March 28, 2002

The 78th annual McMaster athletic awards banquet was held Wednesday honoring student athletes for their outstanding achievements in the 2001-02 year. Click on the Hamilton . . .

March 27, 2002

McMaster now has a campus master plan to guide growth and change at the University for the next 30 years. The Board of Governors approved the document at its meeting yesterday (March 27). Senate approved the final campus master plan at its March 13 meeting. "We're really excited about this plan," said Karen Belaire, vice-president administration and chair of the campus plan steering committee. "There's lots of interest and a lot of excitement." Belaire said staff have begun using the plan with building projects that are now under development. Cited as a "living document," the plan provides planning principles, a parking strategy, stewardship for heritage preservation, open spaces and the natural environment, management of traffic demands and guidelines for building community partnerships. It will be reviewed annually and updated. The next steps will be to develop an implementation policy protocol and finalize a campus plan brochure. The University began developing a new campus plan in November 2000, working with Urban Strategies Consulting. The steering committee and consultants conducted extensive consultation with various stakeholders and held a visioning workshop and two open houses to gather input on the draft document.

March 26, 2002

The remains of one of the oldest complex settled villages lies on the plains of central Turkey. The 9,000 year-old site, called Gatalhvy|k, has been described as "the dig of the new millennium." The project director for the Gatalhvy|k archeological excavations and research, Ian Hodder, is one of this year's Hooker Distinguished Visiting Professors. Hodder, professor and chair of the department of cultural and social anthropology at Stanford University, has written extensively on archaeological theory and the prehistory of Europe. Hodder spoke about Hybrid archaeology: archaeology, culture and society in the making of Gatalhvy|k yesterday. He delivers his second lecture, From subsistence to sex: themes in the origins of agriculture, tonight (Wednesday March 27) at 7 p.m. at the Information Technology Building, Room 137. The Hooker lectures are sponsored by the Department of Anthropology, the Faculty of Humanities, the Faculty of Social Sciences and the H.L. Hooker Endowment Fund. (End of story)

March 25, 2002

Three new members were welcomed into the McMaster Honour Society this past Friday. The Honour M Awards are one of the highest distinctions a student can receive at the University and are presented to those who have demonstrated outstanding leadership, volunteer service, contribution and/or achievement in extra-curricular activities. This year's recipients are Nadia Conforti, Arif Manji and Lee Schofield. (Click on Honour M recipients celebrated for more details on the winners.) The Honour M Awards were first developed in 1931. At that time the Silhouette noted that while academic and athletic excellence were liberally rewarded, there was no corresponding recognition for contributions to student government and organizations. Past recipients include: Syl Apps '36, former Toronto Maple Leaf and McMaster's Athlete of the 1st Half of the Century Bob Nixon, '50, former deputy premier and treasurer of Ontario Ivan Reitman, '69, film director and producer More than 350 McMaster students have received Honour M Awards during the past 71 years.

March 25, 2002

She loves languages, science, art and physics. She describes herself as a people person. Jodi Powers' diverse interests made choosing a field of study difficult. They made choosing a career even tougher. So Powers opted for the co-operative education stream to give herself a chance to explore whether medical & health physics were the right areas for her to focus on. Now, only weeks from completing a four-year degree, Powers, 24, is confident she's headed in the right direction. She's been named the top co-op student for 2001 by the Canadian Association for Co-operative Education. And she credits her co-op education experience with guiding her into her soon-to-be fulltime occupation as a radiation safety officer at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre in Calgary. AWARD WINNER: (L-R)Kathy Verspagen, Canadian Association for Co-operative Education (CAFCE) national president; Stefan Kerry, CAFCE student awards committee director; Jodi Powers, Acting President Peter Sutherland. Photo by Shelly Easton

March 25, 2002

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Engineering.musical.final.jpg”]Viva La Revolution! More than 1200 people attended two sold-out performances at the old Tivoli theatre in downtown Hamilton recently for the fourth . . .

March 25, 2002

President Peter George delivered the following speech March 22 in honour of this year's Honour M recipients: Good evening, and thank you once again for . . .

March 22, 2002

Some of McMaster's most outstanding professors were recognized earlier this week for their contribution to undergraduate education. The McMaster Students' Union Teaching Awards committee (TAC) held their annual awards ceremony in which one professor from each faculty/program was presented with an MSU Faculty Award for Teaching. (Click on read more for a complete list of award winners.) Other awards that were presented at the ceremony were the MSU Merit Awards for new professors. This year's recipients were Pippa Lock from chemistry and Doug Boreham from medical physics & applied radiation. Philosophy professor Sam Ajzenstat was recognized for his remarkable contributions to McMaster during 38 years of teaching with the prestigious MSU Lifetime Achievement Award for Teaching.

March 21, 2002

The Department of Kinesiology is hosting the 6th annual Eastern Canadian Sport and Exercise Psychology Symposium (ECSEPS) this weekend. ECSEPS is a conference which provides . . .

