Daily News

December 24, 2003

Happy holidays from McMaster. The University will be closed from Thursday, Dec. 25 to Monday, Jan. 5, when classes will resume. Most campus services are closed for the holiday period. For a listing of dining facility operating hours visit Hospitality Services. Click McMaster Libraries for library hours of operation. Security will be on duty throughout the holiday period, providing services 24 hours a day. Officers will be patrolling campus, answering alarms and monitoring security systems. For assistance, call security at ext. 24281. The Daily News returns Monday, Jan. 5. Photo caption: McMaster President Peter George and his wife Reverend Allison Barrett, pose with McMaster students in front of the fireplace in the McMaster University Student Centre for the President's annual greeting card. Photo credit: Ron Scheffler

December 23, 2003

McMaster has admitted a bright double cohort class. Of the 5,334 first-year students who came to McMaster this year, more than ever received an Honour Awards scholarship given to entering students who earn 80 per cent and over in their final year of secondary school. In fact, McMaster's entering student population is getting brighter every year. In 2000, when McMaster introduced the awards program, 52 per cent of its entering class received a scholarship. This year, 81 per cent were eligible and 3,944 awards were distributed. "The honour awards are a success story at McMaster," said vice-president academic Fred Hall. Under the program, high school graduates who earn 80 per cent and over in their final year of secondary school and who choose to attend McMaster will automatically receive an award.

December 19, 2003

From coast to coast, the reaction to the announcement that McMaster is receiving a $105-million gift for its medical school, is almost as great as the donation itself. "A gift so huge has as much shock impact as it does the ability to understand it," says John Kelton, dean and vice-president of the Faculty of Health Sciences. For him, the realization of it is still sinking in. "I still haven't realized it. It's historic." So what has the external reaction been to the "historic" $105-million gift from Canadian businessman and philanthropist Michael G. DeGroote? "Consistently enormous enthusiasm," sums up Kelton. "That would be it in a nutshell." And envy, he adds. "I have been hearing great enthusiasm and great envy from deans across the country. People are saying 'we can't believe it, we find it wonderfully exciting'." On Dec. 17, in the McMaster University Student Centre marketplace, approximately 1,000 people gathered to hear DeGroote announce he is giving McMaster the largest cash gift in Canadian history. The $105-million donation will be divided between a $64-million endowment fund, supporting education, health care and medical research in perpetuity and a $41-million capital fund directed to construction and outfitting of laboratories and hospital units. The Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster University will be the first Canadian medical school to bear the name of a benefactor. McMaster President Peter George has received letters from University presidents congratulating and thanking McMaster for raising the bar. "That is the message that resonates through virtually all of the universities in the country," he says. "It sends a very positive and encouraging signal to donors that their gifts are important."

December 19, 2003

Transportation to McMaster by Hamilton Street Railway (HSR) and Go Transit buses will be reduced next week. For HSR, service east and west of McMaster . . .

December 18, 2003

Senior management toasted the holiday season with the McMaster campus community this morning at the fourth annual holiday open house. This afternoon, there will be an open house at the downtown center from 2 to 3:30 p.m. in Rm. 216. At the morning open house in Convocation Hall, Karen Belaire, vice-president administration, dresses as a reindeer and shares a laugh with Fred Hall, vice-president academic. Guests were invited to bring a non-perishable food item for the food drive for a chance to win a door prize.

December 17, 2003

McMaster has once again assumed the role pioneer'. The University is the first in Ontario to administer a furniture standardization program, where all furniture purchased for McMaster will be dealt with through one central dealer. All furniture - such as seating, lab items, desks, but excluding classroom seating  will be purchased through Lordly Jones, a local dealer that will purchase furniture from manufacturers in Canada and deliver items to McMaster at a reduced cost. "The University has grown significantly over the past number of years and will continue to grow," says Terry Galan, director of Purchasing Resources. One of the new buildings that will require furniture is the Centre for Learning and Discovery.

