November 29, 2002

Eight first-year students were recently recognized with McMaster Scholar Awards, valued at approximately $30,000 each over four years. This year's winners competed against more than 1,000 applicants from across Canada. The recipients are, pictured in front, right to left, Ayesha Hashambhoy, Christina Schoenhoeffer, Kalinda Ramsaran and Alicia Pinarello. Pictured in back, right to left, are Michael Schatte, Trisha Pataki, President Peter George, Heather Wong and Karleen Dudeck. The McMaster Scholar Awards are the University's most prestigious entrance scholarships. In 2002-03, the McMaster Scholar Awards were redesigned to increase the value of the scholarships. In 2002, first-year meal plans and residence costs were added to the cash value of the award. The awards are presented to students with an average of 90 per cent or higher and who have demonstrated strong academic, extracurricular and leadership achievements.

November 28, 2002

More than 120 home and health care workers from Native communities across Ontario will gather at McMaster during December and January to receive specialized training offered through McMaster's Centre for Continuing Education. The Chiefs of Ontario, with funding from Health Canada, asked McMaster to provide the training to representatives from 135 First Nations communities in Ontario. McMaster is currently the only university in the province to offer extensive programming in case management education. Over the next eight weeks, three groups of approximately 40 participants each will arrive at McMaster for six days of learning under The First Nations Case Management Training Program. The program gets under way on Monday, Dec. 2 with the first group of participants. "We have developed a week-long program that has been specially designed by McMaster professor Anju Joshi for the needs of the home and community care workers in various First Nations communities," says Ruth Nicholson, CCE program co-ordinator. "The program will feature experts who are aboriginal as well as non-aboriginal and we hope it will be culturally relevant and sensitive." "We have worked hard to customize the program's content for the participants and we are very fortunate to have the support of a wonderfully committed McMaster faculty to assist in the teaching and delivery of a wide range of subject areas," says Joshi, associate professor of gerontology. Joshi says learners will enhance their knowledge and skill sets needed to perform the role of a case manager and will be able to critically examine issues that affect the delivery of service. Instruction will cover the areas of advocacy, the health and social concerns of individuals and families in different life stages, legal issues, depression and diabetes, and case management models and approaches. The program will be delivered by a multi-disciplinary faculty of professionals and includes Wayne Warry, Bill Lee, Irene Turpie, Dawn Martin-Hill, Micheline Gagnon, Kathy MacDonald, Elizabether Latimer and Harriet MacMillan. Nicholson says the program is being supported by federal funding and is part of a new First Nations and federal government initiative to bring much needed co-ordination to home and community care in Native communities. "The Chiefs of Ontario were impressed with our program and that played a role in their decision to come here. This is really an honour for Hamilton, McMaster and the Downtown Centre, " said Joshi. The first session kicks off with a ceremony beginning at 8:30 a.m. on Monday morning (Dec. 2), which will feature aboriginal singer Lisa Longboat, Chiefs of Ontario spokespersons Tracey Antone and Donna Loft, and University President Peter George. Sessions two and three will be held during the weeks of Dec. 9 and Jan. 20. Wednesday evenings during the program (Dec. 4 and 11 and Jan. 22) have been set aside for cultural and social activities in the University Centre Marketplace. These events are being sponsored by McMaster's Indigenous Studies Program and the Office of the President. For more information, contact Ruth Nicholson at ext. 24520.

November 28, 2002

McMaster researcher James Wadsley has helped demonstrate that large gaseous planets like Jupiter could be created in hundreds, not millions of years, as previously believed. The research associate with SHARCNET (Shared Hierarchical Academic Research Computing Network) is part of a team of international astrophysicists from the U.S. and Switzerland, who have successfully created the first computer simulation that shows giant gaseous planets can be formed quickly. Their research is published in today's edition of Science. Wadsley became involved when he developed the gas computer code used for the research as a post-doctoral fellow while at the University of Washington in Seattle. Lucio Mayer, of the University of Zurich, is the lead author. The co-authors are University of Washington astrophysicist Thomas Quinn and Joachim Stadel, formerly of the University of Victoria in British Columbia and now at the University of Zurich. The popular theory holds that rocky planets like Earth were created as rocks orbiting in a disk around the young sun continuously collided, sticking to form larger and larger objects. Further from the sun, the collision process is thought to take millions of years. This theory is more difficult to accept for giant gaseous planets like Jupiter and Saturn because the planets have to form before nearby bright stars can disperse the gases that must be added to the theoretical rocky core. The new approach assumes that the disk is heavy with gas that can fragment under its own gravity to form gas giant planets in just a few hundred years without a preceding rocky stage.

