Daily News

January 27, 2004

McMaster University closed at 2:30 p.m. today (Tuesday, Jan. 27) due to the inclement weather. All evening classes, meetings and other scheduled events are cancelled and libraries and other non-essential areas are closed. As well, the Canadian Millennium Scholarship Foundation reception scheduled for tonight at the University has been cancelled. Faculty, staff and students are advised to consult the Storm Emergency Policy and Procedures, the Daily News Web site and local radio stations for additional and updated information.

January 26, 2004

While Hamilton recuperates from winter's snowy grip, McMaster will thaw out at the fifth annual Soul Food Fair on Thursday, Jan. 29. With the theme, "Absolutely Inspiring", this one-day event celebrates spiritual and physical health and well-being, through workshops, lectures, musical performances, and an exhibit fair. The events start at 10 a.m. with the exhibit fair. There will also be workshops in the Museum of Art and the McMaster University Student Centre Banquet Centre, Rm. 319. Organized by the Soul Food Organizing Committee, chaired by ecumenical chaplain Carol Wood, the fair brings together McMaster departments, community partners and private practitioners of various complimentary therapies with an aim to inform and demonstrate to students and employees the importance of the need to nourish, not just the body but the mind and spirit. There will be free workshops, prizes, samples and free hands-on mini-treatments. Hospitality Services will donate free hot chocolate.

January 26, 2004

McMaster University and AstraZeneca Canada, Inc., today announced the appointment of Malcolm Sears, MD, as the first holder of a new chair in respirology epidemiology. Sears is a professor in the department of medicine at McMaster University, and research director of the Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health at St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton. The new position will support Sears and his investigation of respiratory diseases, in particular the reasons for the rapid increase in the number of people, especially children, who have asthma. His work has led to new insights into factors related to the risk of development and persistence of allergies and asthma, and to improved strategies for asthma management. "Dr. Sears is an experienced physician and epidemiologist," said Dr. John Kelton, dean and vice president of health sciences at McMaster. "With this appointment we're very pleased and excited to be able to recognize his efforts to improve respiratory health through the study of populations."

January 26, 2004

Those with an appetite for classical saxophone, guitar and jazz have an opportunity to fill their senses at one of four upcoming free lunchtime concerts. . . .

January 26, 2004

The launch of the Ontario Training Centre in Health Services and Policy Research (OTC) at McMaster has signaled the beginning of a province-wide initiative to increase the number of Canadian health services researchers and address critical issues in health care delivery. "The establishment of the OTC is a response to the need for an increased number of health services researchers to address critical issues in effective and efficient health care delivery across Canada," says director Alba DiCenso, professor of nursing and clinical epidemiology and biostatistics. "This need has been identified as a top priority by national research funding agencies." Funded for 10 years by the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research for a total of $3.75 million, with additional funding from the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, the OTC will provide students with access to accomplished researchers and health services decision makers through collaborative research, distance education, summer institutes and field placements. The program will allow students to take courses at any of the six participating universities, which include McMaster, Lakehead, Laurentian, Ottawa, Toronto and York.

January 26, 2004

Forty medical students at McMaster University got a taste of the diversity of a rural family doctor's life at Groves Memorial Community Hospital on Saturday. . . .

January 26, 2004

McMaster University is closed tonight, Monday, Jan. 26, as of 7 p.m. due to inclement weather. All evening classes, meetings and other scheduled events for this evening are cancelled and libraries and other non-essential areas are closed. The Daily News will provide an update about when the University will reopen early tomorrow morning.

January 23, 2004

They're the best of our best. Perfect 12s. Straight As. Almost 200 young scholars were honoured this week for their outstanding academic achievements and demonstrations of excellence. McMaster President Peter George and Ken Norrie, provost and vice-president academic, hosted a reception Wednesday to celebrate the 2003 recipients of the President's Award and the Provost's Honour Roll. A total of 166 students were awarded the President's Award in 2003. They are a select group of young scholars who were awarded entrance scholarships as they achieved averages of 95 per cent or more in their final year of high school. These top entrance awards are renewable in the second year provided that students achieve Dean's Honour List (about 80 per cent) in their first year of full-time study. President George congratulated the students for their achievements and emphasized the University believes that how students are taught is just as important as what students are taught. "We want to prepare you well for the future," he said. "For that reason, we place a great emphasis on helping you develop the skills for life-long learning."

