Daily News

July 24, 2003

She brings a familiarity of Canadian institutional art collection, a strong understanding of modern art and is skilled in research, display and dissemination. Alexandria Pierce started her first day on the job Monday as the new acting director and curator of the McMaster Museum of Art. "I am really excited about being part of such an extraordinary facility that is renowned for its collection and state-of-the-art exhibitions," said Pierce. "The art museum is the jewel in the crown of a knowledge-based, research-oriented university. Our role is to guide and teach in the cultural sphere." Pierce comes from Montreal where she recently obtained her Ph.D (History in Art). Her past experience includes assistant curator at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria and curator at the Gallery III (University of Manitoba). She also has a strong background in research and teaching at the university level.

July 24, 2003

Thirty-four students who wrote deferred exams last Thursday will need to be re-examined after a thief stole finished exam papers. Just over 50 students from . . .

July 23, 2003

McMaster's Trish Chant has been named director of games at Commonwealth Games Canada (CGC). The position takes effect in mid-October. Chant has been part of the McMaster University Advancement and Athletics & Recreation team as an advancement officer for the past five years. Her responsibilities include managing annual fundraising programs, generating private and public support and strengthening alumni affinity and commitment to the University and the department. She has also served as the co-ordinator of communications and media relations for the department. Director of Athletics and Recreation, Therese Quigley says, "Trish has contributed tremendously to our athletic and recreation program and we will miss her immensely. She is a dear friend to so many of us and we wish her continued success and happiness as she takes on new adventures with Commonwealth Games Canada and married life in Ottawa." As a member of the Hamilton Bid Corporation for the 2010 bid to host the Commonwealth Games, Chant has been intricately involved in all aspects of the bid process from the preparation of the bid documents and hosting of international delegations, to behind the scenes operational and logistical tasks over the past 10 months.

July 23, 2003

Starting this week, three temporary generators installed on the northwest corner of campus will supply up to 80 per cent of the peak energy demand at McMaster. The low-sound, natural gas fired generators will produce 23.7 megawatts of power to all of campus. The generators will operate between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. Monday to Friday for a maximum of four hours a day. McMaster will use all of the power in the summer months, while in the cooler months, the excess power will be fed into the Hydro One grid, with cost savings from this going to McMaster. The Ontario government awarded Ontario Energy Management (OEM) a contract through the Ontario Electricity Financial Corporation to provide three 7.9 megawatt generators (a total of 23.7 megawatts) of firm peaking capacity and energy located at the NF91 substation over the next seven to nine months.

July 22, 2003

The Swiss and French Alps are what physics professor Cecile Fradin misses the most since coming to McMaster 20 months ago. Hamilton's infamous mountain just isn't the kind of rugged terrain Fradin, a native of France, considers a challenge. Instead, Fradin's new challenges are found in a newly renovated research lab in the Arthur Bourns Building where she is conducting research into cellular dynamics. Her field of study, biophysics, is an amalgamation of biology and physics. Fradin, who holds a Canada Research Chair in Molecular Biophysics, was always drawn to the area of optics in her studies that have taken her from the heart of Paris, to Pisa, Italy, New York and Israel. "I've always liked experiments that involved optics," she says. "I like to be able to see things with my own eyes instead of reconstructing them."

July 21, 2003

There is something rewarding about submitting a paper that is your own. Spending hours on the computer, deleting words that don't fit, adding paragraphs with more pizzazz. Putting sweat and tears into an assignment worth 20 per cent of the final grade. But what about the student that logs into a paper mill, searches through a database containing thousands of papers, and paying $50 for something they have no knowledge about? Both may get the same mark, but the satisfaction they feel will be poles apart. Indeed, integrity is worth more than the grade itself, feels Andrea Thyret-Kidd, McMaster's new academic integrity officer. Thyret-Kidd was hired last fall to implement the University's new Academic Integrity Code, which took effect May 1, with a transition between the old and new policy until September. The code, which replaces the Academic Dishonesty Policy, is intended to change people's attitudes from dishonesty to valuing integrity, she says. "It's not just about the negative side but it's about the positive side too. Part of the reason we're doing this is to protect the integrity of the entire campus and the integrity of those students who didn't cheat."

