April 23, 2004

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats will hold training camp at McMaster University, May 22 to June 6. The Hamilton Tiger-Cat players and staff will be staying at . . .

April 22, 2004

McMaster's Environmental Steering Committee has set in action an environmental plan that will examine ecological issues at McMaster, such as solid waste, air quality and energy use. "The Environmental Steering Committee's work over the past year has largely focused on the establishment of an appropriate framework to assess current performance and measure future development in various environmental issues," says Linda Axford, university planner and member of the committee. In developing an Environmental Action Plan, the committee explored a Campus Sustainability Assessment Framework (CSAF) -- a model that has been implemented at other university campuses to set specific targets for continuous improvement. "While the CSAF defines very specific indicators to measure sustainable development, such indicators require research and adjustment to suit McMaster's needs," Axford says.

April 21, 2004

As spring approaches the buds will bloom, the sun will get warmer, and inevitably students will move out. With move-out comes unwanted, yet reusable, household goods. In 2001, the McMaster Students Union Environment Committee organized an event called Dump & Run to decrease the number of reusable items that are sent to the dump by the campus community during the student move-out in April and May. In 2004, the Environmental Committee has been renamed to MACgreen, and the Dump & Run has become Swap-O-Rama. During Swap-O-Rama, which runs from Friday, April 23 to Sunday, April 25, students and residents in the areas surrounding McMaster University are encouraged to put out reusable items that they no longer use that could benefit someone else. Other students and residents are then encouraged to prowl the streets of West Hamilton, taking items that they need. "The Swap-O-Rama provides a method of exchanging and passing on potentially useful old things that students and residents no longer want," explains Justin Grenier, events co-ordinator for MACgreen. "People can put out everything from furniture to utensils. The only requirement is that items have to be able to be used again."

April 21, 2004

Power is currently being restored to sections of McMaster University that were without electricity this afternoon. All evening exams on Wednesday, April 21 will proceed as usual. Stay tuned to the Daily News for details.

April 20, 2004

A botanical atrium at the front of the Michael G. DeGroote Centre for Learning and Discovery (MDCL) will enhance campus and five endowed chairs will recruit and retain outstanding scholars. These were just two of the items approved by McMaster's Board of Governors last week, during a special meeting in the Psychology Building. Prior to a tour of the newly renovated facilities, the Board celebrated the significance of a $105-million donation from Michael G. DeGroote to McMaster, by approving the construction of an atrium that will be added to the front of MDCL. The atrium, to be constructed at the east of the front entrance, will include botanical features and a "floating meeting room" at the third-floor level. "The atrium is spectacular," said Board member Edward Minich. "It will really set off University Ave. and give the building a sense of an open, welcome area. It will open up the whole campus." The approximately $4-million "winter garden atrium" will be funded from the Michael G. DeGroote donation.

April 19, 2004

Hendrik Poinar, assistant professor in anthropology, holds two prehistoric fossils. One, long and slender, is a 30,000-year-old cave bear tooth. It holds valuable information that gives important clues about when bears migrated from Europe, how diverse they were prior to their extinction and how they're related to polar bears, black bears, and brown bears, as we know them today. The other fossil, a small round lump with holes throughout, is much more interesting to Poinar. It provides valuable anthropological information, offering clues to where humans lived, how diverse they were, what they ate, and their interrelatedness. It's a piece of human feces, 9,000 years old, from Southwest Texas. "People often think the bear tooth is so much more interesting because it's a piece of this huge creature they can only imagine," says Poinar, holding it up to his mouth to demonstrate the grandeur of the prehistoric beast. "But in this single remnant of human feces we were able to learn so much more about human diet, disease, migrations, and the local environment and climate at the time of the peoples."

April 16, 2004

You could say Shano Mohan is somewhat an international man of mystery. He has had three citizenships, has lived in nine countries, and has adjusted to a new environment almost every second year of his life. And on the threshold of leading a massive student body, the 24-year-old, who also plays waterpolo, basketball and volleyball, seems unfettered. The recent political science graduate has been on student council at nearly every school he's attended, leading up to his current position of vice-president administration of the McMaster Students Union. It is only by a hair that Mohan is preparing to take over the role of MSU president May 1. He won the election by a mere vote and only after three recounts was he certain the position was his. "The three recounts all resulted in one vote, which is obviously the slimmest margin you can possibly win by. It was sort of disheartening, because I had felt like I won but there was a very strong possibility that it could be taken away from me."

