Daily News

November 8, 2005

McMaster thespians will cast an Arabian spell on Hamilton beginning this Friday. In the upcoming production The Arabian Nights, seven McMaster students and employees will take to the Waterdown Village Theatre stage to present Arabian Nights - a play that involves a selection of historical tales, love stories, tragedies, comedies, poems, burlesques and Muslim religious legends.

November 8, 2005

More than 150 business, government, community and education leaders are gathering in Hamilton today (November 8) to investigate opportunities for increasing collaboration between McMaster University and Mohawk College in providing technology education. Led by McMaster's Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Engineering Technology at Mohawk, the Community Think Tank will focus on the potential of providing joint programs in technology and management. Participants will provide insight and advice on matters related to curriculum and desired graduate knowledge. They will also explore the capabilities needed to generate future economic and technological productivity and prosperity.

November 7, 2005

The DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University offers the highest return on investment for MBA students in Canada, according to the annual MBA Guide published by Canadian Business Magazine. DeGroote MBA students enjoy a 131 per cent return on investment according to the study, which compares students' average salaries upon entering the MBA program with their average starting salaries upon entering the workforce upon graduation.

November 7, 2005

He led IBM's efforts to advance supercomputing and now is leading the company's efforts to help businesses and governments utilize its power. She worked in industry discovering ways to optimize systems through mathematics and now is an academic leading efforts to teach and equip students to do the same. Bill Pulleyblank, vice-president, Center for Business Optimization, IBM Global Services and former director of IBM's Deep Computing Institute and the Blue Gene Project, and Margaret Wright, chair of the Department of Computer Science at New York University will be the keynote speakers at a public lecture discussing how advances in computational engineering and science are advancing our daily lives.

November 7, 2005

A gigantic ape, measuring about 10 feet tall and weighing up to 1,200 pounds, co-existed alongside humans, a geochronologist has discovered. Using a high-precision absolute-dating method (techniques involving electron spin resonance and uranium series), Jack Rink, associate professor of geography and earth sciences, at McMaster University, has determined that Gigantopithecus blackii, the largest primate that ever lived, roamed southeast Asia for nearly 700,000 years. Rink has confirmed the time range for Gigantopithecus as being from one million years ago to 300,000 years ago. This occurred during the Pleistocene period, which lasted from 1.8 million to 10,000 years ago.

November 7, 2005

For the second year in a row, McMaster University has been named the most innovative university in Canada. Maclean's magazine's annual rankings measures and compares universities in three peer groupings. McMaster is ranked in the intensively competitive medical doctoral category, a category of those universities that offer a broad range of PhD programs and research in addition to having a medical school. In the reputational survey section of the rankings, McMaster University was listed in the top five in Leaders of Tomorrow, and Best Overall.

November 7, 2005

In front of more than 3,000 rain-soaked fans, the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks ended the McMaster Marauders' season for the second consecutive year with a dominating 43-21 victory. With the win, Laurier now hosts the Western Mustangs in next week's Yates Cup, as the 'Stangs defeated Ottawa 18-10 in Saturday's other OUA semi-final.

November 4, 2005

Six-hundred and fifty new members were inducted into the McMaster Chapter of the Golden Key International Society today (Nov. 4). Accompanied with family and friends, the ceremony took place in the new MDCL building with notable keynote guest speaker Alex Perwich, CEO of Golden Key International. Founded in 1977, the Golden Key Society recognizes and honours undergraduates whose academic performance ranks within the top 15 per cent of the University in their respected faculties.

November 4, 2005

An academic seminar on water governance, hosted by McMaster and the Royal Society of Canada, will take place today (Friday, Nov. 4) at the University. The topic is a timely and important one across Canada, with complex issues facing all levels of government. Some of those issues include bulk water exports, drinking water contamination, pharmaceuticals discarded into rivers and lakes, municipal sewage, and massive irrigation by factory farms. These problems are exacerbated by the fact that water flows freely between a multitude of borders: municipal, provincial, national, and Aboriginal.