November 28, 2002

In 1977, 96 new faculty and staff joined McMaster University. Last night, they joined a special group  McMaster's Quarter Century Club. "In every decade, McMaster has grown and prospered," remarked President Peter George to the staff and faculty who contributed 25 years of service to the University. "You saw it happen. In fact, you helped to make it happen. None of what McMaster is today would have been possible without the faculty and staff who dared to dream, to ask the right questions, to go above and beyond the call of duty to help a colleague or a student. You have all risen to meet the challenge, and the University is very grateful." About 20 more employees than last year were inducted, as a result of the University marking cumulative service. Introduced in 2002, the intent of cumulative service recognition is to acknowledge the total service of employees, including those who left the University for a time and then returned to continue their work. Click here for a list of the inductees.

November 27, 2002

Pop quiz: True or false Coffee cups cannot be recycled Fine paper bins located in offices should be used to recycle paper only Newspaper, fine paper, envelopes and sticky pads can be put together in the paper recycling containers Contamination renders the entire recycling bin as garbage If you answered false to any of these questions, you may need a lesson in proper recycling. While McMaster's newly reinstated recycling program is one step closer to making the University more environmentally friendly, without the knowledge of how to recycle, these efforts may as well be trashed, says Stephanie Herod, a physical plant environmental student representative who is working with OMG Media to ensure that new recycling bins are installed throughout campus. Tossing garbage into the wrong bin can contaminate the entire container, she says. "Physical Plant can get this going but nothing can get recycled unless people do it correctly," she says. "People need to be educated about what goes in what bins and we need to generate enthusiasm in people to want to recycle."

November 26, 2002

Zipping along Route 66 at speeds in excess of 70 km/h, the car won't burn an iota of gasoline. As the sun in the hazy Arizona sky burns overhead, the driver will clinch the wheel and power on in a race against more than 30 teams from around the globe. They call it Fireball II and they know it's going to be a force to be reckoned with. "We're going to be very competitive," says third-year commerce student Tammy Hwang about the American Solar Challenge just eight months away. "We plan to make it into the top five. I know that sounds ambitious, but we have the right kind of teamwork and skills to do it."

November 25, 2002

McMaster has embarked on a new and important strategic planning process called Refining Directions. University President Peter George and Provost Ken Norrie invite all members of the campus community to attend one of three upcoming information sessions to find out more about this initiative, which will help McMaster plan and prepare for the years following the double cohort (beyond 2005). Session Dates and Times Tuesday, November 26: 3:30-4:30 p.m., HSC-1A4 Thursday, November 28: 2:30-4 p.m., Room 241 Downtown Centre Monday, December 2: 1-2 p.m., Room 319, McMaster University Student Centre Refreshments provided

November 22, 2002

Two recent reports outline challenges and opportunities for McMaster in ensuring our libraries continue to play a vital role in the academic mission. The report of the Ad Hoc Committee to Review the University Library and its Relationship to McMaster's Academic Mission and the Health Sciences Library External Review are posted on the University's Web site. University Provost Ken Norrie and members of the University Planning Committee are inviting feedback from the campus community on the findings and recommendations contained in both documents. "These reports serve as a powerful reminder of the importance of the Library to the teaching and research mission at McMaster and the potential dangers if we neglect it," says Norrie. "Our libraries are among our most important resources and are a crucial component of the academic operation. Academic libraries around the world are in a state of transformation and the change is rapid and unprecedented. The challenge for McMaster, as well as for other academic institutions is to embrace this change, manage it, and, in the end, strengthen and protect a resource that is absolutely essential and integral to our academic mission," says Norrie. Comments on the reports can be sent to Bruce Frank, Secretary of the Board of Governors, by the first week in December. While financial cutbacks have taken their toll on academic libraries, including McMaster, libraries have also been drastically affected by external factors: rapid technological change, the declining value of the Canadian dollar in a largely American book and journal market, and publication monopolies. The reports outline the crisis facing McMaster libraries and others, most notably a decline in intellectual resources. For more details about the reports,

