October 30, 2002

Hamilton mayor Bob Wade delivered his second annual State of the City address at the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce Tuesday. In his address, he cites McMaster as a key element in the future growth of Hamilton and downtown. In biotechnology, he says, the City's economic development department, in conjunction with McMaster, has formed a steering committee to oversee plans for a biotechnology incubator and a biotech strategy for the city. "We want to greatly ramp up our partnership with McMaster. They will be a key catalyst to the future of this city," he says. "McMaster and our other academic institutions are as important as the airport and the harbour in the future direction of the city." Click here for the full address.

October 28, 2002

Two outstanding teams of teachers are the inaugural recipients of the Imperial Oil Departmental Learning Innovation grants. Carolyn Eyles and Susan Vajoczki from the School of Geography & Geology and Margaret Denton, Christopher Justice and Anju Joshi from the Undergraduate Degree Studies in Gerontology Program were awarded the grants for projects that will change the way undergraduate education is delivered in their departments. The awards are for three years and are worth about $100,000. Dale Roy, executive director of the Centre for Leadership in Learning, said the projects that were chosen for the first awards clearly demonstrated how they would change the way students are taught their disciplines in their departments. "We tend to do course development individually," said Roy. "This is a different way of approaching courses, how they're designed, delivered, collaborated on within a department." One of the goals of the initiative is to "build a culture of collaboration," Roy added.

October 28, 2002

McMaster chair of Biology Turlough Finan has received the 2002 Tourism Hamilton Convention Ambassador Award. The award recognizes Finan for helping organize "The International Congress on Nitrogen Fixation" conference held at the Hamilton Convention Center July 2 to 7, 2001. "I am honored to receive this recognition from Tourism Hamilton," Finan says. "It's nice to be recognized for something that helps boost Hamilton's image. The folks and facilities at the Hamilton Convention Center were excellent." Attended by 300 scientists from 44 countries, the five-day conference discussed biological and chemical aspects of nitrogen fixation -- the process in which ammonia is formed from the gas nitrogen. Sponsored by About Town Event and Meeting Planner, the award is given to a local individual who played a significant and active role in securing and co-ordinating a conference, meeting or related event that is generally held in a different city each year. The individual, who demonstrated a concerted effort to promote Hamilton's image, did not receive personal financial gain and the activity was not job-related. Earlier this year, Finan received a $3-million Genome Canada award with biology professor Brian Golding to support their research into Genomic Analyses of Soil Microorganisms. Click here for more information about the award. Wendy Read, conference co-ordinator of McMaster's Housing and Conference Services, was nominated for a Tourism Hamilton Behind the Scenes Award. Sponsored by the Stoney Creek Chamber of Commerce, the award recognizes an individual who typically works behind the scenes ensuring that complete customer satisfaction is obtained through the effective and efficient delivery of his or her responsibilities.

October 25, 2002

Sitting on a bench in front of a new Steinway piano in Convocation Hall, Hugh Hartwell plays a couple of lines of Billy Boy. In his head, he sings a few lines, hums softly. His fingers bounce off the piano keys like raindrops and the jazz resonates throughout the stained glass hall. "When I play, what I'm doing is singing to myself. In the end, everything is melody and melody comes from inside of you," he says. Born in Hamilton, McMaster's former director of Art, Drama and Music, has been playing the piano since he was six. Music has had a tremendous impact on his life since then. He began his professional career as a musician at 13, traveling with rock and roll bands and playing in festivals and competitions. At 16, he was a guest soloist with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. He played with a trio band on a ferry that toured the islands of Montreal and when he was 18, he ventured to London, England to tone his technique in classical piano. There, he practiced eight hours a day, seven days a week and took lessons once a week. At night he played in jazz clubs in Soho. Later, Hartwell taught music at Hamilton College in upstate New York, studied music at McGill University and did his graduate work at Pennsylvania State before joining McMaster's music faculty in 1976. But among his musical experiences, his fondest is what he is doing now. The associate professor of jazz music, 20th-century concert music and music theory plays in the Hugh Hartwell Trio Band that will perform in the School of the Arts' annual McMaster Concert Series for 2002-03. His trio band, which includes music studio instructor Kevin Dempsey on drums and Marek Semeniuk on bass, performs Tuesday, Oct. 29 from 12:30 to 1:20 p.m. in Convocation Hall. Click here for a listing of the McMaster Concert Series.