November 4, 2005

Waist-to-hip ratio, not body mass index (BMI), is the best obesity measure for assessing a person's risk of heart attack, concludes a global study by McMaster University researchers published in this week's issue of The Lancet. If obesity is redefined using waist-to-hip ratio instead of BMI the proportion of people at risk of heart attack increases by threefold, calculate the authors.

November 4, 2005

For part-time students juggling work, home and courses can be an overwhelming load. Imagine the challenge part-time students with all of the above responsibilities and a disability face. The Centre for Continuing Education is dedicated to helping part-time students with disabilities meet their academic and professional goals.

November 3, 2005

Research Infosource Inc. released its 2005 report ranking Canada's top 50 research universities and McMaster, once again, placed among the country's best. McMaster placed third in the Research University of the Year category based on its ability to attract and capitalize on its research income. McMaster is the only Ontario university to have placed in this category every year since the ranking's inception in 2003. The rating, based on Statistics Canada data, reflects total sponsored research income, faculty and graduate student research intensity, and the number of publications in leading journals.

November 3, 2005

The inaugural National Pain Awareness Week will be launched in Hamilton on Sunday with an afternoon forum on understanding and coping with chronic pain. The forum will take place from 1-6 p.m. at the Royal Botanical Gardens on Plains Road West in Burlington, with three keynote speakers, as well as information displays. The speaker presentations will start at 3 p.m.

November 3, 2005

More than 100 Grade nine students visited McMaster on November 2 as part of the 11th annual Take Our Kids to Work program. The students were welcomed by Mark Haley from Human Resources and then they enjoyed a variety of activities including a demonstration of rare insects by Marvin Gunderman ("the Bugman") from the Department of Biology. Students also participated in a variety of tours hosted by the Faculty of Health Sciences, the Nuclear Reactor, the Department of Psychology and the Planetarium. These activities were followed by campus tours conducted by volunteers from the Office of Student Liaison.

November 3, 2005

More than 350 students from four local high schools will be at McMaster today to prepare for real life situations in the business world. The School of Business is hosting the second annual DECA case competition. Students in Grades 9-12 from four Hamilton high schools - Parkside, Waterdown, Saltfleet and Sir John A MacDonald - are participating in the regional competitions, hoping to advance to the provincials in December and the international competition in Dallas, Texas.

November 2, 2005

Students will rally for a safer campus core beginning this week. McMaster's Student Representative Assembly (SRA) has organized a rally throughout the month of November to push for the creation of a safe pedestrian only zone in the core campus area. The rally begins today (Wednesday, Nov. 2) and will continue until Nov. 30.

November 2, 2005

McMaster received a glowing report card today from the Globe and Mail. In an annual survey of students at Canadian universities, McMaster received mostly A's in categories based on education, services, careers, campus facilities, and what the community is like off-campus. "The results are a great vote of support from our students who believe McMaster provides a premier education in a friendly, diverse, supportive and spirited atmosphere," says McMaster President Peter George. "It's a clear vote of confidence in our faculty and staff."

November 2, 2005

Physicians should be wary of overly optimistic results from randomized clinical trials that are stopped early because of apparent benefits, says a study led by McMaster University researchers. A review article in the November 2 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) states that although the trials stopped early are becoming more common and gaining more publicity, they often show implausibly large treatment effects and fail to report the specifics on why the trial was stopped.

November 1, 2005

While most residence students would consider themselves too old to "trick or treat", approximately 60 students felt the time was just right to "trick or eat". The third annual Trick or Eat run by Meal Exchange at McMaster took place last night. Meal Exchange is an organization that involves students from across Canada at more than 30 campuses dedicated to fighting local hunger.

November 1, 2005

Fiona Smaill has been appointed chair of the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, announced John Kelton, dean and vice-president of the Faculty of Health Sciences. Smaill's appointment is effective July 1, 2005 and she had been acting chair of the department for the previous year.