Daily News

March 28, 2006

Richard Gilbert, an urban issues consultant, was commissioned to write a report for the City of Hamilton about the implications an oil shortage would have if Hamilton decided to pursue a plan to turn itself into a transportation hub. Gilbert delivered the report last June, but the City has yet to publish it. The report has become the subject of considerable speculation prompting Hamiltonians to wonder what could be so damning in the report.

March 28, 2006

Wednesday, March 22, the McMaster Inter-Residence Council held its inaugural residence referendum. Polls were open from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. in the lobby of each residence. A total of 2146 students voted on the issue of a $15 increase to the IRC component of residence fees for the purpose of providing a residence wide yearbook to all residence students. The result came back with a majority of voters in favour of the fee increase.

March 28, 2006

The project titles are complex and the equipment required is highly specialized. The research reflects basic science that will one day ensure transplanted organs are not rejected, buildings are safer, diseases are detected earlier, and the quality of life for our aging population is enhanced. The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) has announced that the labs of four McMaster researchers have been funded for essential infrastructure costs that will accelerate their cutting edge research and provide an enriched research-training environment for students. Associate professors Kim Jones (Chemical Engineering), Gianni Parise (Kinesiology and Medical Physics), Ravi Selvaganapathy (Mechanical Engineering) and Michael Tait (Civil Engineering) are in the early stages of their career and all share the same view that the funds for new equipment in their labs will greatly accelerate their research.

March 27, 2006

Linda Duxbury, a dynamic and motivational speaker, and honoured recipient of several teaching and research awards for her work in organizational change and behaviour, will be sharing her insights on the concept of four generations in the workplace on Tuesday, March 28 at McMaster's Michael G. DeGroote Centre for Learning & Discovery (MDCL).

March 27, 2006

McMaster University hosted the 82nd Annual McMaster Athletic Awards Ceremony at the CIBC Banquet Centre located in the McMaster Student Centre on the McMaster University Main Campus Friday, March 24. Student wrestlers swept this year's Male and Female Athlete of the Year awards.

March 27, 2006

Patrick Moore,Greenpeace co-founder and now chair and chief scientist, Greenspirit Strategies, will be speaking on "Searching for a Sustainable Energy Future" at McMaster on Wednesday, March 29 in Burke Science Building (BSB), Room B135 from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Moore's free, public address will focus on the scientific evidence showing nuclear power to be an environmentally sound and safe choice of energy.

March 24, 2006

We are stepping into a new age of academia where learning consists of more than just lectures with a professor at the front of a classroom. Instead, innovative technologies such as podcasts, video casts, framework environments, weblogs, wiki software, touch screens and text messaging have pushed both students and instructors towards a new way to teach and learn.

March 24, 2006

The McGuinty government released the 2006 Ontario provincial budget yesterday. Although the Budget's primary focus was on addressing infrastructure needs, it did include some additional details on the roll out of the Reaching Higher plan for post-secondary education. The province will double student aid spending by 2009-10, and include increases to 60,000 the number of students getting up-front grants in 2006-07. It also raises the annual income threshold at which a two-child family qualifies for grants, from $35,000 to $75,000.

March 24, 2006

Established in 2004 by Dr. Arthur Bourns, former McMaster President and professor emeritus, chemistry, this lecture series will bring a distinguished scholar in the field of bioethics to McMaster every two years. Given the revolutionary advances in biotechnology, genetic engineering and health-related research, the field of bioethics has become an urgent and challenging area of scholarly investigation. This lectureship aims to foster a wide-ranging discussion about the pressing ethical questions and how they might be addressed from a range of disciplinary perspectives, including humanists, social scientists and policy makers, medical and natural scientists, and engineers.

March 23, 2006

Forty-six McMaster biology students presented talks based on their senior research projects at the 19th annual Ontario Biology Day last weekend at the University of Western Ontario. The group constitutes almost half of those currently conducting senior thesis/project courses in the department of biology.

March 23, 2006

A chemical engineer, Andrew Bruce Douglas was the founder of Bartek Ingredients Inc. and known as a man of action, a problem-solver. When he died in 2004 of ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), he was unable to speak, move, or even close his eyes.

March 22, 2006

What do you get when you cross an arts-loving lawyer with a poetry-loving scientist? Give up? The answer: Allison Sekuler, McMaster's newly appointed associate vice-president of research.

March 22, 2006

McMaster University has hired Greg Knox as the new defensive coordinator of the McMaster Marauder football program. Greg Knox will replace Joe Sardo who stepped aside after 6 seasons at the helm to focus on his family and full-time job.

March 22, 2006

How would you feel if every time you needed to send an email you had to pick up a pen and paper, write out your thoughts, find a stamp and envelope, walk to a mailbox, deposit your message and then wait a couple of weeks for a response? Human communication has been revolutionized in only a few short decades. It is a commonly held belief that where we are heading is shaped by where we have been and this week, McMaster's Communication Studies & Multimedia Department welcomed an information and technology expert to share thoughts and inspire discussion on this timely topic.

March 22, 2006

In the early evening as students mill about the campus, former students often return to join the hustle and bustle and to participate in a variety of activities offered by the McMaster Alumni Association (MAA). Representing over 120,00 McMaster graduates, the MAA seeks to keep alumni connected to their alma mater by offering a variety of events, services and benefits to the thousands of grads that live across the globe.

March 21, 2006

Cosmonauts and astronauts are awed by the "blue marble", the face of the living Earth from space. The Gaia hypothesis, a product of the lively imagination of British atmospheric chemist James E. Lovelock and the international space program, states that the atmospheric temperature and reactive chemical composition of the biota, that is the estimated 30 million species of flora, fauna and microbiota depend ultimately on solar and geothermal energy. Lynn Margulis, distinguished university professor in the Department of Geosciences at the University of Massachusetts, is visiting McMaster on Thursday, March 23 as a guest of the Origins Institute to present a free public lecture on this topic entitled, "Gaia's Cells: towards a science of environmental evolution".

March 21, 2006

The winner of McMaster's Brain Bee competition in February has placed second place at the International Brain Bee held last weekend at the University of Maryland in Baltimore. Kim Cai, a Grade 12 student from Centennial CVI in Guelph, had competed in McMaster's third annual competition.

March 21, 2006

Next week, Suzanne Shulman and Valerie Tryon will be paying homage, not surprisingly during a month that celebrates the contributions of women in history, to forgotten women composers. Tryon and Shulman choose to perform works by particular composers of note for their significant addition to the rich tapestry of classical music.

March 20, 2006

Clean drinking water, Great Lakes protection and the Government of Ontario's extensive agenda of environmental initiatives will be featured in a public address next week by Laurel Broten, Minister of the Environment for Ontario. Broten, a McMaster alumna,'89, will be on campus in the Michael DeGroote Centre for Learning and Discovery (MDCL), room 1102 on Friday, March 24 from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. All are welcome to attend.

March 20, 2006

On Wednesday, March 15, the annual MSU Teaching Awards were held in the CIBC Banquet Hall at the Student Centre. The MSU Teaching Awards is a student run service that allows students to vote for their favourite professor. This could be a professor that best challenged them, motivated them, or simply took the time to connect with the students.