October 25, 2002

Across Canada during the week of Nov. 4-11, an estimated 400,000 Grade 9 students will visit their parents, guardians or volunteer hosts in the workplace as part of Canada Career Week. The program will also touch McMaster where a number of high school students are expected to join their parents --McMaster's faculty and staff - at work on Wednesday, Nov. 6 as part of Take Your Child To Work Day. Within the Hamilton-Wentworth area, approximately 5,000 students are expected to participate in the annual program. McMaster wholeheartedly supports the initiative and is committed to providing the young students with an informative, enriching and exciting experience. It also wants the experience to be a safe one. The health and safety of each student who visits the campus on Nov. 6 is a priority for the institution. "We want to make sure that children who are brought into the McMaster workplace have a safe experience. So we have developed guidelines for the community which are aimed at ensuring our young people are safe. These guidelines state that the only acceptable role for a child in the workplace is an observer," says Ron Angus, manager, risk management services. Faculty and staff who plan to bring a young person to work with them on Nov. 6 must complete a permission form and have it signed by a supervisor. The parent/guardian of the visitor must also conduct a safety evaluation of his/her workplace and in the event any mechanical, chemical or other hazards exist, specify how those hazards will be controlled or eliminated. To download the permission form for Take A Child To Work Day, click here. The workplace deaths two years ago of two high school students in southern Ontario have raised awareness of the importance of having guidelines and regulations for such visits. McMaster is among a number of institutions who have drafted policies to guide such activities. "Things went very smoothly last year," says Angus. "People were grateful for the work that McMaster did in advance to ensure that our workplace was ready for these students. It was a positive experience and one that we can repeat again this year with the support and co-operation of the community." As part of this year's plans for the student visitors, Human Resources Services (Working at McMaster program) and the Office of Student Affairs will be organizing a luncheon for program participants. Last year, about 70 people (parents and students) attended the event.

October 25, 2002

Below is a listing of the School of the Arts' annual McMaster Concert Series. Lunchtime concerts: Rebecca Morton (cello), Nov. 12 Brass Arts (trombone trio), Nov. 26 Toronto Percussion Ensemble, Jan. 21 Pam Van Weelden (piano), Feb. 25 David Gerry (flute) and Cheryl Gobetti-Hoffman (flute), March 11 Gloria Saarinen (piano), March 25 The Smooth Jazz Series: Guitarist Brian Hughes tonight (Oct. 25) at 8 p.m. in Convocation Hall. Tickets are $25 Joe Sealy, Cindy Church and George Koller, Feb. 7 Vocalist Carol Welsman, Feb. 28 The Celebrity Classical Series: Penderecki String Quartet, Nov. 1 Valerie Tryon (piano) and Suzanne Shulman (flute), March 7 Toronto Consort, March 28. The Celebrity New Frontiers series: The Montreal Guitar Trio, Jan. 31 Barachois (Acadian musical show), Feb. 21 David Braid (new music  original jazz), March 21 Showcase Concerts: The McMaster Chamber Orchestra, Nov. 3 and March 9 at 3 p.m. McMaster Concert Band, Nov. 17 and Feb. 9 at 3 p.m. McMaster University Choir; dates TBA Marta Hidy & Friends, Nov. 24 and March 30 at 3 p.m. All concerts take place in Convocation Hall, second floor of University Hall, Room 213. Tickets for all performance can be purchased in Togo Salmon Hall, Room 414. For further information about the series visit soto.humanities.mcmaster.ca/misc/calendar.html Photo caption: Guitarist Brian Hughes plays tonight (Oct. 25) at McMaster at 8 p.m. in Convocation Hall. Tickets are $25.

October 24, 2002

McMaster's Canadian Centre for Studies of Children at Risk was given $100,000 to help fund an evaluation methodology project. The donation is part of Clarica's Contribution to Canada's children 2002 grant program, which provides funding to 36 children's programs across Canada totaling nearly $1.36 million. Of these 36 programs, 21 will participate in the Evaluation Methodology Project, assisting organizations funded by Clarica in their evaluation strategy development. The lessons learned at each site will build understanding about what works best and lead to improvements in programs for children and youth. Evidence of the value of these projects will assist these organizations attract future funding from various sources. Photo caption: Gerd Stucke, branch manager of Clarica in Hamilton, right, presents Dan Offord, director of the Canadian Centre for Studies of Children at Risk, with a cheque for $100,000 for an Evaluation Methodology Project by the Canadian Centre for Studies of Children at Risk.

October 24, 2002

McMaster University has successfully completed its first-ever capital financing bond issue. The $120-million bond issue is part of a capital financing strategy approved by the Board of Governors to provide financing for the $262-million in approved expansion projects such as new lecture halls, labs and research space. The successful private debt placement follows on the heels of the University acquiring its first credit rating - an AA rating - that matches the Province of Ontario's credit rating. The capital financing strategy supports the University's planning process for future growth and ensures stability in the financial planning process. The 50-year bonds have an interest rate of 6.15 per cent. "The success of this private debt placement speaks to the confidence that the business sector has in McMaster University," said Karen Belaire, vice-president administration. "Securing financing at a fixed rate for 50 years provides us with stability for future planning. Many individuals participated in this project and worked very hard to ensure the successful completion of the bond issue and I would like to thank everyone for their efforts."

