for the first time I really felt like I had a handle on what I was doing.”

By the end of his work term, Ryan had co-authored 8 research papers for conferences and peer-reviewed journals and decided to apply for graduate school. “I really enjoyed it,” he said about his research-based work term. “We produced a lot of good things. Progress and success can only happen if you push through all the hard challenges.”

“When I lived in Pittsburgh for eight months, it became the first

city in history to win the Stanley Cup and the Superbowl

in the same year. I got to see the city

basically go crazy with excitement

when this happened. The degree to

which they were celebrating was almost scary. A

lot of things got destroyed. There

were police helicopters trying

to keep everyone in order and broken glass everywhere.”

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