April 15, 2004

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty was at McMaster Wednesday to announce a $500-million investment into the automotive sector. Coined the Automotive Investment Strategy, it is designed to strengthen the industry's competitiveness and train highly skilled workers for the next generation of innovation in Ontario's largest manufacturing sector. The funds are earmarked to partner with industry for advanced skills training, improved environmental and energy technologies, public infrastructure and investments in research and innovation. Following a tour of some of the University's leading-edge research facilities in the John Hodgins Engineering Building, McGuinty made the announcement in the McMaster Manufacturing Research Institute.

April 13, 2004

A healthy arrival of funds over the past couple of years has produced "endorphins" in McMaster's "brain" that has psychology researchers very excited. Since 2001, nearly $18 million has advanced psychology's research and teaching initiatives, $7 million of which has provided complete renovations of the research and teaching facilities. "The Psychology Department at McMaster houses one of the most productive groups of behavioural and brain science researchers in Canada," says Ron Racine, professor and chair of the department. "The ability of this group to generate world-class research in a variety of areas and to provide a first class education to both undergraduate and graduate students has been greatly enhanced by the recent renovation of our research and teaching facilities." Funding from the Ontario SuperBuild Corporation, Canada Foundation for Innovation, Ontario Innovation Trust and McMaster has supported a 40,000-square-foot renovation to the Psychology Building, located at the southwest end of campus. Renovations have included an expanded computer laboratory, two additional classrooms, four new meeting/library spaces, additional offices, new research space for two Canada Research Chairs, eye-tracking systems, a virtual reality laboratory, and several high-resolution electroencephalography (EEG) systems.

April 13, 2004

Dan Offord, director of the Offord Centre for Child Studies at McMaster University and director of Christie Lake Camp, has died at age 70. Offord, . . .

April 12, 2004

Moran Campbell, one of the founding fathers of McMaster University's Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, died this morning. Campbell, an officer of the Order of Canada and a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, was 78. He was known internationally as a respirology physiologist, responsible for the invention of the Venturi oxygen mask currently in use today, but also as a witty speaker who saw his research as a hobby and education as his main occupation. Born the son of a Yorkshire family physician and trained in England, he came to Canada as the founding chair of medicine for the new medical school in 1968. His first area of responsibility was to have the revolutionary school accepted by the local medical community, and he is known for setting up the excellent and close relationship now shared by McMaster and its affiliated hospitals Hamilton Health Sciences and St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton. He became a professor emeritus in 1991. Campbell was one of the architects of medicine at McMaster, said Peter George, president and vice-chancellor of McMaster University. "His reputation as a clinical scientist drew some of the very best physician researchers and educators to start up what is now the renowned Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine. He made extraordinary contributions to the science of respirology and to the education of physicians. He was a stimulating colleague and friend, and will be greatly missed."

April 12, 2004

More McMaster employees are putting their best foot forward for developing a healthier, more active lifestyle over the lunch hour, thanks to programming provided by Employee Health and Wellness. Debra Earl, employee health educator, says for many employees, after-work demands such as family and home care often bump exercise to the bottom of the priority list. But with health professionals encouraging Canadians to get a minimum of 30 minutes of physical activity per day, more people are taking the leap towards fitness. "For many people, the lunch hour is the only hour of the day that's not taken up by other commitments," says Earl. "All of our employee health programs are offered at lunch, and people are expressing a lot of interest in the programs we offer."

April 12, 2004

Imagine creating an eye chart for someone who can't read or tell you what they see. This is only one of the many challenges vision scientists have faced when they have tried to determine what babies see. Psychology professor Terri Lewis has some fascinating stories to share about her research with newborns that will be the subject of her Science in the City lecture tomorrow (April 13). Titled First Sight: What Babies See, Lewis will discuss her research -- the challenges she's faced and the discoveries she's made in her studies of a newborn baby's vision. She has tested newborns in their first hour of life and as early as seven minutes after birth. Some of her projects were highlighted in an interview in today's Hamilton Spectator , including one that shows that newborn brains are actually 'hard-wired' to recognize faces and at three days of age prefer the face of their mother to a stranger's face.