November 21, 2002

The community care component of the Healthy Babies, Healthy Children (HBHC) Postpartum Enhancement program is reaching most postpartum women, according to the results of a study released at the Ontario Public Health Association Conference in Toronto. Nursing professor Wendy Sword and social work professor Susan Watt, of McMaster University, presented the initial findings from a survey of 1,250 women at five hospitals in southern and central Ontario, conducted last winter and spring. This study, called Maternal and Newborn Infant Health Outcomes and Community-Based Service Utilization in Ontario Following Policy Change, is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. The expanded HBHC program, announced by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care in 1999, responded to concerns about the health and well-being of mothers and their newborn infants. The changes were intended to provide women with the option of staying in hospital for up to 60 hours after a normal birth, a follow-up telephone assessment by a public health nurse within 48 hours of discharge and the offer of a home visit.

November 20, 2002

McMaster's Centre for Peace Studies is hosting a Festival of Light fundraising dinner on Sunday, Nov. 24 to help poor rural women in India learn how to improve village life. Funds will go towards training camps that promote peace by teaching women about non-violence, peace and democracy. In these camps, women learn about their rights and responsibilities and essentially about how to stand on their own feet. Many of these women are members of the village council who were elected two years ago after a constitutional reform gave women more power by reserving one-third of the seats in all elected bodies for women. For many, this is their first chance to learn what democracy means. The peace training camps, called Women's Shanti Sena, began last February with an International Peace Conference in Vaishali, India, co-sponsored jointly by the Centre for Peace Studies and an Indian non-governmental organization located in Patna, India. Since that conference, about 2,000 women have been trained with the financial help of the State level UNICEF office. Also at the conference, the Vaishali Sabha People's Assembly became a Vaishali Sabha Peace Movement. There is a great demand for holding similar Women's Peace Training Camps in other parts of India. At the fundraiser, members of the Peace Centre, including religious studies professors Graeme MacQueen and Anne Pearson and biology professor Rama Singh, who participated in the Vaishali Peace Conference, will present their thoughts on the conference as well on the ongoing work of Women's Shanti Sena. The fundraiser takes place at the Michelangelo Banquet Centre and will consist of an exhibit on Vaishali, cultural program (Kathak dance) and an Indian vegetarian dinner. The cost of the dinner is $50 per person (tax receipt) and it will start at 5 p.m. Interested individuals should contact Rama Singh at 905-525-4471 ext. 24378 singh@mcmster.ca

November 19, 2002

Research that advances the science of intelligent machining has garnered a national Synergy Award for Innovation for engineering dean Mo Elbestawi. Elbestawi teamed up with eight industrial partners, including Siemens Westinghouse Canada, General Motors, Cobra Machine Tool Co. and Pratt & Whitney Canada at the McMaster Manufacturing Research Institute to refine and improve intelligent precision machining. The national innovation award recognizes outstanding achievements in university-industry collaboration. It is co-sponsored by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and the Conference Board of Canada. The university receives a $25,000 NSERC research grant and the industry partner receives a sculpture. Intelligent machining is machining controlled by a computer. Although it is not new technology, researchers are constantly trying to refine the technology to improve productivity and quality. "The machines are usually computerized and unmanned," said Elbestawi. "Just imagine the computer can now make decisions on the fly, so if there is something happening in the cutting process and it needs to speed up or slow down, for example. The idea is that the machine is capable of making the right decision without human intervention."