December 17, 2003

Canadian businessman and philanthropist Michael G. DeGroote has given $105 million to McMaster University in an unprecedented display of generosity. McMaster's medical school will be the beneficiary of the largest single cash gift in Canadian history. In tribute, the School of Medicine will now be known as the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster University, the first Canadian medical school to bear the name of a benefactor. DeGroote, formerly of the Hamilton area but now residing in Bermuda, said that his nearly 20-year friendship with the University reflects his belief in and support of McMaster's vision and its commitment to quality education and outstanding research. Earlier gifts have benefited the business school, the McMaster Museum of Art, epilepsy research, literary criticism and the new student centre. "This gift is intended to support health care research and education," said DeGroote. "Health and health care are clearly the most prominent concerns for Canadians. I am investing in new discoveries in health care and in the delivery of health care. The dividends of that investment will not only impact our community, but others around the world. I am confident of McMaster's ability to maximize the impact of this gift so that its net effect will have far-reaching benefits." A noted entrepreneur, DeGroote purchased and grew Laidlaw Transport Ltd., a company that became the largest school bus operator and third largest waste management company in North America before it was sold in 1988. DeGroote's business ventures have included U.S. companies such as Republic Industries, AutoNation Inc., Century Business Services, Capital Environmental Resource Inc., and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League. McMaster University President Peter George said he is honoured by DeGroote's endorsement and support for the University. "This is an historic gift," he said. "It is not only a landmark for McMaster and the Hamilton community, but for all of Canada. I am profoundly grateful for this magnificent investment in our work and vision. Be assured that we at McMaster take seriously the great responsibility to ensure that we continue to advance our standard of excellence in education, research and innovation." John Kelton, dean and vice-president of the Faculty of Health Sciences, said the gift allows the University to take immediate steps in furthering a bold and ground-breaking vision for the School of Medicine. "The DeGroote family will be proud of the impact this gift will have and will know that they will make many critically important initiatives possible," he said. He said the $105 million donation will be divided between a $64 million endowment fund, supporting education, health care and medical research in perpetuity and a $41 million capital fund directed to construction and outfitting of laboratories and hospital units.

December 16, 2003

Three-year financial plan The Board of Governors approved McMaster's three-year financial plan. The plan presents the University's operating fund, including income from government grants, tuition . . .

December 15, 2003

Developing closer relationships with decision makers can be a balancing act for researchers who need to maintain their ability to conduct independent, rigorous and critical analysis, according to health economist Steve Morgan. By improving the exchange of knowledge between researchers and decision makers, he says this will contribute to better, more relevant research. Morgan will explore pharmaceutical policy issues, by looking at British Columbia's new PharmaCare Policy, at a seminar at McMaster University. The talk, entitled "The Delicate Art of Dancing with Porcupines: Learning to Appreciate the Finer Points of BC PharmaCare Policy", will take place Wednesday, Dec. 17 in the Health Sciences Centre, Rm. 3N5B from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.

December 12, 2003

McMaster head football coach Greg Marshall is the new head coach of the Canadian Football League (CFL) Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Marshall and his staff have compiled an impressive 53-18-2 (including playoffs) record since his hiring at McMaster in 1997. Under his leadership, the McMaster Marauders have won four consecutive Yates Cup Championships, tying an Ontario University Athletics (OUA) record. In 1999, Marshall was named the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Coach of the Year, and, in 2000, he was recognized with the Frank Tindall Trophy, which is awarded to the OUA and Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) Coach of the Year. Marshall spent three years with the CFL as a player with the Edmonton Eskimos as a running back, capturing one Grey Gup in 1982 before knee surgery cut short a promising career after the 1984 season. Marshall was an assistant coach at The University of Western Ontario from 1984-1992 and was the offensive co-ordinator from 1992 to 1996. During his tenure, The University of Western Ontario earned Vanier Cup victories in 1989 and 1994.

December 12, 2003

Enjoy what you do, but make sure you're doing it for the right reasons. That's the advice for medical students from Peter Dent, a 40-year veteran of pediatrics and medical education. "If you're looking for self-fulfillment it's possible to find that," says Dent. "But if it's your only reason for doing it then you're doing medicine and society a disservice. You have to see medicine not as a way of earning a living, but as a social commitment." Dent's commitment has been a strong one and his medical career during "an explosion of new knowledge" has included many roles. He is currently the associate vice-president, clinical services for the Faculty of Health Sciences. Dent is also a professor emeritus of pediatrics and head of the department's rheumatology division. He is deputy chief of pediatrics for McMaster Children's Hospital and, as a pediatric rheumatologist, has an active practice both at McMaster Children's Hospital and at the Children's Hospital of Western Ontario in London, Ont. This month he was recognized with the designation of Master from the American College of Rheumatology. Only five other Canadians have received the award, which is given to physicians who have significantly furthered the art and science of rheumatology. "It was never an issue of being a doctor," Dent says of his career choice. "It was about being a pediatrician."