July 18, 2003

McMaster medical students are being job shadowed  by a film crew. Filming has begun for the second season of a highly acclaimed television reality show based on their lives and learning. The Med Students series is produced by Breakthrough Productions of Toronto in conjunction with the Faculty of Health Sciences and Hamilton Health Sciences. The first season, 13 episodes of Med Students was broadcast last year on the Life Network and Discovery Health to great acclaim. The first season showcased the excellent education and patient care provided at McMaster and its partner hospitals. The show enjoyed significant popularity and positive feedback from viewers, including fan mail to some students. Second-year internal medicine resident Jamie Newman was recently filmed during his first shift at St. Joseph's Healthcare, Hamilton as a senior medical resident, taking responsibility for incoming patients. "I thought it would be fun," he said. "I also feel that my story is pretty common to people in and outside of medicine, therefore easy to relate to."

July 17, 2003

Hungry? How does Asian smoked tuna loin paired with a crispy Szechuan barbequed shrimp roll, and a salad of sea asparagus and braised fennel sound? What it doesn't sound like is a traditional campus meal, but these delicious dishes were actually part of the grand prize-winning meal prepared by a team of chefs from McMaster University at the recent Canadian College & University Food Services Association (CCUFSA) conference. McMaster University Hospitality Services hosted the 2003 conference from June 25 to 29. Now in its 25th year, this event drew 180 Canadian and international delegates to McMaster for four days of workshops, presentations, and collaboration. One of the highlights of the conference was the fourth annual Culinary Challenge. Five teams, including McMaster University, University of Waterloo, University of Massachusetts, Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) and Chartwells, participated in this ultimate test of culinary prowess and skill. Each team prepared an appetizer, entrie, and dessert, which were judged both individually and as complete meals. The McMaster team, consisting of Stephen Lee, John French and Nathan Evans, took grand prize for their meal.

July 16, 2003

McMaster has experienced strong demand this year for residence space so Housing & Conference Services is advising students who are on the waiting list to investigate other possibilities for housing. Traditionally, this is the time of year when students are changing their minds about attending university so the number of people who want a space in residence does fluctuate. Last year during the month of July more than 100 students changed their minds about attending McMaster or living in residence. Phil Wood, associate vice-president student affairs, says that trend is continuing this year but the 400 or so students on the waiting list should be considering other alternatives. "The situation is pretty fluid at this point," he said, "but we encourage students on the waiting list to plan accordingly and ensure they are looking at other arrangements."

July 16, 2003

Some people do it because they want to advance science. Others do it because they want to make fast money. If you're willing to be . . .

July 15, 2003

McMaster student Michael Kinsner is helping develop a relatively inexpensive means of mailing material back to Earth from the international space station. The fourth-year computer engineering and management student is working with an international scientific team in France, conducting experiments in weightless conditions in an aircraft over France and Belgium -- the so-called "vomit comet" used in astronaut training. The team, led by Kinsner's dad and McMaster alumnus Witold Kinsner '74 (University of Manitoba director of research), includes University of Manitoba master's students Neil Gadhok and Stephen Dueck. The students left for France this past weekend, where they will experience up to 30 episodes each trip of weightless conditions lasting about 30 seconds. The aircraft flies a lengthy parabolic trajectory that's been likened to a roller coaster, producing brief weightless conditions.

July 15, 2003

Despite a disappointing showing at the American Solar Challenge in the United States, McMaster's solar race car, Fireball II — like the Phoenix — will . . .

July 14, 2003

Therese Quigley, McMaster's director of Athletics & Recreation, feels "very blessed" to have lived and worked in McMaster's supportive community for 18 years. And her best years, she vows, are still ahead of her. Quigley's drive and enthusiasm, along with exceptional teaching, coaching and management skills have brought her a long way. Growing up in London, Ontario, in a family of seven children, she remembers sports as her earliest passion. From the age of six, she played competitively and by her twelfth year, tennis had become the major focus. She says, "There were public courts about a block and a half from me and London had a very good junior development program. You didn't have to be wealthy to play and many of the players did not come from families who could afford to pay membership fees. A lot of them became tennis professionals. We played at a high level; it was very competitive. Clearly, my whole career grew from the sporting experiences I had at a young age."