January 23, 2004

A diverse array of McMaster students, faculty, respected speakers on Aboriginal issues, members of the greater Hamilton community and Canadians from throughout country will be in town Saturday for McMaster's Aboriginal Health Conference 2004. Organized by a group of students from the McMaster Student International Health Initiative (SIHI), the conference will focus on the inequities that are experienced by Aboriginal populations in terms of health. Conference co-ordinator and SIHI president, Simi Arora felt compelled to provide a forum in which persons could share their ideas and experiences with respect to Aboriginal health. "It is important that we come together to talk about these issues, instead of always focusing our attention outside of our own communities," said Arora. "The injustices that Aboriginal populations have faced historically continue to the present, and we need to put them at the forefront of our discussions of health." The conference will bring together speakers from a broad range of disciplines. Keynote speaker for the conference is Ovide Mercredi, former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations. Hamilton resident Andrew Orkin will also speak at the conference. Orkin has been a key partner in the litigation surrounding the Red Hill Valley expressway project.

January 23, 2004

Granting degrees to McMaster graduates at convocation ceremonies is a lot like football, says Melvin Hawkrigg, McMaster's chancellor, honourary degree recipient, alumnus, and a member of the University's sports hall of fame. There's a big crowd watching, you really need a quarterback to direct your next move, and it takes a while to learn the plays. In six years he's led more than 24,000 students to educational victory in one of the University's oldest and most important roles, and he's about to embark on a third three-year appointment as McMaster's 16th Chancellor. "I fumbled a bit at that first convocation," he laughs. "In trying to make it personal and chat with each graduate, I listened for their names but usually forgot the degree they were getting. I granted a few degrees that year that hadn't been thought of, let alone authorized, but everything worked out alright in the end."

January 22, 2004

While the search for planets outside our Solar System has had a long and dismal history, theoretical astrophysicist Alan Boss is on a mission to change that -- and fast. Boss is on a race to find new solar systems and will explain how at the fourth Origins Lecture tonight. Boss, a research staff member at the Carnegie Institution's Department of Terrestrial Magnetism in Washington, DC., will present "The Race to Find New Solar Systems", Thursday, Jan. 22 at 8 p.m. in Chester New Hall, Rm. 104. As one of the world's leading authorities and lecturers on planet formation, Boss will discuss the search for planets outside our Solar System. To date, he says, more than 100 planets have been found outside our Solar System, ranging from the fairly familiar to the weirdly unexpected. All of the new planets discovered appear to be gas giant planets, similar to our Jupiter and Saturn. The next challenge is to find ice giant planets, similar to Uranus and Neptune, and eventually to find evidence of Earth-like planets, capable of supporting life. NASA has designed an array of ground and space-based telescopes that will carry out this incredible search in the next two decades.

January 22, 2004

McMaster students are hosting a Charity Ball and Mac Idol singing competition this month in an effort to ward off the winter blues. Mac Idol . . .

January 21, 2004

The McMaster University Chinese Students' Association (CSA) held its second annual Chinese New Year exhibition in the McMaster University Student Centre Wednesday. Last year's exhibition was a great success and allowed the McMaster community to get a taste of Chinese culture while celebrating the Chinese New Year. This year marks McMaster CSA's 37th year of serving the McMaster Chinese community as well as promoting the Chinese culture to students, faculty and staff across campus. For the Year of the Monkey, CSA once again presented an exhibition to the McMaster community, showcasing some traditional Chinese New Year food, games and martial arts performances as well as the colourful lion dance. This year's guests of honour included McMaster University President Peter George and professor Luke Chan, associate vice president, Office of International Affairs. They performed the traditional eye dotting ceremony to awaken the spirits of the lions before the start of the lion dance. The McMaster CSA is a non-profit organization that acts as a medium to promoting and conserving the Chinese culture in Canadian society. McMaster CSA was established in 1967. It now has more than 500 active members with one of the larger club memberships on campus.

January 21, 2004

The planning committee for the new Athletics and Recreation Sport Multi-plex is inviting interested members of the McMaster community to apply for positions on the . . .

January 20, 2004

Taxpayers have been asked to help McMaster University lure students into its family medicine residency program for a second straight year. If approved by council, . . .