November 19, 2002

If Canada switched to for-profit dialysis centres, death rates would increase by eight per cent, according to a major study to be published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). "The results extend our previous findings of higher death rates in for-profit hospitals," said the study's lead author, Philip Devereaux of McMaster University. "We've now found that the profit motive leads to increased deaths in both hospital and out-patient settings." Devereaux, a clinical scholar in the Department of Medicine in the Faculty of Health Sciences, was the lead investigator on the study.

November 18, 2002

In the first of two Canadian Interuniversity Sport football national semi-finals, the Saint Mary's Huskies defeated the No.1 ranked and previously unbeaten McMaster Marauders 36-25 on Saturday afternoon in front of a capacity crowd of more than 6,400 at Les Prince Field to claim the Churchill Bowl and earn a berth in a second straight Vanier Cup. Next Saturday at Skydome in Toronto, the Huskies will try to become the first team since the Western Ontario Mustangs in 1976 and 1977, and the third in history, to repeat as CIS champions. The contest marked the first ever appearance for an Atlantic team in the Churchill Bowl. For OUA champion McMaster, it also marked a third consecutive loss in a national semi-final. The Marauders lost to Ottawa in 2000 and Manitoba in 2001.

November 18, 2002

Security cameras on campus proved their worth over the weekend. About 3 a.m. Sunday, a student was walking to her car in Zone 4 parking when she was assaulted. An alert operator saw the attack on video surveillance and officers were on the scene within three minutes. The student was frightened and shaken up but there were no serious physical injuries. Officers nabbed the suspect just minutes later after a short foot chase. "Security for people on campus is our number-one priority," says Bill Armstrong, operations manager for McMaster security. "The operators did a first-rate job and everyone involved deserves tremendous credit for acting quickly. The video cameras are an important part of our work not only to catch crimes in action but also to provide clear evidence when a case goes to court." The Hamilton Police sex assault unit is working with security on the case. The suspect is in custody and it's expected that charges will be laid later on Monday. Armstrong says it's important that people keep their safety in mind and recommends not walking alone, particularly after dark. There are red security phones across campus and he says everybody should be aware of their locations. The Student Walk Home Awareness Team (SWHAT) is also available for students and he emphasizes that people should never hesitate calling security if they see anyone suspicious on campus.

November 15, 2002

He is considered among his peers to be the pre-eminent gastroenterologist in Canada and among the top two or three in the world. His research and scholarship have helped to make McMaster's intestinal disease research unit the top clinical and investigative gastrointestinal group in the world. In his 21 years at McMaster, Stephen Collins has been a scholar of the highest calibre, earning an international reputation for excellence in research and scholarship in the field of gastroenterology. McMaster is honouring his career and lifetime achievements and contributions with the title University Professor, which he will hold for his lifetime. The title is the highest honour McMaster can bestow on its faculty and the designation is awarded to professors who demonstrate exceptional achievement by distinction in research, scholarship and education such that the work has made a major impact on a given field of study, and/or the work has had a major impact across disciplinary boundaries.

November 14, 2002

She spent a summer herding goats in Europe to improve her French. She travelled to Honduras to help children at an orphanage. She teaches music as a volunteer for a local community group and she has helped an international student with his English. Next fall, the talented and accomplished fourth-year linguistics major heads to Queen's University to attend medical school. Roxanne Lai, the winner of this year's Chancellor's Gold Medal, has a bright career and future ahead of her. Her resume reflects leadership and influence among her peers and within the broader community, and excellence in scholarship. Lai says she's astounded to have won the medal. "I can't even take in the idea of it and the full university recognition that goes with it. I can think of a million people who deserve it more than me." The Chancellor's Medal is given to an undergraduate student in their final year of study who ranks highest in scholarship, leadership and influence.