October 24, 2002

A new research centre officially opens its doors in the Burke Science Building this week. The Centre for Spatial Analysis, located in Room 345, will celebrate its official launch with a reception for invited guests beginning at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 24. The new centre is dedicated to the study of human activities over space, the effect those activities have on the physical environment and in turn, the impact of the environment on population health. It will combine mathematical and statistical techniques, as well as new technology for the analysis of complex interrelationships and for the development of decision support tools that can be useful in planning. Examples are the long-term effects of new transportation infrastructure and/or urban sprawl on the quality of urban life. Pavlos Kanaroglou, professor of geography and holder of McMaster's Canada Research Chair in Spatial Analysis, will head the centre. "This centre will support teaching and research in spatial analysis, which is an emerging scientific field," says Kanaroglou. His own research interests include the application of spatial analysis methods to the evaluation of urban air pollution from mobile sources and the impact of environmental pollution on human health. The new facility encompasses the Geographical Information Systems (GIS) laboratory and will be dedicated to providing undergraduate, graduate, certificate and diploma programs relating to spatial analysis. Along with Kanaroglou, three other faculty members in the School of Geography & Geology are aligning their teaching and research interests with the new facility (Bruce Newbold, Antonio Paez and Darren Scott). Funding for the facility was provided from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), the Ontario Innovation Trust (OIT) and McMaster University.

October 23, 2002

McMaster is ranked fifth overall in a new "report card" on Canadian universities prepared by the Globe and Mail newspaper. The University made the top five from a survey drawn from nearly 21,000 undergraduate students. In specific categories, students ranked McMaster's bookstore first; course variety third; quality of education and university atmosphere fourth; and career preparation and financial assistance fifth. Complete survey results are available online at www.universityreportcard.com.

October 22, 2002

Helping understand and ease the challenges faced by families of children with disabilities is the goal of a new study at CanChild Centre for Childhood Disability Research at McMaster. Led by Gillian King, CanChild investigator, and with $85,644 from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), researchers at CanChild will gather information from interviews with up to 24 families of children with Down syndrome or autism from across Ontario in the next three years. The study, "Understanding the Values, Priorities, and World Views of Families Raising Children with Chronic Developmental Conditions", is aimed at discovering how parenting a child with a disability affects families' values, priorities, and views. "As time goes on, there is an adaptation and accommodation process. What it means to a family to have a child with a disability may change," says King, a social scientist with CanChild, located in the School of Rehabilitation Science at McMaster. She is also assistant clinical professor in the School of Rehabilitation Science at McMaster and research director at Thames Valley Children's Centre in London, Ontario. "Over time, what family members consider to be important may shift," says King.

October 22, 2002

McMaster's Computing & Information Services (CIS) has restructured most of its organization into two new areas  infrastructure and information management. "The new structure will help us focus our energies and resources more closely on administrative computing and infrastructure services and support," says Pat O'Day, director of CIS. CIS has experienced both a change in mandate and a reporting line change to the assistant vice-president administration over the past year, explains O'Day. "We anticipate the new organization will benefit our clients by simplifying our structure and better positioning our resources to meet their changing needs and service expectations. Within CIS, the new structure is expected to generate more synergy between groups and enable us to explore new possibilities in both services and technology." The infrastructure component will include the software group, network group, database analysts and security. Information services will consist of the systems analysts, programming group and the LAN (Local Area Network) support group.

October 22, 2002

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/healthminister.jpg” caption=”Students with Tony Clement”]Students from McMaster University went one-on-one with Tony Clement, minister of health and long-term care, at a dinner reception . . .

October 21, 2002

McMaster's Centre for Peace Studies will feature former Australian of the Year Lowitja O'Donoghue at its seventh annual Mahatma Gandhi Lecture on Nonviolence. O'Donoghue, from Flinders University, South Australia, will speak on "Human rights and reconciliation in Australia in the 21st century: an unfinished journey". Born at Indulkana, located in central south Australia, O'Donoghue is a member of the Yankunjatjara people of North West South Australia. Her commendations include the Order of Australia (1977); commander of the British Empire (1983); Australian of the Year (1984) and Australia's Living National Treasures (1998). She was also the former chairperson of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) from the inception of the Commission.

October 21, 2002

For his contributions to engineering theory and practice and unusual accomplishment in the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, McMaster's David Embury was one of just seven foreign members elected into the U.S. National Academy of Engineering (NAE). "The election to the NAE is a great honour for me because there are only 158 foreign members, six of whom are Canadians," said the professor of materials science & engineering. "However, I want to emphasize that the honour reflects not my own abilities but the wonderful collaborations I have had at McMaster with colleagues in both engineering and science and particularly my good fortune in having many excellent graduate students and post-doctoral researchers in the time I have been at McMaster." Embury was elected by the NAE along with 74 new American members. He was chosen for his "outstanding contributions to fundamental structure/mechanical property relations of materials and their applications". Election to the U.S. National Academy of Engineering is one of the highest professional distinctions that can be accorded an engineer.