January 20, 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 a new job evaluation tool for positions in the MUSA bargaining unit. The implementation of the new system is scheduled for June 16, 2005. Development of the tool has progressed to the pilot test phase. The JJESC has selected about 40 jobs from within the bargaining unit that will be evaluated in this pilot test. Jobs were selected to ensure the pilot includes a representative sample of the types of jobs found in the bargaining unit. Over the next two weeks, employees in the selected jobs and their supervisors will be contacted regarding their participation and involvement in the pilot study and will be provided with the materials necessary to participate in this study.

January 19, 2004

The future of our Canadian past will be the focus of a new professorship in Canadian history created at McMaster University. Canadian business executive Lynton Ronald (Red) Wilson has donated $1 million - $200,000 a year over the next five years - to establish the L. R. Wilson Professor in Canadian History in McMaster's Faculty of Humanities. The University will contribute $250,000 - $50,000 a year for five years  to support the gift. Wilson, a distinguished McMaster alumnus with a bachelor's degree in economics, is a founding co-chairman of the Historica Foundation of Canada. The foundation's mandate is to provide Canadians with a deeper understanding of their history and its importance in shaping the future. Wilson, who also holds a master of arts degree in economics from Cornell University, is hailed as a keen supporter of the study of Canadian history and believer in the value of a broad liberal arts education. "Understanding our past is a bridge to a better future," Wilson said today at a ceremony announcing his generous donation. "The study and teaching of Canadian history deserves much greater emphasis in all of our educational institutions and McMaster is well-equipped to lead the way. As a country comprising people from diverse cultures and backgrounds, a broad appreciation of our history is an essential foundation on which to build a shared understanding, so that we can continue to encourage reasonable loyalty and foster responsible citizenship." The L. R. Wilson Professor in Canadian History will be a renowned historian who will have a research specialization in Canadian historical studies and will teach undergraduate and graduate students. The professor will have a mandate to work with an interdisciplinary advisory board to develop history seminars, annual conferences, lectureships and an annual juried book competition to name the best book on Canadian history.

January 19, 2004

Health and wellness promoters are making a deal with McMaster students and employees this week. Butt out and win. As part of National Non-Smoking Week, McMaster's Campus Health is joining campuses across Ontario in the annual Leave The Pack Behind initiative that encourages both students and employees to reduce or quit smoking. Those who are successful can win cash prizes, donations from local businesses and campus bookstore coupons. "Noting that Canadian 19- to 24-year-olds have the highest smoking rate of any age group and show a preference for cigarettes labeled light and mild, this Government of Ontario and Health Canada funded initiative will attempt to motivate students and employees of McMaster to quit, reduce or not start smoking," says Jane Radix, health education co-ordinator with Student Health Services. The week-long contest will run at McMaster, Brock University, University of Guelph, University of Ottawa, Queen's University, Ryerson University, University of Toronto and University of Windsor. The Let's Make A Deal contest offers cash prizes, donations from local businesses, and campus bookstore coupons to both students and employees achieving various levels of success in reducing or quitting smoking.

January 16, 2004

McMaster's new registrar is looking forward to working with students from the time they are considering which university to attend right through to Convocation ceremonies. Louis (Lou) R. Ariano has been named McMaster registrar. Senate and the executive committee of the Board of Governors approved his appointment earlier in the week. He takes up his new post on Feb. 1. Ariano said he was attracted by the broad scope of the role of the registrar at McMaster, including student recruitment and liaison, admissions, registration and records and Convocation. "I look forward to the opportunity to work with students from the recruitment stage through to Convocation," said Ariano. "I've always thought of McMaster as an institution that is held in high esteem, not only in Ontario, but across the university system in Canada and I'm looking forward to being part of this continued success."

January 15, 2004

Twenty-five years, more than 600 teams of researchers and more than $400 million of research support - that, in a nutshell, sums up the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council's investment in McMaster's research enterprise. Mamdouh Shoukri, vice-president of research & international affairs, told guests at a 25th anniversary celebration that their contribution to research is far more than just numbers. "What you have contributed to advancing research over the last quarter century is enormous and, simply, cannot be summed up by the numbers. This is indeed, one of those cases, where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. These parts -- your contributions -- are significant, not only to McMaster, but for the Canadian research landscape. Many of you, through your early research projects, inspired new theories, new ways of thinking and new possibilities for subsequent generations of researchers." McMaster President Peter George echoed Shoukri's comments adding that McMaster has earned its reputation as one of the country's most innovative universities largely on the strength of its research community. "McMaster's research enterprise -- indeed the Canadian research landscape -- has changed significantly over the last 25 years.