Daily News

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.

April 26, 2005

McMaster's Museum of Art will present the School of the Arts' annual graduating students' exhibition, May 1-29. "Untitled no. 27" it celebrates the academic accomplishments of 27 distinctive, emerging artists. The exhibition includes artwork in a wide range of media including painting, printmaking, sculpture, installation, photography, video and ceramics.

April 26, 2005

Engineering recruits at McMaster University are receiving more than admission papers this spring. They're getting invited to tune into one of the fastest growing developments on the Internet -- podcasting. McMaster's engineering faculty has launched a 20-minute podcast called Radio Fireball (after the Faculty's fireball logo). The lifestyle-oriented podcast provides listeners with a taste of campus life.

April 25, 2005

Construction of McMaster University's new Main Street entrance is progressing on schedule. To date, work on the new University Avenue is well under way, running north from Main Street between the hospital on the east and the T13 Building, Communications Research Lab and the Psychology Building on the west. Paving of the new road will start within the next week. Beginning May 2, the project will begin Stage 2, which involves connecting the new University Avenue to College Crescent. The work requires this section of College Crescent to be closed to pedestrian and vehicular traffic through to June 6, 2005.

April 25, 2005

Former McMaster running back Jesse Lumsden has signed as an undrafted college free agent with the National Football League's Seattle Seahawks of the NFC West division. Lumsden, a 22-year-old from Burlington, Ont. enjoyed one of the most successful seasons in CIS football history in 2004. On his way to winning the Hec Crighton Trophy as player of the year, he broke two of CIS' most prestigious single-season records by rushing for 1,816 yards and scoring 21 touchdowns. He also tied a CIS mark with a 108-yard run from scrimmage, and set new OUA career records with 4,238 rushing yards and 47 majors.

April 22, 2005

She may be waiting at a bus stop, but don't be fooled. If you work at McMaster University and you're driving by, Sandra Etherington will be more than happy to take you up on the offer of a ride. It's not that there's anything wrong with the bus. Etherington - who began her career in Toronto and didn't see a need for a driver's license - has lived in Sarnia and knows how good the HSR stacks up against transit in smaller communities. Her 10-minute walk to the stop is a good opportunity to wake up and clear the ol' head before arriving at work, and the bus drops her off closer to her office in Gilmour Hall than she could get even if she could park in the President's space.

April 22, 2005

McMaster now hosts 56 prestigious Canada Research Chairs. Three new chairs at McMaster will help reduce the cost of producing important health-care products, understand how bacteria can help combat disease, and find answers to unsolved mathematical problems. Announced Friday at the University of Manitoba, the new McMaster Chairs are chemical engineer Raja Ghosh, microbiologist Marie Elliot and mathematician Romyar Sharifi.

April 21, 2005

A university is a place for informed dialogue and discussion and McMaster prides itself on being a place where academic freedom and freedom of expression are encouraged and respected. Along with such freedom comes responsibility. McMaster University is a microcosm of our world. It has a diverse and multicultural community and its members do not always agree with the beliefs, philosophies and positions of others. In the spirit of academic freedom, McMaster encourages healthy debate, discussion and respect. It does not give anyone a license to engage in hateful or hurtful rhetoric.