Daily News

May 4, 2005

McMaster will be an open book this weekend for the estimated 5,000 prospective students and families expected to visit during May @ Mac. On Saturday, May 7, visitors will have the opportunity to find out information about McMaster programs, ask questions about admissions or scholarships and tour campus facilities. May @ Mac is one of McMaster's largest annual events.

May 4, 2005

Exasperated parents practicing throw-and-connect skills with their young children will be relieved to know that their child's inability to hit a slow-moving ball has a scientific explanation: Children cannot hit slow balls because their brains are not wired to handle slow motion. "When you throw something slowly to a child, you think you're doing them a favour by trying to be helpful," said Terri Lewis, professor of psychology at McMaster University. "Slow balls actually appear stationary to a child."

May 3, 2005

In the time since Paul Kells woke, to the moment he stood in front of a McMaster classroom this morning at 9 a.m., one person under the age of 25 was taken to hospital with a workplace injury. "And it will happen again in the next four hours, and then in the next four hours after that, and that's only in Ontario," said the victim of a workplace tragedy.

May 3, 2005

McMaster running back Jesse Lumsden has been selected as the 2004-05 Canadian Interuniversity Sport male athlete of the year. Sprinter Adrienne Power, from the Dalhousie University Tigers, was named the CIS female athlete of the year.

May 3, 2005

The conditions in which some off-campus students live continues to be a concern for both McMaster University and community members. The Off-Campus Resource Centre (OCRC) at McMaster is tackling this issue with an off-campus housing review program.

May 3, 2005

Gray hair doesn't necessarily mean a decline in the old gray matter. What might be happening in the aging brain is actually amazing - and the focus of psychologist Allison Sekuler's Science in the City lecture tonight (Tuesday, May 3). Her talk, The Amazing, Changing, Aging Brain will highlight recent research from her lab that highlights the 'trade-offs' that happen with our brain as we age and the fascinating ways our brain can reorganize itself when faced with new challenges.

May 2, 2005

McMaster University has received a triumphant vote of confidence from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). McMaster scored higher than its Canadian peers in numerous categories, and in a few scored higher than its U.S. peers. In the category of Academic Challenge, McMaster outscored its U.S. and Canadian peers in both the first-year students and senior student surveys.

May 2, 2005

International scientists will gather at McMaster for the first major Canadian conference devoted to the origins of life in the solar system and beyond. The conference, to be held from May 25 to 28, is organized by McMaster's Origins Institute in partnership with the Canadian Space Agency. Astrobiology and the Origins of Life will feature new observations by astronomers, physicists, biologists, biochemists, mathematicians, geologists, chemists, and anthropologists from around the world who are tackling some of the most important questions of science.

May 2, 2005

Meghann Robinson, a McMaster kinesiology student, has been awarded the Canadian Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (CAHPERD) Student Award in recognition of her exemplary leadership in this field. "Meghann's nomination came from her peers which is a wonderful acknowledgement of how her leadership within the Kinesiology Society and on campus committees such as the Experiential Education Job Shadow positively affects her peers," says Sue Inglis, associate kinesiology professor at McMaster and the faculty liaison between CAPHERD and McMaster's kinesiology program. "Meghann is a tremendous asset to any committee she sits on and will continue to offer her leadership skills as President of the '750 undergraduate strong' Kinesiology Society."

May 2, 2005

Stories and illustrations depicting life in Afghanistan will be on display at the McMaster Museum of Art this week. The exhibit is being held in conjunction with a Peace Through Health Conference taking place on campus. The exhibit features watercolour illustrations by artist and Afghanistan native Yar Taraky. The illustrations are from a series of 16 children's books that are used in Afghan schools to help children deal with the effects of war.

May 2, 2005

New laminate wood floors, large, colourful artwork, comfortable reclining chairs and a computer workstation are some of the new features of a refurbished employee lounge in the Michael G. DeGroote School of Business. "This new lounge is very welcoming," said Vicki Cometto, an administrative assistant in Human Resources & Management in the School of Business. "It's bright and fun and very comfortable. It's a nice place where you can come when you want to have your break."

April 29, 2005

Four McMaster football players are now members of the Canadian Football League (CFL). On Thursday, the 2005 CFL college draft announced that fourth-year running back Jesse Lumsden and fifth-year offensive guard Fabio Filice will join the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Fourth-year offensive tackle Matt O'Meara was selected by the Saskatchewan Roughriders, while fifth-year kicker Michael Ray will join the Montreal Alouettes.

April 29, 2005

David A. Tirrell, a world-renowned polymer chemist, will provide the second annual David B. MacLean Lecture at McMaster. Tirrell will explore some of the opportunities that arise when one tries to bridge the gap between natural and synthetic polymers by using the protein biosynthetic apparatus of bacterial cells to prepare well-defined 'artificial proteins' according to design principles familiar to the polymer chemist.

April 29, 2005

When five students met distinguished McMaster alumni Joseph Ingram, special representative of the World Bank to the UN and the WTO, who was on campus yesterday to talk about the World Bank's good governance agenda, they were getting to know a future neighbour.

April 28, 2005

This May, 11 engineering students will apply their McMaster education to life in El Matazanos, a poor Guatemalan village where school is a privilege for its 40,000 inhabitants. Through a program called "Society's Challenge", students in the Engineering & Society Program will travel to Guatemala to apply the engineering knowledge they acquired at McMaster into building a one-room addition to a new high school.

April 28, 2005

Mike Lazaridis, founder, president and co-CEO of Research In Motion (RIM), will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) degree from McMaster University's Faculty of Engineering at its spring convocation. Lazaridis will also address the 550 undergraduate, Master's and PhD engineering students at the convocation ceremony to be held June 9, 2005, 2:30 p.m., in the Great Hall at Hamilton Place.

April 28, 2005

McMaster honoured workers who have been killed or injured on the job at a ceremony today to mark the National Day of Mourning. Hosted by MUSA CLC Local 2003-1, in conjunction with McMaster's unions, the ceremony took place under the University flagpoles, in front of the Burke Science Building.

April 28, 2005

Most parents, and many family physicians, are unfamiliar with the early warning signs that can signal autism. Although new research shows these signs can be observed in infants as young as, or younger than, 12 months, children with autism are typically not diagnosed before the age of three. The Offord Centre for Child Studies at McMaster University, a leader in autism research in Canada, hopes its autism awareness campaign will help to lower that age so interventions crucial to improving childrens outcomes can begin earlier.

April 28, 2005

Canadian researchers have become the first to pinpoint specific behavioral signs in infants as young as 12 months that can predict, with remarkable accuracy, whether a child will develop autism. The preliminary findings, published this month in the International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience, were taken from an ongoing study of 200 Canadian infants, the largest study of its kind in the world.

April 27, 2005

McMaster's Financial Services Department is improving its financial reporting by eliminating and clarifying the use of expense subcodes. A subcode indicates the type of expense that has been incurred by the University, such as travel, telephone charges, book acquisitions or employee wages and benefits. Currently 1,400 subcodes exist for expenses, but the changes and revisions proposed for May 1, 2005 will likely eliminate these by more than half over the next few years.