Daily News

September 15, 2003

CSI Crime Scene Investigation might be one of the hottest shows on television, but it certainly doesn't rate very highly with John Waye , professor of pathology and molecular medicine . Recognized as an expert in DNA profiling, Waye has served as a consultant or expert witness in hundreds of cases across Canada, including high profile murder cases such as Guy Paul Morin and Allan Legere. Waye will be the first speaker in the new season of the Science in the City lecture series, public lectures sponsored jointly by McMaster and the Hamilton Spectator . "There's not much that's real about shows like CSI. The answers just don't come that quickly or that easily," says Waye, noting that DNA testing in Canada usually takes at least 10 weeks. If the case is high profile, involving a murderer and/or sex offender, than public safety is at risk and the case is given priority.

September 15, 2003

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Cycling_sept9_opt.jpg” caption=”Cyclist”] McMaster has launched a new Web site to provide students, staff, faculty, and visitors who require access to McMaster during the . . .

September 15, 2003

In front of Commonwealth Games vice-chairman and Malaysian prince Tunku Imran, the McMaster Marauders defeated the University of Toronto Varsity Blues 80-0 Saturday. Performing in . . .

September 12, 2003

An innovative marketing campaign for McMaster's campus libraries is using varsity athletes to help make fellow students more aware of the resources available at their library of choice. Anne Plessl, development officer, Mills Memorial Library, co-ordinated a team of library staff and representatives from the Department of Athletics and Recreation to launch a poster campaign that incorporates varsity athletes and library images to promote the library's collections and services. "We're using this campaign to promote the library to students in a fun, less traditional way," says Plessl. "We want to get their attention and generally raise awareness of the library and its resources." Click here for a slide show presentation of the poster series.

September 12, 2003

If you haven't noticed the double cohort in hallways, coffee line-ups or parking lots, you'll see it in preliminary undergraduate and graduate enrolment numbers, reported . . .

September 12, 2003

TSX Group of Companies is the latest national sponsor of the Directors College at McMaster University. A cornerstone of Canada's financial system, TSX Group operations . . .

September 11, 2003

Can wealth determine a woman's chance of surviving breast cancer? Can gender stereotypes affect the diagnosis of heart disease? Scholar, author and activist Nancy Krieger . . .

September 11, 2003

If you happen to find yourself being jostled in the buffet line at Hamilton's Mandarin restaurant tonight don't take offence. It's just the McMaster Marauders' . . .

September 10, 2003

Three vision scientists from McMaster University's Visual Development Lab have discovered that the right hemisphere of a baby's brain must receive visual input during the first few weeks of life to allow the brain to develop normal face processing skills. Their findings are detailed in the article, "Expert face processing requires visual input to the right hemisphere during infancy", published this week in the online edition of the journal Nature Neuroscience. Adults can recognize hundreds of faces at a glance. One reason we are so good is that we recognize small differences between people in how their features are spaced (e.g., how far apart their eyes are). This allows us to recognize someone's face from a novel point of view (e.g., to recognize someone sitting across the aisle at a movie theater with whom we previously had only face-to-face interactions). This skill continues to develop through adolescence and seems to depend on the right hemisphere. "The two halves of the brain are not created equal as only the right hemisphere appears able to develop expertise in processing faces," said psychology professor Daphne Maurer. "We know from this study that early visual input to the right hemisphere is required for this skill to develop correctly."

September 9, 2003

Clinical nurse specialists Janet Pinelli and Amanda Symington are the new site co-representatives for The Canadian Cochrane Network and Centre (CCN/C) at McMaster University. In their new positions, they will seek to raise awareness of The Cochrane Collaboration, an international organization that helps individuals make well-informed decisions about health care. "We would like to focus on advanced clinical practitioners from the allied health professions as our target group, in order to raise their awareness of The Cochrane Collaboration and the benefits for all health care professionals," says Pinelli. Symington adds: "As advanced practitioners who have completed two systematic reviews, we can provide advice and support to individuals who are interested in participating in The Cochrane Collaboration as reviewers. We believe that The Cochrane Collaboration is a key resource in the facilitation of evidence-based practice."

September 9, 2003

McMaster University, including the Downtown Centre, will remain open during the Road World Cycling Championships Oct. 6 to 12. Exams, classes and programs will continue as usual that week, except for at the Centre for Continuing Education at the Downtown Centre, which will not hold classes during the week of Oct. 6-12. The Hamilton boards of education will close schools for the championships. Although routes for the races do not encompass either the main McMaster campus or Downtown Centre, the routing and number of visitors could have an impact on University access. While everyone will be able to get to campus and the Downtown Centre, traffic congestion is expected to be heavier than usual, and delays should be anticipated. McMaster employees and students are encouraged to study race routes and schedules, available at http://www.hamilton2003.com to know when affected roads will be closed each day of the event which will determine where congestion occurs on other alternate routes through the city. Main Street will close between James Street and Queen Street for the duration of the event. Other roads will close one hour prior to the start of each race and will reopen approximately one hour after the finish of each race. Routes and race times will vary each day of the race. Click here for details.