October 18, 2002

Four exceptional University researchers are the recipients of the prestigious John Charles Polanyi Prizes this year, making McMaster one short of a clean sweep for 2002. The new researchers were awarded the honours in the areas of chemistry, economics, physics and physiology/medicine. Their fields of research cover polymers and carbon nanotubes, economic household welfare, star clusters and cancer cells.

October 17, 2002

It's not easy being green. Ask Allan Dafoe. According to the founder and chair of McMaster's Green Coalition, taking care of the environment is hard work. But with recent efforts on campus, he's confident green will soon become the University's favorite colour. Celebrating its first anniversary, the McMaster Green Coalition unites clubs and organizations that promote environmental and sustainability issues. It was a hit from the beginning. At its first meeting in September 2001, nearly 40 staff, faculty and students came to support Dafoe's brainchild to build a coalition around the environment. He found these groups knew little about each other, and he was determined to change that. "There are all these groups, but they're all very disparate," he says. "That's what I feel the environmental movement at McMaster is lacking the most. Because it's so disparate you don't feel a sense of community." "I think it's very important that the environmental community becomes more tangible because there are so many people on campus who are passionate and involved with environmental aspects."

October 16, 2002

McMaster University, in conjunction with St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, has announced a major funding commitment of $1 million from Pharmacia Canada Inc. and Pfizer Canada Inc. for an innovative educational initiative called the Arthritis Treatment Program. Funded over five years, the program will be designed to assist primary care physicians and other health professionals in providing optimal care for people with arthritis. "This is an excellent example of innovation in the relationship between the pharmaceutical industry, health care providers and universities, where our interests mesh well," said John Kelton, dean and vice-president, Faculty of Health Sciences at McMaster University. "Funding of the Arthritis Treatment Program clearly supports a commitment to excellence in health care education. By enhancing current medical training, the program will support better diagnosis and treatment for millions of Canadians with arthritis." More than four million Canadians, or one in every seven individuals, suffer from some form of arthritis. That number is expected to grow at a rate of one million more Canadians per decade, at least until the year 2031. Led by one of Canada's leading clinical rheumatologists, William Bensen, and a team of rheumatologists at McMaster and its partner institution, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, the Arthritis Treatment Program will consist of an overall practical management package including concepts and tools for managing rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. A simple, easy-to-use measurement tool will be developed for use in clinical practice that provides a common language between physician and patient and acts as a benchmark for improving arthritis care.

October 15, 2002

It's going to be a decade of enormous challenges for Canada's universities, according to a major new report released today by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC). Entitled Trends in Higher Education, the 94-page report notes that, by 2011, universities will face a projected 20 to 30 per cent increase in enrolment, or up to 200,000 new students. They also will need to hire as many as 40,000 new faculty members to respond to enrolment growth and to replace retiring professors. At the same time, universities will be expected to perform significantly more research if Canada is to reach the federal government's objective of being one of the top five countries in the world for research and development. But all of this comes at a price: $6.2 billion more annually in operating revenues and $6.4 billion more a year in research funds will be needed by 2011 to meet these challenges, says the report. Universities currently receive about $10.7 billion in total operating support and conduct roughly $3.2 billion in sponsored research annually.

October 15, 2002

Grant B. Walsh, president & CEO of St. Peter's, today announced the appointment of world-renowned gerontologist William Molloy to the St. Peter's McMaster Chair in Aging in the Faculty of Health Sciences at McMaster University. William Molloy, who will be working at the new St. Peter's Centre for Studies in Aging, located at St. Peter's Hospital, is internationally recognized for his contribution to research in aging. His responsibilities will include the development of academic programs related to aging and working with relevant organizations that are responsible for the care of older adults. "I am thrilled to be working at St. Peter's; there's a great can do' attitude here," says Molloy, who has authored several research studies, articles and books such as Vital Choices: Life, Death and the Health Care Crisis. "This jointly funded $2-million chair appointment is important to both St. Peter's and McMaster University," says Grant Walsh. "It puts issues associated with aging at the forefront of teaching, research and service in Hamilton, and will help to improve the lives of those entrusted to our care. St. Peter's is delighted to welcome such a prestigious researcher as Dr. Molloy to the St. Peter's family." John Kelton, dean and vice-president, Faculty of Health Sciences, says, "With a growing population of seniors, appointing an international leader in aging and health to this Chair demonstrates our joint commitment to research and education in this area." The appointment contributes to St. Peter's leadership in providing a continuum of service and care for older adults and the chronically ill.