December 11, 2003

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/health_calendar.jpg” caption=”Employee Wellness Calendar cover”]Arriving in your McMaster mailbox soon is your copy of the 2004 Employee Wellness Calendar, containing health information relevant . . .

December 11, 2003

If Canada allows private funding of healthcare, administration costs will skyrocket, warns Steffie Woolhandler, a leading health policy researcher from Harvard Medical School. Woolhandler will discuss her recent publication in the New England Journal of Medicine during a mini-symposium Dec. 16, at McMaster University. Her talk Profits from Pain: A Story of Health Care in the U.S. will be preceded by the lecture Your Money and Your Life, by P.J. Devereaux and Public and Private Roles in Health Care: Trying to Make Sense of the Confusion by Jeremiah Hurley, both of McMaster. The mini-symposium is sponsored by the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics and the Centre for Health Economics and Policy Analysis.

December 10, 2003

McMaster stem cell researcher Laurie Doering was honored last night at a one-night only cryogenic stem cell lab, at the residence of His Excellency Haim Divon, ambassador of the State of Israel to Canada. At the lab, guests viewed brain cells under a $125,000 high-power microscope, sipped martinis amidst state-of-the-art lab equipment and witnessed the instant freezing and shattering of martini-bound fruit every time a donation in the fight against Parkinson's was made. The event was presented by Ottawa's Thomas C. Assaly Foundation, whose founder was recently diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. Assaly announced at the event that he is making the largest-ever private donation to Parkinson's research in McMaster University's history. In an effort to encourage other guests to donate towards a dream-lab for Doering's ground-breaking research, nearly every piece of equipment essential for his work was set-up and on display. After learning about the role that each device plays, guests filled out 'wish list' cards to help purchase the equipment for Doering's lab.

December 10, 2003

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Morris_A._Blajchman.jpg” caption=”Morris A. Blajchman”]Morris A. Blajchman, professor in the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, has been awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from . . .

December 10, 2003

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Giacomo-J.-Angelini.jpg” caption=”Giacomo Angelini”]McMaster commerce alumnus Giacomo Angelini '02, has been named the Ontario gold medallist in the latest round of Uniform Final Exams . . .

December 9, 2003

“NOVEMBER, it helps me remember when everything was better. About 11 years ago I died, cried and tried, but I still lost everything — by . . .

December 9, 2003

President Peter George and McMaster's vice-presidents recently approved a plan for several work-related surveys to help McMaster gauge the attitudes and perceptions of employees toward a number of work-life initiatives. Many high-performing organizations create a high level of employee engagement using a variety of tools, including employee surveys. Jason Cole, senior manager of organization development, based in McMaster's Human Resources Services, is responsible for co-ordinating these surveys. "This plan establishes an appropriate survey pacing over the next two calendar years and assures distinctive and clear research questions to yield solid participation and results," said Cole.

December 8, 2003

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/christmas_party.jpg” caption=”Children’s Christmas Party”]On Dec. 6, more than 350 McMaster employees and their family members gathered at the McMaster University Student Centre to . . .

December 8, 2003

Like most of us, civil engineering professor Sarah Dickson likes to quench her thirst with water. But unlike a growing number of Canadians, her first choice isn't bottled water - good old Ontario tap water is what she prefers. Dickson's area of expertise is in water and environmental engineering and her research involves the input, transport and fate of organic contaminants in groundwater systems. She's most comfortable choosing water from the tap  a fact that might surprise the legions of bottled water users whose numbers have increased since the events of Walkerton in 2000 and the subsequent inquiry into the contamination of the town's water supply. "People might choose bottled water for taste, but the bottled water industry simply doesn't have the same regulations that are in place at the municipal level. Ontario's drinking water is safe but there are still some issues with the municipal infrastructure funding that's needed to keep wastewater treatment up to capacity," she says.