March 21, 2002

Three members of the non-teaching staff have been nominated for election to the University's Board of Governors. They are: Barb Campbell (the incumbent), department manager, computing & information services Jim McAndrew, reactor technologist, McMaster nuclear reactor, and Dale Schenk, director, Centre for Continuing Education. The candidates' resumes are now posted on the Board of Governors Web site at http://www.mcmaster.ca/bog/elections. After clicking on the link go to the section for Non-Teaching Staff Election. The election will be conducted online between 9 a.m., Wednesday, April 3 and 4:30 p.m., Friday, April 5. The elected member will represent McMaster's non-teaching staff on the Board of Governors for a three-year term commencing July 1, 2002. (End of story)

March 20, 2002

Altering the usual relationship between artist and spectator in his new video, Museum Mile, Robert Hamilton - media artist and assistant professor of multimedia - has made thousands of New York gallery goers the subjects rather than appraisers of his work. Using a manic flip book technique, he has created a movie from countless digital photographs of visitors taken at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The recent award of a prestigious Canada Council research grant will allow Hamilton to explore the introduction of multimedia to unusual places and the overlap of the private and public domain further this summer. He plans an interactive project, using an ordinary house as the theatre of event, with passers-by triggering the projection of animated shadows onto the drawn curtains of the front window. Hamilton admits he is not entirely sure how the interactive project will develop or where it will end up. And that, he says, is the great thing about grants from bodies like the Canada Council and the Ontario Arts Council (from whom he's also received funding this year for a video project). "They allow artists time to focus on their craft, to make something really good. It's an exciting process." (The image is a still taken from Hamilton's video on Times Square.)

March 19, 2002

One of the enduring myths that permeates many university campuses revolves around the success students in various areas of study achieve in making rapid career transitions following graduation. Received wisdom would have it that students completing programs in disciplines such as commerce, engineering and nursing find it easiest to obtain employment. Not necessarily so. Humanities students will have an opportunity today (March 19) to participate in a forum that will help them appreciate the value employers put on their education. Representatives from various sectors will share their perspectives on the many transferable skills humanities students bring to the workplace and discuss how the current employment environment is evolving to the advantage of humanities graduates. The forum takes place from 5 to 7:30 p.m. in Togo Salmon Hall, Room 719. Representatives who will speak include David Wesley, president of Red Canoe Productions, Carolyn Reid, manager, City of Hamilton small business program and Lisa Kutcy, division leader, Primerica Financial Group. An August 2001 report reviewing the employment outcomes of university graduates shows that humanities students are among the most successful groups in finding work. The employment rates for humanities graduates six months after graduation (97.2 per cent) exceed those of all grads except those in medicine, rehabilitation sciences and education. Two years following graduation humanities graduates remain among the most employed. This event is co-sponsored by the McMaster Humanities Society, the Faculty of Humanities and the Career Planning and Employment Centre. (End of story)

March 19, 2002

Psychology professor Lorraine Allan has been appointed McMaster's representative on a new Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Network, designed to increase communications between . . .

March 19, 2002

Mathematics professor Ian Hambleton has been elected by acclamation as a representative of the teaching staff on the Board of Governors for a three-year term . . .

March 18, 2002

The interactions of silicones with the biological world will be the focus of McMaster's newest Killam research fellow. Chemistry professor Mike Brook is one of 17 researchers from across Canada to be awarded the prestigious research fellowship for 2002. Brook, who begins his two-year fellowship Jan. 1, 2003, said the fellowship will provide him with a resource that is always in short supply - time. "I will be able to do things I am not normally able to do, because of my teaching responsibilities and administrative duties," Brook said. "If you're trying to do something really different, you have to dedicate yourself to it."

March 16, 2002

A demonstration of the student portal solution from the preferred vendor SUN was held on Thursday, Feb. 16 in Council Chambers. The intent was to demonstrate some capabilities and features of the portal and content management solution. Various representatives of stakeholder groups from the University, as well as students, attended the demonstration with positive feedback.

March 15, 2002

McMaster University is completing final preparations to host the 2002 Canadian and Ontario University Lifeguard Championships this weekend. It is the second national championship that McMaster will host in as many weeks having successfully hosted the 2002 Canadian Interuniversity Sport Women's Basketball Championship last weekend. Today (March 15), 18 teams from across Canada will arrive at the Ivor Wynne Centre to begin competition in six lifesaving events. The championship begins at today at 2:15 p.m. and will continue all day Saturday. The competition ends Saturday evening. All events are open to spectators, and members of the surrounding community are invited to participate in the Water Rescue event on Saturday with free swimming for the general public from 9:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. and again from 2:45 to 4 p.m.. For more information consult the 2002 Canadian and Ontario University Lifesaving Championship Web site at http://www.athrec.mcmaster.ca/guardcomp2002/index.htm or contact Ashley Kupczak at ext. 27354 or Sarah Wojkowski at ext. 23575.

March 15, 2002

This Saturday, McMaster's Peace and Conflict Studies Society (PACSS) will be hosting its third annual Undergraduate Peace Symposium. The conference is drawing participants from universities . . .

March 13, 2002

The final concert in the Ladies of Jazz series takes place Friday, March 15. Jazz vocalist and international recording star Jeri Brown takes to the Convocation Hall stage at 8 p.m. Brown's latest CD, Image in the Mirror: The Triptych, actually transforms the singer into a bonafide actress. With songs by Milton Sealey, the disc takes the shape of a "fictional dramatic piece" in three acts plus introduction and epilogue, conceived and produced by Jeri Brown. Brown's songs from Image sketch the core journey of the work: a woman's growth through love to self-awareness. The concert will include selections from Brown's recording career with special features from 8 Justin Time and CBC recordings. Her repertoire includes jazz standards and Canadian composer jazz compositions with music such as I've Got Rhythm, Soft, As In A Morning Sunrise, Afro Blue, Tenderly and others. Tickets are $20 and available by calling the School of the Arts Box Office at ext. 23333 or the School of the Arts at ext. 27671. (End of story)

March 12, 2002

The provost's office has announced an interim arrangement for the student affairs office following the death of associate vice-president Mary Keyes. Under the temporary arrangement, . . .