Daily News

September 16, 2008

Anyone launching a business, commercializing research, or developing a market opportunity for an enterprise, may want to attend Entrepreneurship 101, a free lecture series being offered by the Xerox Centre for Engineering Entrepreneurship and Innovation at McMaster University.

September 16, 2008

If you've visited the H.G. Thode Library of Science & Engineering this month, you've likely noticed that a number of changes have taken place over the summer, the least of which is an updated colour scheme.

September 15, 2008

When American artist Carol Steen begins a painting, she does not set up her canvas in front of a still life or landscape. She turns on her CD player and paints the music. Steen is a hearer of colours -- a synesthete -- one of the rare few people gifted with a brain phenomenon in which there is an involuntary joining of senses. A synesthete may, for example, taste shapes, smell colours, or perceive each letter of the alphabet in a different and highly specific colour.

September 15, 2008

McMaster student Chelsey Gotell of Antigonish, N.S. struck gold twice at the Paralympics, winning a second gold medal, her fifth overall, on Sunday.

September 15, 2008

Professor Colin Campbell passed away on Tuesday, Sept. 9. He was a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering from 1960 to 1989 and more recently served as professor emeritus for the department.

September 12, 2008

The 2008-9 Almanac for Higher Education, published annually by the Chronicle of Higher Education, recently released its Library Investment Index. This year, McMaster University Libraries are listed in 94th place, up eight spots from last year. The index is composed of four quantitative data elements, including total library expenditures, salaries and wages of professional staff, spending on library materials, and the numbers of professional and support staff.

September 12, 2008

The grand opening of the Ron Joyce Stadium kicks off with the McMaster Marauders' first home game against the Ottawa Gee Gees on Saturday, Sept. 13. Opening ceremonies start at 6:45 p.m. and the game starts at 7 p.m. * Mr. Joyce will be on hand and will participate in the opening ceremonies. Festivities include the Mac Choir singing the National Anthem, fireworks, giveaways and lots of other special surprises! * Burlington Teen Tour Band will perform at Halftime Tickets are available at the Business Office in the David Braley Athletic Centre or online at www.marauders.ca

September 12, 2008

Thousands of Canadians will be walking, running and biking their way toward better treatments, and possibly a cure for cancer as part of the Terry Fox Run for cancer research on Sunday, Sept. 14.

September 12, 2008

The Royal Society of Canada (RSC) recently elected Cliff Burgess, professor in the Department of Physics & Astronomy, into the Fellowship. The RSC is Canada's senior and most prestigious scholarly organization and election to it is the highest Canadian honour a scholar can achieve in the Arts, Humanities and Sciences.

September 11, 2008

McMaster's newly-appointed Director, Human Rights & Equity Services is a noted human rights lawyer and expert with over 20 years experience promoting human rights, business ethics and diversity management in both the private and public sectors. Mile Komlen assumes his new role on Sept. 15. As a human rights lawyer, Komlen is a leading advocate for diversity and inclusivity in the workplace with expertise in employment equity, anti-discrimination measures and human rights training. He currently serves as Senior Diversity Consultant at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.

September 10, 2008

The Internet is increasingly used to teach health professionals, but until now, no one has looked deeply at how well it works. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) by a team of education researchers from the Mayo Clinic and McMaster University has found Internet instruction is generally effective.

September 10, 2008

The Ainslie Wood-Westdale community will get a little greener thanks to the first annual Kick Off Clean Up day September 13. The event, organized by the McMaster University-Westdale Campus Town Association involves teams of University alumni, students, staff and area residents working together to help reduce litter and make our neighbourhood cleaner.

September 10, 2008

With the average cost of a year's worth of textbooks ranging from $800 to $1,200, and computer hardware and software a basic necessity to post-secondary students, higher education does not come cheap.

September 10, 2008

When a child is clumsy by nature, does that impact how they get along with others, their level of social anxiety or even chance of depression, and what can be done about it? If family doctors work with child psychiatrists and other health care providers, could solutions be found? That is the focus of some of the research by a new McMaster University professor who has become the inaugural holder of the McMaster Family Medicine Professorship in Child Health Research.

September 10, 2008

McMaster University welcomed more than 5,000 first-year students during Welcome Week from Aug. 30 to Sept. 7. The week featured events designed to help new students get to know the campus and each other.

September 9, 2008

Cramps, muscle soreness, pain and weakness. Sounds like a bad day at the Olympics. No. They're the side-effects millions of people suffer when they take cholesterol-lowering drugs or statins, drugs designed to protect against a potential heart attack or stroke. Their discomfort isn't life-threatening -- just a nuisance -- but it makes many patients uncomfortable enough that they stop taking them.

September 8, 2008

Reciprocal, the newest exhibition at the McMaster Museum of Art, brings together recent artwork by four Studio Art Program faculty (Andy Fabo, Judy Major-Girardin, Briana Palmer and Graham Todd), and four alumni (Jacqueline Huget '88, Matt Sparling '04, Steven Thai '00 and Ehryn Torrell '00). The alumni, all practicing artists, were selected by a jury of noted Canadian artists (Sally McKay, John Hartman '73 and David Merritt).

September 8, 2008

The Centre for Continuing Education (CCE), in association with the DeGroote School of Business, is launching a new public relations program this month. The Public Relations Certificate/Diploma program offers a variety of tactical and strategic courses to help students develop public relations skills and become strategic thinkers in the field of public relations. Part-time evening courses are offered at the Downtown Centre in Hamilton.

September 8, 2008

Jamal Deen, professor of electrical and computer engineering at McMaster and Canada Research Chair in Information Technology, has been awarded the prestigious Thomas W. Eadie Medal by the Royal Society of Canada. The Thomas W. Eadie Medal is awarded in recognition of major contributions to engineering or applied science, with preference given to those having an impact on communications, in particular the development of the Internet.

September 5, 2008

From metres to pascals, from the Beaufort scale to Rockwell hardness, science relies on standard measurements, but when two McMaster kinesiologists invented a new measurement, they found promoting the adoption of their new standard required a strategy of its own. The McMaster kinesiologists wanted to study physical activity in people with spinal cord injuries, but they had a fundamental problem: there was no standard to measure the level of physical activity in this group, so they set out to establish a measure.