April 12, 2004

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Med-Students_opt.jpg” caption=”Med Students”]Med Students, a half-hour dramatic documentary series that provides a behind-the-scenes look at the real life challenges faced by medical students . . .

April 8, 2004

Over the next two weeks there will be several opportunities to learn about the work underway on the implementation of Refining Directions, McMaster's strategic plan, and to ask questions and provide your input. Members of the McMaster and Hamilton communities are invited to attend one of the following town hall meetings: Tuesday, April 13  3 p.m. MUSC-314/315 Thursday, April 15  2 p.m. HSC-1A5 Friday, April 16  10 a.m. Council Room, Gilmour Hall-111 Monday, April 19  3 p.m. DTC-216 Refining Directions was approved by the University's Senate and Board of Governors in June 2003. Since that time a process has been developed for the implementation of the strategic plan goals and critical success factors through the leadership of Ken Norrie, provost and vice-president academic. To help implement the process, Norrie recruited Andy Hrymak, chair of chemical engineering, as project manager for the first phase of implementation planning.

April 8, 2004

The provincial government's commitment to a rapid review of how Ontario universities are funded in light of a confirmed two-year tuition freeze is welcome news, McMaster University President Peter George said today. "We welcome the review and the Ontario government's commitment to establishing a comprehensive policy on how universities can receive adequate funding as we cope with the ongoing pressures of decreased income from tuition and provincial operating grant support that continues to be the lowest in Canada. "We are concerned about our ability to continue delivering a quality educational experience for students. The provincial government's announcement that it will provide partial compensation for one year of the two-year tuition freeze is a first step but we are concerned about the uncertainty for future years. I anticipate the review process will yield constructive solutions that will meet the needs of our students who deserve a quality experience in higher education." The provincial government announced today that tuition fees can not increase for the 2004-05 and 2005-06 academic years in regulated programs in humanities, science and social sciences and in deregulated programs such as medicine and engineering. A comprehensive review and consultation process with Ontario universities will begin this summer and end this fall.

April 8, 2004

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Team1_SenThesis_opt.jpg” caption=”TestBot team with IBM reps”]Software engineering students built innovation with Lego in the fourth annual IBM competition. In the capstone software engineering . . .

April 7, 2004

McMaster University is part of a Hamilton-Toronto-Guelph health research triangle being touted by the Ontario government as the location for a new national public health agency. At a press conference at the Health Sciences Centre Tuesday, Marie Bountrogianni, MPP for Hamilton Mountain, said McMaster, and Hamilton, should take a lead role in the development of the Canada Public Health Agency (CPHA) proposed by the federal government in the recent Throne Speech. "You have a public health powerhouse here in Ontario when you add up McMaster University's international reputation in health policy, evaluation and information, Toronto's real-world experience of managing the SARS outbreak, and Guelph University's world-renowned expertise in animal and water-borne illnesses," said Bountrogianni. She holds a double portfolio as Ontario's minister of children's services and the minister of citizenship and immigration.

April 6, 2004

Students will soon be closing their books for another year. Classes finish today (April 6) at McMaster and students are now preparing for exams, which take place April 12-28. Students preparing for exams can take advantage of the All Night Study Program (ANSP), a service provided by the McMaster Students Union. The ANSP provides students with student center meeting rooms and lounges during the examination session overnight. Students can meet in discussion areas in the atrium and lounges on the first and second floors or in silent study areas in meeting rooms on the second and third floors.

April 5, 2004

Nearly half a century ago, a round hole was dug at the west end of campus to make room for a structure that would revolutionize radiation research and education. From it, new cancer fighting isotopes would be produced, fossilized specimens would be dated, students, researchers and scientists from around the world would have access to some of the most sophisticated research facilities, and a Nobel Prize would be born. On April 4, McMaster's Nuclear Reactor (MNR) marked its 45th anniversary. The reactor, built under the leadership of former McMaster President Harry Thode, opened in 1959 by John Diefenbaker, then Prime Minister of Canada. It was the first university-based research reactor in the British Commonwealth and today is the only Canadian medium flux reactor in a university environment.