Daily News

March 9, 2004

McMaster's School of the Arts is in week three of the Directors' Series 2004. Week three includes only one play, 7 Stories. All shows were . . .

March 8, 2004

In front of a frenzied sellout crowd of 2400 at the Burridge Gymnasium on the McMaster University campus, the nationally sixth ranked McMaster Marauders defeated the seventh ranked Brock University Badgers, 78-71, in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) West Division Championship Game. OUA West Player of the Year, Adam Guiney from McMaster was sidelined early with foul trouble. The team's scoring was picked up by juniors Rob Scully and Ben Katz. Scully, the Wilson Sports Player of the Game, led the Marauders on the day with 21 pts on 6 of 12 shooting (50%) including 5 of 7 (71.4 %) beyond the three-point arc. Scully was also a perfect four of four from the free throw line. OUA West First Team All-Star, Katz added 20 points, 4 assists and 2 steals. With the win, McMaster advances to the Ontario University Athletics Championship Game that will be played at Carleton Saturday, March 13, 2004.

March 8, 2004

Miroslav Lovric wonders why people at parties feel the need to tell him that they hate math, can't do math and suffer from math anxiety once they learn what he does for a living. The associate professor of mathematics and statistics is perplexed by this attitude, "people rarely feel the need to tell an English teacher they hate English, hate to read and don't really know what the letters T, R or Z mean," he says. Lovric's interest in changing this attitude is reflected in his desire to bring math to the public and one of the reasons he's speaking at tomorrow's (March 9) Science in the City lecture series, a public lecture series sponsored jointly by the University and the Hamilton Spectator. His lecture, Hold infinity in the palm of your hand, and eternity in an hour, will explore infinity, an age-old concept that appears in the oral culture of myths and legends and continues to connect to other disciplines such as religion, art, philosophy and astronomy. In an interview with the Spectator, Lovric emphasizes that the audience doesn't need a mathematical background, but should expect to be challenged. "People just need to be inquisitive and open and they'll hear good stuff. We all have basic mathematical intuition but we are afraid to use it. But it's fun, it's possible and it's relevant." Lovric will trace the cultural, historical and mathematical background of infinity without resorting to the formulas and mathematical symbols that many seem to dread. "You can talk about math without talking about math. People will not even know it's there," he notes. This Science in the City lecture will take place Tuesday March 9 in the Hamilton Spectator Auditorium, 44 Frid Street in Hamilton. Doors open at 6:30pm and the lecture begins at 7pm. The lecture is free and all are welcome. To reserve your seat e-mail sciencecity@mcmaster.ca or by phone: 905-525-9140, extension 24934. *** There will be a special Science in the City for Kids this Saturday, March 13 on campus in the John Hodgins Engineering Building Room 376 from 9am to 11:30am. The event will feature the Fireball Show and Fireball 2, McMaster's Solar Car. For more information, visit Science in the City for Kids .***

March 8, 2004

McMaster researchers are celebrating a new era of discovery with the award of $16.3 million from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) for six major research initiatives. The funding will enable McMaster researchers to acquire state-of-the art instruments to lead further research in the areas of nanotechnology, functional genomics, radiation biology, natural and synthetic polymers, digital cinema and high-performance computing. "Our researchers continue to have great success in a highly competitive process," said Mamdouh Shoukri, vice president research & international affairs. "The research we're doing at McMaster is leading edge and will contribute, for example, to a better understanding of how diverse materials are constructed and operate at super small levels, how genes function in cancer and infectious diseases and the effects of low-dose radiation. Funding for the computational science project known as SHARCNET is support for a fundamental science that will help researchers in several areas. "In all of these endeavours our researchers are either leading or establishing the first facilities of their kind in Canada. They are focused on world-class research leading to new discoveries, technologies, cures and treatments in the areas of molecular biology, manufacturing and materials and information technology. This CFI support is integral to our ability to forge new paths in these areas." To date, McMaster has received $89 million from CFI to support research activity, which will generate or translate into more than $200 million in funding for research projects at the University.

March 8, 2004

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Rik-Emmett.jpg” caption=”Rik Emmett”]The 2003/2004 Smooth Jazz Series, co-sponsored by McMaster University School of the Arts and Wave 94.7 fm, continues with jazz guitarist . . .

March 5, 2004

Del Harnish, the new academic director of McMaster's Centre for Leadership in Learning (CLL), has a lot on his mind these days. Not only is he leading one of McMaster's most premier programs  the Bachelor of Health Sciences program -- he's been asked to bring teaching to the forefront of researchers' minds. It's a hefty task. After all, teaching isn't why most researchers entered their profession, he says. "The culture in most faculties is that faculty members do not meet to talk about their teaching. In fact, if you were to walk down the hall and ask a faculty member what's new, it almost never will be a topic about teaching, it will be something in their research." That's why CLL is so important, he says. It emphasizes teaching excellence; an objective he says is shared across campus. So, when Harnish was asked to take on the position of academic director of CLL, he knew he was being charged with an important job. "Teaching has become a more central issue for the institution over the past five years, and that's clear in things like tenure and promotion committees, and it's a clear focus of Refining Directions," says Harnish, who took over the three-and-a-half-year appointment in January. "It's largely true that all people who teach on campus want to do it really well, but by definition, their discipline is not teaching and they don't necessarily read educational literature, because they are engrossed in their research."

