Daily News

November 1, 2004

Running five kilometers or walking two -- either way will shorten the distance to McMaster's $175,000 United Way campaign goal. On Friday, Nov. 5, McMaster employees are invited to a run/walk event for United Way. The event, from 3 to 5 p.m., will start outside the McMaster University Student Centre (MUSC), in front of Mills Library, and will wind through campus. Awards and prizes will be given out after the run/walk in the MUSC marketplace.

October 29, 2004

Engage students from day one -- do that, and you'll have them for life, feels Nick Bontis, the new director of undergraduate programs in the DeGroote School of Business. "It is important to provide as engaging an experience as possible for our first-year students," says Bontis, who has organized a first-year welcome reception on Tuesday, Nov. 2 in Celebration Hall, Kenneth Taylor Hall basement, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. "From our first point of communication with students when we recruit them in high school, to the correspondence we have with them over the summer, to Welcome Week in September, we have found that this whole experience that students have is extremely important. We've learned alumni participation starts from day one."

October 29, 2004

You would probably recognize Jeff Simpson if you saw him on-campus. A utilities maintainer with Physical Plant, Simpson is recognizable for both his size and his impressive red hair and beard. However, you probably wouldn't guess that Simpson is an avid runner. And not just a "Sunday afternoon jog" type of runner. Simpson is an ultra runner, meaning that his Sunday afternoon jogs can last more than 16 hours and cover 100 km.

October 29, 2004

In the early 1990s Michael Atkinson walked into a dank tattoo studio on a pier in downtown Halifax and, as he describes it, entered into the "first significant agreement I had ever made with my skin." It's unlikely the now assistant professor of sociology knew then that this "agreement" would help to ink his reputation as an award-winning researcher and earn him the 2004 Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Aurora Prize.

October 29, 2004

With a snip of scissors, McMaster alumnus Bob Fitzhenry today cut the ribbon to open Canada's first university laboratory to be certified to provide vectors for use in clinical trials for patients. He, along with University Professor Jack Gauldie, were officially opening the Robert E. Fitzhenry Vector Laboratory of the Institute of Molecular Medicine and Health in the new Michael G. DeGroote Centre for Learning and Discovery.

October 29, 2004

McMaster's Alternative Commuting & Transportation Office has been recognized for promoting healthier living and cleaner air in the Hamilton area, by winning a VISION 2020 Sustainable Community Recognition Award from the City of Hamilton.

October 28, 2004

This fall, the Department of English in the Faculty of Humanities welcomes guest Canadian novelist Catherine Bush as its writer-in-residence. Bush first caught the literary world's attention with her 1993 debut novel, Minus Time, which was nominated for the SmithBooks/Books in Canada First Novel Award, the City of Toronto Book Award, and it is now being adapted for film. Bush is the author of critically acclaimed and internationally published novels, including The Rules of Engagement (2000), which was a New York Times Notable Book and a Best Book of the Year as chosen by the Globe and Mail and the Los Angeles Times. The book was also shortlisted for the City of Toronto Book Award. Her newest novel, Claire's Head, published by McClelland and Stewart this fall, is available at Titles Bookstore.

October 28, 2004

Providing students with opportunities to develop the knowledge, skills and perspectives they need to live, work and communicate in a changing international environment is an integral part of a McMaster University education. The Institute on Globalization and the Human Condition (IGHC), established at McMaster to promote and support research on globalization, social change and the human condition, was recognized Wednesday evening by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) for its achievements in internationalization.

October 28, 2004

As of Sunday, Oct. 31, the GO Transit stop outside the McMaster Museum of Art will be moving to the traffic circle at the far west end of Scholar's Road outside the Mary Keyes Residence. The move was prompted by concerns for pedestrian safety in the very heavily-travelled area outside of the Student Centre. GO buses, which are designed for highway travel, have significant blind spots and drivers may have difficulty seeing pedestrians walking near the bus. Choice of the new bus stop location was made in consultation with and approved by the University.