July 14, 2003

There'll be no McMaster University entry in the 2003 American Solar Challenge race between Chicago and California. Fireball II, the university's entry in the 3,700-kilometre . . .

July 11, 2003

Cities that spend more on environmental protection spend less on health care costs, a McMaster Institute of Environment and Health study shows. In the first Canadian study to ever examine the link between the cost of pollution and health care costs, researchers found that Ontario counties with higher pollution outputs tend to have higher per capita health care expenditures, while those that spend more on defending environmental quality through spending on areas such as sewer and water works, waste management, emergency planning and recreational facilities spend less on health care. McMaster University researchers Michael Jerrett, John Eyles and Stephen Birch, along with University of Waterloo researcher Christian Dufournaud examined data on toxic pollution reported by industries to Environment Canada and all hospital and OHIP billings. These billings covered areas such as surgeries, asthma and cancer treatments and equipment purchases. The researchers studied data from all of Ontario's 49 counties and regions.

July 10, 2003

Want to know how to weld a monk? First, you take iron. Then you add fire. Master blacksmith Eddie Payne will show you how today in the Zone 1 parking lot. He is one of 12 artists displaying blacksmith talent at McMaster July 10-13. During the fourth annual CanIRON Conference, called "Share Our Fire", blacksmiths are providing demonstrations on welding, firing and molding iron. Six rows of Zone 1 are blocked off at the north-east side of the lot, north of Les Prince Field for the event. The public is invited to view some of the demonstrations, although most sections are reserved for conference participants. More than 250 participants from North America and Europe are attending the conference, with many staying in residence. "I'm really excited," says organizer Rowlande Rozon, also an artist and blacksmith. "We're expecting a lot of guests from the general public, as well as artists, blacksmiths and galleries." She hopes the conference keeps the fire in blacksmithing alive. "What we're trying to do is make sure the art is passed on and it's not lost on future generations," she says. That is why demonstrations are so important, she says, since artists learn the art by watching and learning from others.

July 9, 2003

McMaster's track will be the site of one of the fastest 10,000 metre events on Canadian soil today. The Hamilton High Performance 10,000 Meter Footrace features 10 Americans, seven Canadians, four Kenyans and one runner from the Congo. The race gets under way at 9 p.m. "Old-time distance running makes a return to McMaster," says meet director Peter Self. "Twenty-five laps of pain will be on display Wednesday night from this high-quality field." The top seed for the event is Peter Ntabo (28:01) a native of Kenya who currently resides in Hamilton. The two seed is a Niagara resident, formerly of the Congo, Giitah Macharia (28:02). The third, fourth and fifth seeds from the United States are Rich Brinker (28:36), Brian Sell (28:36), and Joe Driscoll (28:48).

July 9, 2003

Have you ever considered a career in teaching? Thought about teachers' college? Maybe you're interested in being a TA in the future? McMaster's Department of . . .

July 9, 2003

Your doctor hands you a prescription. The pharmacist fills it. Usually, that's the end of it. It shouldn't be, according to Hamilton researchers. They envisage . . .

July 8, 2003

Registrar George Granger announced today that he is resigning his position at McMaster this summer to accept the post of executive director of the Ontario Universities' Application Centre (OUAC). Effective September 2, 2003 Granger will begin his new post at the OUAC offices in Guelph. Reporting to the president of the Council of Ontario Universities, Granger will be responsible for the delivery of a centralized admissions application processing service for Ontario's universities. He will also oversee the development of the Centre's related policies, principals and procedures. OUAC processes applications for all undergraduate programs as well as teacher education, law, medicine and rehabilitation sciences. "George's insightful leadership has been instrumental to the advancements in managing McMaster's recruitment and admissions processes," says provost and vice-president academic Ken Norrie. "His wealth of experience has contributed to the Registrar's Office implementing effective new systems to accommodate the changing needs of prospective and current students, including the special requirements of the double cohort era. George has developed strong working relationships with his staff and people at all levels and we'll all miss working with him."