March 4, 2004

On graduation day, two McMaster students on their way to accepting a McMaster degree, were also on their way to accomplishing amazing things. At fall . . .

March 4, 2004

In recognition of International Women's Day March 8, the McMaster Womyn's Issues Network (MacWIN), will host Gender Matters! a conference that will explore the ways in which gender affects people's lives, on Saturday, March 6. "We aim to raise consciousness and hear the voices of people who are traditionally marginalized based on gender, race, ethnicity, religion, class, sexuality, able-bodiness, and age," says fourth-year philosophy student Helen Tewolde, a co-founder of MacWin who is helping organize the conference. The conference will cover topics ranging from women and health, women in leadership, technology and economic development, women in media, women in migration, to gender and sexuality and women in sports.

March 4, 2004

Undergraduate commerce students from the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University have scored among the highest business schools in North America in a recent . . .

March 4, 2004

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/McMaster-vs.-Brock-Basketba.jpg” caption=”McMaster vs. Brock”]The nationally sixth-ranked McMaster Marauders men's basketball team plays host to division rival seventh-ranked Brock Badgers Saturday, March 6 at . . .

March 4, 2004

Highlights from the Feb. 26 Board of Governors meeting Renovation projects approved Renovations to the Burke Science Building (BSB) and General Sciences Building (GSB) will . . .

March 4, 2004

In Titles Bookstore, a student holds a maroon sweater with the McMaster crest and words of the University emblazoned artfully across the chest. The student is thinking about more than the cost or trendiness of the sweater. Instead he asks, "where was this sweater made?" It's a question asked by more students and the University has responded. Not only does McMaster have one of the most comprehensive and emulated no sweat' and fair trade' purchasing codes in the country, it now requires that all McMaster suppliers that fall under the code certify they are compliant with it. McMaster's purchasing codes cover all licensed goods and apparel purchased by the University. Click here to read a background on the codes. "A code isn't worth anything unless there is compliance with it," says Don Wells, who teaches labour studies and politics at McMaster, and has worked on McMaster's 'no sweat' and 'fair trade' buying codes. McMaster is one of the only Canadian universities to require its suppliers to complete a compliance form, according to Ian Thomson of Maquila Solidarity Network, a Canadian network promoting solidarity with groups in Mexico, Central America, Africa and Asia. The University of Toronto has developed a compliance form for its licensees. In the United States, close to 200 colleges and universities that are affiliated to the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) and/or Fair Labor Association (FLA) require their licensees to do likewise, he says.

March 4, 2004

Ingenuity, ambition, commitment. These three words characterize a group of students who will gather at McMaster University from March 4 to 7 to participate in . . .

March 3, 2004

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/tim_besley_opt.jpg” caption=”Tim Besley”]Mainstream economic thinking on how to reduce poverty has evolved in the last couple of decades. Timothy Besley, professor of economics . . .

March 3, 2004

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Drs-Richard-Hunt-Paul-Moayy.jpg” caption=”Richard Hunt, Paul Moayyedi and Stephen Collin”]McMaster University today announced the appointment of Paul Moayyedi, MD, as the first holder of the . . .

March 3, 2004

The McMaster wrestling team will compete in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) Wrestling Championship this weekend at Brock University. Fourth-year student-athlete Pam Wilson will look . . .

March 3, 2004

McMaster University has reached into Bay Street by appointing Paul Bates its new dean of business. Bates will begin his term July 1, 2004 as dean of the University's DeGroote School of Business, said McMaster University President Peter George. A search committee composed of faculty, students, staff and the business school's advisory committee nominated him. The University's vice-president academic chaired the search committee. Bates has a distinguished career in investment dealing and wealth management. A member of the Ontario Securities Commission, he is also a part-time faculty member of the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management. "Paul Bates brings direct knowledge, expertise, networking, leadership from the business world and a demonstrated empathy for the academic vision of the school," said George. "His solid business credentials and achievements will benefit students, faculty, the University and the academic community. Our new business dean will help us to continue our efforts in fostering superior research, relevance and creativity, building on McMaster's earned reputation of innovation and discovery."

March 3, 2004

The McMaster Chamber Orchestra will present “Music of the Masters” on Sunday, March 7 at 3 p.m. in Convocation Hall at McMaster University, under the . . .

March 2, 2004

St. Peter's Family of Services has announced an affiliation with McMaster Divinity College. With the affiliation, clinical pastoral education students will develop and improve their . . .

March 2, 2004

McMaster's Office of Student Financial Aid & Scholarships has launched a new online summer work program application. There will be a launch and open house . . .