November 14, 2002

McMaster University officially opened the doors to its campus expansion in Hamilton's downtown core today. President Peter George welcomed the Honourable James Bartleman, Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario, and Hamilton Mayor Bob Wade to conduct the official opening of the McMaster University Downtown Centre. Approximately 200 people attended the event including McMaster staff and faculty, representatives from the City of Hamilton, local elected officials and the Hamilton community. In 2001 Hamilton-Wentworth regional council agreed to lease the former Wentworth County courthouse to McMaster for a 10-year period, as a leadership gift to the Changing Tomorrow Today campaign. The former courthouse, now renamed the McMaster University Downtown Centre, houses 17 administrative departments and offices including the Centre for Continuing Education. "The Downtown Centre project is a win-win initiative for the City of Hamilton and McMaster," said McMaster President Peter George. "Use of the former courthouse provides McMaster with much needed space to expand our growing campus. There are 200 McMaster employees travelling to the Downtown Centre daily and thousands of people per year coming into the downtown core for continuing education programs. We are pleased that our partnership with the city allowed the McMaster University Downtown Centre to become a reality and we are proud to be part of downtown Hamilton."

November 13, 2002

American linguist and political activist Noam Chomsky gave a wide-ranging, challenging talk to a capacity crowd gathered in McMaster's Ivor Wynne Centre Tuesday night. More than 1,100 people streamed into the main gym to hear the 74-year-old professor speak on "Is There Intelligent Life on Earth: the Role of the Intellectual Culture and Institutions". The topic gave Chomsky a large canvas on which to explore a number of issues: the role of universities and how they are/are not fulfilling the ideals of nineteenth century classical liberalism; the concept of "excess of democracy" and why the elite in a democracy are fearful of  and try to contain - its appeal to the populace at large; and the question of "is it better to be smart than stupid?" Although he admitted later during the question period that he is not the most dynamic of speakers, Chomsky effectively kept the crowd listening intently for more than an hour. His measured delivery was supplemented by wry humour mixed with a healthy dose of cynicism. Bringing his talk to an abrupt end, he quietly commented that the answer to the question posed by the title will "probably be known by us all in a few days".

November 13, 2002

Two new Canada Research Chairs have been awarded to McMaster University, bringing the University's total to date to 35. The two newest chairholders will focus on research that will develop novel interventions for treating obese people and study complex chemical systems to improve the design of new medicines and catalysts. Professor Arya Sharma is the Canada Research Chair in Cardiovascular Obesity Research and Management. Sharma, who comes to Canada from Germany, will use basic and clinical research to determine the genetic causes of obesity and an evidence-based approach to managing cardiovascular and metabolic problems in obese patients. Sharma, a senior Tier 1 researcher based in the Faculty of Health Sciences, will receive $200,000 per year for seven years. He has also been awarded a Canada Foundation for Innovation grant for $125,577 for infrastructure such as equipment and lab space related to the research position. Assistant professor Paul Ayers, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Theoretical Chemistry and Chemical Biology in the Faculty of Science, comes to McMaster from Duke University. His research will look at the development of theoretical and computational methods for predicting reactions in complex chemical systems that can eventually add to the improved design of new medicines and catalysts. Ayers is a Tier 2 researcher based in the Faculty of Science and will receive $100,000 per year for five years. He has been awarded $113,715 from the Canada Foundation for Innovation for infrastructure support. McMaster has now filled nearly half of its allotted 73 Canada Research Chairs.

November 13, 2002

Another overflow crowd of 7,000 plus is expected back at McMaster University's Les Prince Field on Saturday as the Ontario university champion McMaster Marauders face Atlantic conference winners Saint Mary's Huskies in the Churchill Bowl. Tickets, which went on sale Monday, are selling briskly, leaving McMaster officials expecting another wall-to-wall crowd. One glitch, however, could result in a late crowd. Tickets sold at McMaster erroneously list game time at 1 p.m., one hour later than the actual kickoff. The game will be broadcast live on radio station CFMU 93.3 and nationally by TSN. "It's going to be packed," confirmed Robert Hilson, manager of marketing and communications for the Mac athletics department. "Ticketmaster called today and said they needed another block of tickets. "Our student numbers should go up. People went last week and had a good time and told two of their friends," he said, referring to the 7,000 plus crowd that watched McMaster win the Ontario championship over the Queen's Golden Gaels last Saturday. Click here for the complete story in today's Hamilton Spectator.