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.

April 5, 2004

Although their fields of research are diverse, McMaster's newest Canada Research Chairs are all ultimately looking at how to keep us healthier in our environments. The three newest recipients come from the disciplines of medical physics and applied radiation sciences, business administration and geochemistry and geochronology. McMaster University now has 47 Canada Research Chairholders.

April 5, 2004

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Civil_Engineering_donation_.jpg” caption=”Centre for Effective Design of Structures donation”]A generous gift to McMaster University's Centre for Effective Design of Structures from two civil engineering . . .

April 2, 2004

McMaster University has developed a new way to select its medical students that has the applicants doing 12 short successive interviews instead of a traditional panel interview. This week, 384 potential students are at McMaster for bell-ringer interviews that have them attending individual 10 minute sessions with a consecutive series of interviewers over two hours. Each interviewer asks the same questions of each candidate on a topic in the areas of ethics, communications, collaborative work or critical thinking. A bell is sounded when students should rotate to the next interview. The change is the result of three years of study on ways to improve the student selection process, and is unique among Canadian medical schools. "This new process is far better than other methodologies for being able to differentiate between candidates on the basis of their personal qualities," said Harold Reiter, chair of admissions for the medical school. "Research has found that the reliability of measuring those qualities through traditional interviews is weak."

April 2, 2004

More than 150 elementary and secondary students from the Bay Area will be at McMaster today learning about chemicals, stars, brains and fats. Four of . . .

April 2, 2004

The Joint Job Evaluation Steering Committee (JJESC), established by McMaster University and the McMaster University Staff Association (MUSA), has been working on the development of . . .

April 1, 2004

Posters representing amazing women leaders will be on display in the McMaster University Student Centre today. McMaster's Mary E. Keyes Leadership Program, offered through the Centre for Student Development, is recognizing women leaders through a Women in Leadership Poster Session. Fourteen women leaders are featured on the posters. Some of those include: Erin Laende, Student Walk-Home Attendant Team co-ordinator, Carol Wood, ecumenical chaplain, Debbie Marinoff-Shupe, manager, recreation services, Therese Quigley, director of athletics and recreation, Mary Williams, associate vice-president, University Advancement, Eileen Schuller, chair of religious studies, Nasrin Rahimieh, dean of humanities, Susan Elliott, dean of social sciences, Cristina DeSilvio, experiential education officer for social science and Cheryl-Ann Jackson, international students' advisor. Women presented on the posters were chosen from suggestions provided from students, staff and faculty. The posters will be displayed in the McMaster University Student Centre Marketplace Thursday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and then across campus on bulletin boards.

March 31, 2004

Outstanding McMaster students and alumni were recognized for their contributions to the University community during this week's 24th annual Student Recognition Night. McMaster students Candy Hui and Sam Minniti were honoured with the Honour M Award, the highest award presented by the McMaster Students Union. This Award is presented to students who show commitment to extra curricular activities both within the McMaster community and have rendered outstanding and valuable service to the Hamilton community and/or the McMaster community by any or all of the following: university government, student government, residence government, departments, clubs, societies, and/or university athletics. "The Honour M Award in one of the most esteemed award programs hosted by McMaster University," said McMaster provost Ken Norrie. "It is reserved for those who are recognized as clearly going above and beyond the norm in terms of their extracurricular service and student leadership."

March 30, 2004

McMaster has signed a key strategic alliance with Toronto-based biotechnology company CELLutions Biosystems, Inc. Through this partnership, CELLutions will acquire the exclusive rights to market and distribute selected novel cell lines and other innovative biological reagents developed by researchers at McMaster. CELLutions focuses on the commercialization, marketing, and distribution of innovative cell lines and other research tools for use in basic science, drug discovery, and therapeutic development. "We are very excited about the potential benefits that this strategic partnership will bring to our institution and its researchers," says Mamdouh Shoukri, vice-president of research at McMaster University. "We are looking forward to developing this relationship and working together with CELLutions to identify promising scientists and research projects whose work has, or will develop unique cell lines, as well as other research tools that have innate value to the biopharmaceutical industry."

March 29, 2004

McMaster's Committee for Recommending a President hopes broad-based feedback will help it select the best candidate to fill the Universities' top job over the next five years. The Board of Governors and University Senate recently appointed members to the committee. It will examine the academic mission and vision, strategic leadership, fiscal management, external relationship building and strengthening of the McMaster community. McMaster President Peter George's current term concludes June 30, 2005 and he is eligible for reappointment for a third five-year term. The process of selecting a University president is critical, says Edward Buffett, chair of the committee. "There are incredible opportunities on the horizon for the institution and as we move forward in the global economy, leadership will be a critical element in the institution's success," he says. "McMaster must be well led to attract the best and the brightest in terms of students, research dollars and its educators."

March 26, 2004

Researchers and graduate students at McMaster will have a chance to speak first-hand with the man who is leading the transformation of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). Marc Renaud, president of the SSHRC, will be at McMaster Tuesday, April 6. Renaud is travelling across the country during March and April visiting academic institutions and meeting with university stakeholders as part of SSHRC's transformation process. The federal body, which funds research in the humanities and social sciences at universities across the country, is engaging key stakeholders in discussions to develop a new blueprint for the organization and to increase and improve dialogue between the council and its stakeholders. The council aims to expand and improve its current programs and adopt new structures to better serve the research community over the next 25 years.

March 25, 2004

McMaster health physics student Lindsay Churchley has great insight into her future thanks to her co-operative placement that garnered her an impressive recognition from the Canadian Association for Co-operative Education (CAFCE). Selected from among 74,000 post-secondary co-op students at 85 member institutions across Canada, the fourth-year student received one of four honorable mentions from the CAFCE Co-op Student of the Year Award (2003), based primarily on a job placement at Ontario Power Generation. "One of the best things that co-op has done for me, is it has given me the chance to try a variety of fields so that I can figure out which direction I would like to go in after graduation," says Churchley. "I now know I want to be a health physicist." Churchley's nomination included an impressive academic grade point record of 10.3, contribution to extra-curricular activities at school and in the community, volunteering with the McMaster Children's Hospital, participation in student governance, and involvement in the McMaster jazz choir and McMaster Ultimate Frisbee league.

March 25, 2004

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/kunisadoweb.jpg” caption=”Isaac Applebaums”]Collectors and donors of the McMaster art collection will be honoured today (Thursday) in conjunction with the opening of two new . . .