October 27, 2004

For Anne Dahmer '90, her early school years didn't exactly offer a nurturing environment for someone who liked to speak their mind. The admittedly outspoken student said she recalls spending many hours standing in a corner, or writing lines after school because she couldn't stop talking or arguing. "Not everyone was thrilled to see my hand go up in class," she says. Thankfully, that drive to ask questions and develop her own opinions eventually found a refuge when she entered McMaster's Arts & Science Program in 1986.

October 27, 2004

More than 50 schools from around the world will be at McMaster tomorrow, helping students find a path after graduation. The annual Continuing Your Education Fair takes place Thursday, Oct. 28 from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the McMaster University Student Centre marketplace.

October 26, 2004

McMaster kicked off a week of health and wellness Monday with an open house in celebration of Healthy Workplace Week. Hosted by the Healthy Workplace Group, more than 400 McMaster employees attended the event in Wentworth House, which featured information booths, draws and tours of the new McMaster Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Centre.

October 25, 2004

On another record-setting day for running back Jesse Lumsden, the McMaster Marauders pummelled the Ottawa Gee-Gees 59-1, and clinched a bye in the first round of the OUA playoffs. Lumsden rushed for 136 yards on 22 carries and scored four touchdowns on the day. In doing so, he eclipsed his own CIS record for touchdowns in a season with 21. He tied Kojo Aidoo's 2,000 record last year with 20.

October 25, 2004

Peter George, President of McMaster University, announced Rafik Loutfy as the inaugural holder of the Walter G. Booth Chair for Engineering Entrepreneurship and Innovation in the newly established School for Engineering Practice.

October 25, 2004

McMaster University, in partnership with the Hamilton Police Service, hosted the world's largest anti-bullying seminar today (Monday) with more than 12,000 Grade 6, 7 and 8 students from the Hamilton region participating.

October 25, 2004

Sarah Lampson has a reason to get out of bed every weekday morning. A self-professed "un-morning person" she knows that bright and early each weekday, co-worker Barbara Hourigan -- decked out in a wide-brimmed sun visor and brand new pedometer -- will be knocking on her door, eager to set off on their walk from Dundas to McMaster.

October 22, 2004

McMaster's James Stewart Centre for Mathematics was presented with a Governor General's Medal in Architecture today at Rideau Hall in Ottawa. It was one of nine projects across Canada to be selected for the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) and the Canada Council for the Arts award.

October 22, 2004

Longer and healthier lives with personalized medicines made by manipulating genes to treat disabling and life-threatening chronic diseases such as breast cancer, asthma and rheumatoid arthritis. The potential to fulfill such promises lies within the Institute for Molecular Medicine and Health which opened today (Friday, Oct. 22) in McMaster University's Michael G. DeGroote Centre for Learning and Discovery (MDCL).

October 22, 2004

Last year, McMaster University in collaboration with Hamilton Police Service presented the largest anti-bullying rally in the world. This year, McMaster will present the second annual Bullying versus Basketball One on One on Monday, Oct. 25 at 10 a.m. at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton. More than 12,000 Grade 6, 7, and 8 students from Hamilton area schools will participate in a live play about bullying and a question and answer session. The sessions will be led by McMaster psychology professor and international bullying expert Tracy Vaillancourt and more than 400 McMaster University and Mohawk College trained student volunteers.

October 21, 2004

Local Hamilton high school history teachers and other local history enthusiasts joined McMaster faculty and senior administrators yesterday to welcome Viv Nelles to McMaster University as the L.R. Wilson Professor in Canadian History. "I'm just adding some extra bubbles to some very good champagne," said Nelles, as he acknowledged McMaster's already strong history department where he plans to develop the L.R. Wilson Centre for Canadian History. He promised that he would be in touch with the teachers and local historians in the near future as ideas for the centre develop.