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The Retirees's Association ( Faculty, Librarian, Administrator), University of Windsor, Windsor, Ont. Canada
Vol VIII, No. 3, June 1998
MEMBERSHIP NEWS
Kovacs Honoured
Retired University of Windsor professor Aranka Kovacs has been honoured for her volunteer on behalf of the disabled.
Kovacs was given the Ontario March of Dimes Community Action Award for her work to improve accessibility for the adult disabled. The award is given annually by the Ontario Ministry of Citizenship and Culture.
Kovacs, who holds a doctorate in economics and taught in the university's economics department, was afflicted with polio when she was a year old. She is the founder of the Windsor Post Polio Support Group and is a member of the province's steering committee on post-polio syndrome.
An avid traveller, Kovacs has worked to encourage barrier-free buildings and sidewalks in the area. She
is a member of the Windsor/Essex County Advisory Committee on Disability Issues and numerous other
volunteer committees.
Letters to the Editor
Datta Pillay
Editor
Dear Dr. Pillay,
I am writing about the attitude of the University towards research by retired faculty.
When I was retiring, my Department made it impossible for me to continue my experimental research by dismantling my labs without even telling me. Someone obviously did not like my particular line of research, although I think it is useful. I was able to continue my research on a theoretical level. The continuity of my present research with that of my research at the University is witnessed by the papers published before and after my retirement (six of them are enclosed as proof).
Now, as I am trying to wrap up this theoretical research, I asked the University to have the use of the mathematical program MAPLE V. My request was refused by telephone on the grounds that I am a "private" person not doing research for any faculty or department.
To this I have to say that (a) the "private" person is one of only two Honorary Life Fellows of the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) from Windsor and (b) my continuing research, though not for any department, is not for the birds, and has been published partly in refereed journals, partly by request and mostly in collaboration with other colleagues.
For the University neither of these points seem to count. I think this attitude of the University should be known.
Best Regards,
V. B. Cervin
THERE'S A SMALL HOTEL
Joan Hackett
August, Sabbioneta, Italy
I was there to see the Teatro Olimpico(1588), an important "document" in theatre history. The Hotel Diana. where I stayed, was officially closed for the month. All doors and windows secured by steel shutters and hefty padlocks. Inside this fortress, the proprietress led me through a dark cavernous café/bar and up an ornate marble staircase to Room # 6.
Because the hotel kitchen was closed, I went into town for lunch but not one restaurant was open. I was lucky to find a grocery store where I bought bread, cheese, beer and had a picnic in the hotel garden. Shared it with a small black dog. A man joined us-said he'd been wounded in the Spanish Civil War-showed me his scarred legs and disappeared.
I spent the rest of the day at the theatre. Picked up "dinner" at the grocery store. Ate by the light from a giant TV in hotel bar. My dinner companion? The small black dog. I yawned and headed towards the stairs .
The proprietress intercepted me, turned on a "timer/switch". Suddenly the stairway and the upper hall were flooded with light. She "shooed" me up the stairs. I almost made it to #6 before the blackout!
Next day-7.30 a.m.-CAFÉ OPEN! Jukebox blaring, solo dancer twirling around, laughter and applause from customers. Paid my bill. Said I needed a taxi to the bus station. No one understood English. I tried mime and sound effects:
I stuffed my suitcase into the back of a taxi, got in front, slammed the door, hunched over the wheel and vroomed around the bar, honked the horn, jammed on the brakes, tires squealing. Got out- huffing and puffing- dragged my suitcase to ticket window-about to pay fare when at last a customer caught on and drove me to the real bus station.
As I waited for the bus I got "homesick" for the Diana. "Maybe some day," I thought, "I'll come back when
it's open". But then it would'nt be the same. Would it?