September 9, 2003

McMaster University and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario today announced the appointment of Heather Arthur as the first Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario Chair in Cardiovascular Nursing. In her new position, Arthur will work closely with McMaster's health partners to encourage new research and postgraduate studies in cardiovascular nursing. She will also continue her own program of research related to health behaviour and its relationship to both risk for, and recovery from, heart disease. "Dr. Arthur has established a reputation as an exceptional cardiovascular nurse researcher and educator," said John Kelton, dean and vice-president of health sciences at McMaster. "We're very pleased and excited to be able to recognize her invaluable work with this appointment."

September 8, 2003

A lack of evidence on the value of new health technologies has the Province of Ontario in a little bit of a conundrum. Without systematic comparative evidence on the effectiveness and efficiency of new medical technologies, how do they decide what should and should not be reimbursed? With a $3-million grant over three years from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, McMaster's Bernie O'Brien is hoping to provide some guidance. Through a series of research studies, the co-director of the Centre for Evaluation of Medicines and director of the Program for Assessment of Technology in Health (PATH) will assess the economic benefit of new medical technologies, providing evidence to support government reimbursement decisions. "Evaluation research is about trying to gather the evidence so the decision makers can make sensible decisions," says the professor in the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at McMaster. "They're tough choices because they involve trade-offs between different disease areas."

September 8, 2003

The McMaster Marauder baseball team dropped their first game of the season on Sunday evening when they fell to the Brock Badgers in the Blue . . .

September 8, 2003

Make it McMaster Marauders 107, Ontario University Athletics opponents 0. The Marauders, who started the season with a 56-0 gutting of the Guelph Gryphons just . . .

September 5, 2003

On Saturday, Sept. 6, McMaster students will be wrapping up their Welcome Week activities by giving the residents of Hamilton a reason to shine. They'll be at street corners and shopping malls armed with polish, cloths, and donation boxes to make everyday articles shimmer and raise money for a good cause. Third-year biochemistry student and fundraising initiative team (FIT) co-ordinator Binny Jandu, says McMaster has a long, proud tradition in Shinerama, the largest post-secondary fundraising event that has raised more than $14 million for Cystic Fibrosis (CF), a fatal genetic disorder that leaves its sufferers highly susceptible to lung and digestive tract problems. "This is a great opportunity for university students because it is one of the only Welcome Week events that is directed specifically at the community," says Jandu. "They still get to make new friends and have a lot of fun, but they're helping a really good cause too."

September 5, 2003

A double ring shape encircles a shield emblazoned with the McMaster coat of arms. Within it, two massive rings indicate the time. This is the brainchild of mechanical engineering graduates Patrick Burton, Braden Kurczak, Michael Paddags and Peter Whitred, who today presented a "clock ring" perched atop the doorframe at the north entrance to the McMaster University Student Centre. But even more than that, they presented their legacy. "We wanted to give something back to the University," said Whitred to the Daily News. "We all had such a great experience over our five-year degree and we love McMaster and engineering that we wanted to give something back. It's also a little immortality for us," he said, adding whenever they come back to campus to see the clock it will remind them of their student years.

September 4, 2003

A new name and a new face will put human rights issues at McMaster in a different light, with the recent appointment of a director for Human Rights and Equity Services (HRES), formerly known as the Sexual Harassment and Anti-Discrimination Office (SHADO). Mark Walma, a Hamilton native and McMaster alumnus, joins the University after earning a law degree and recently serving as the acting director of Equity Services at The University of Western Ontario where he also chaired Western's New Ontarians With Disabilities Act Committee. "I'm very excited to have the opportunity to return to my hometown and, even more so, to be able to pursue my passion for human rights at my alma mater," says Walma. "I have very fond memories from my undergrad and graduate work here and look forward to being able to give something back to the McMaster University community."

September 3, 2003

September 3, 2003

An important message was heard today. "Watch out for each other." It's simple, but it can make a big difference in a university student's life. It's the key message of a rape drug awareness campaign launched by a coalition of McMaster and Hamilton agencies. Last year, there was an increase in reported cases of suspected druggings and sexual assaults, and this year community agencies are prepared with a public awareness campaign directed at university and college students. "The timing of this campaign is crucial," says Jane Mulkewich, human rights and equity services officer at McMaster, who adds it coincides with the Month Without Violence in September. "It's the time of the year of the greatest risk."