Daily News

April 25, 2001

As many of you know, the financial markets have generally performed poorly over the last several months. Concerns have been raised by some surplus sharing . . .

April 24, 2001

The old saying goes that "one person's trash is another's treasure." This adage will be put to the test with the launch of McMaster's first Dump and Run. Student volunteers spent part of last weekend delivering fliers to the residents of the community bounded by Main Street West, Dow Street, Highway 403 and Rifle Range Road. The area is the site of a pilot project that will run from Monday (April 29) to Sunday (May 5). This project partners students, the community and the City of Hamilton Waste Management Division in an effort to encourage the reuse of household items. The fliers were produced by the McMaster Students Union (MSU) Environment Committee to inform residents about Dump and Run, a student driven initiative inspired by the desire to do something about the amount of garbage produced by the campus community during the student move-out in April and May. Joanna Ranieri, chair of the MSU Environment Committee, says, "We recognized the need for proactive measures to prevent the massive amount of waste produced during the student moveout." Students and residents living in the pilot area are encouraged to place their unwanted items curbside so that they can be picked up and reused by other students or members of the community. Ranieri adds,"We thought that this was a great opportunity to prevent things from going into the landfill, and so did the City of Hamilton Waste Management Division, who has been instrumental in the development of this project. They've taken care of all of the technical aspects and given us tremendous help in terms of resources and support."

April 23, 2001

The vote by members of the McMaster University Staff Association on the University's final contract offer was released by the Ontario Labour Relations Board this evening (Monday) at approximately 8 p.m. The vote result was: 318 Yes 1086 No 1408 MUSA members cast ballots. Total MUSA membership is 1,695. "Our goal has always been to reach a fair contract with MUSA," says president Peter George. "After collective bargaining failed to reach an agreement, we believed the final offer was the best and quickest way to try to settle the dispute. It also ensured that each MUSA member had the opportunity to have his or her say on the offer. That has now happened." George says it is important that the University finds the next most timely and least confrontational way of reaching a first contract with MUSA. "We believe the next step should be arbitration. But our preference is for voluntary arbitration, of the mediation/arbitration type and using an agreed upon Board of Arbitration or a sole arbitrator, rather than compulsory arbitration. We have asked MUSA to consider this form of arbitration." MUSA has filed an application with the Ontario Labour Relations Board for compulsory arbitration. There are significant differences between the two forms of arbitration: Compulsory Arbitration Voluntary Arbitration A lengthy process that often takes many months Can lead to a quicker resolution Arbitration panel is appointed The union and the University jointly choose the arbitrator Process is prescribed in legislation The union and the University jointly choose the process to meet their needs Labour Relations Act requires that the final contract run for two years from the date the arbitration board issues its decision Contract length is agreed to by both the union and the University Decisions on the content of the final offer are made by a third party with no guarantees that either the University's or the union's proposals will be accepted. Process can more closely resemble the collective bargaining process

April 23, 2001

The polling locations for today's vote by McMaster University Staff Association members on the University's final offer are: *Poll 1: 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., First Floor Lobby, Ewart Angus Centre *Poll 2: 1 - 5 p.m., First Floor Lobby, Togo Salmon Hall *Poll 3: Travelling poll to area hospitals, as follows: 10 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. Conference Room "A" (Cafeteria), Henderson Hospital 12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. Conference Room F134, Fontbonne Building, St. Joseph's Hospital 2:15 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. Pillar's Room (Cafeteria), Hamilton General Hospital 4 p.m. - 5:15 p.m. Patterson Boardroom, Chedoke Hospital Voting will also take place at McMaster sites in Sioux Lookout, Thunder Bay, Collingwood and Chalk River.

April 20, 2001

Human Resources has posted a document on its Web site containing Frequently Asked Questions About the Final Offer and Vote that will be held on . . .

April 20, 2001

When they vote on Monday, MUSA's 1,650 members will answer yes or no to the following question: “Are you in favour of acceptance of the . . .

April 20, 2001

The deadline is drawing near for members of the McMaster Employees' Pension Plan to cast their vote pertaining to the pension surplus sharing proposal. The deadline to send in your authorization/ballot is (Monday) April 30 and it is important if you wish to be included in the sharing agreement to get your vote in by that time, said Les Robb, chair of the McMaster employees' pension surplus committee. "The committee urges you to get it in as soon as possible." Robb said more than 3,600 "Yes" votes and 2 "No" votes have been received so far. He said there is support from more than 80 per cent of those eligible in both the Active and Inactive groups. "In the last two weeks we have gone from under 70 per cent to over 80 per cent support and we fully expect to reach the 90 per cent goal by the end of the month," he said.

April 20, 2001

In preparation for Monday's vote on the final offer, Human Resources distributed personalized information packages to MUSA members this week. To ensure the University community is kept fully informed and has the complete and up-to-date information about the final offer, the documents which were included in these packages are being made public and may be viewed by clicking here. (Note: The packages included an explanation of what the offer means to each employee in monetary terms. A blank sample of this document is shown.) See also: Frequently Asked Questions About the Final Offer and Vote See also: What is the Question for MUSA Members on Monday? Find Out

April 19, 2001

Three researchers at the University's vision lab have discovered that a baby's ability to see at birth and in the first months of life is . . .

April 19, 2001

MUSA members will head to the polls on Monday, April 23 to cast their votes on a four-year contract offer proposed by the University. The vote is being supervised by the Ontario Labour Relations Board. University President Peter George says that in the days leading up to the vote, the University's goal is to ensure that all voters have the complete and up-to-date details of the final contract offer to make an informed decision. Earlier this week, human resources sent each MUSA member a copy of the final offer and a letter from the ministry of labour. The Ontario Labour Relations Board requires that the offer be distributed to union members prior to the vote in the form in which it was presented to the union. Today, members will receive, at their homes, a personalized information package explaining what the offer means to them individually. Any member who does not receive the package should contact his/her area HR office. "I hope that each and every staff person who is a member of MUSA will take the time to read and assess the University's offer and what it means to them. I also hope that they will take the opportunity on Monday to go out and vote," says George. Staff will be provided with appropriate time off work to cast their votes on Monday. Polling station information is listed below. Proxy voting is not permitted. The vote will succeed if 50% plus one (of those who cast ballots) vote yes. The University's final contract offer can be found on the Human Resources Web site. A list of Frequently Asked Questions About the Vote and Final Offer is also posted on the site and is accessible from the "Worth Mentioning" section of the Daily News. Polling times and locations Poll 1: 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., First Floor Lobby, Ewart Angus Centre Poll 2: 1-5 p.m., First Floor Lobby, Togo Salmon Hall Poll 3: Travelling poll to area hospitals, as follows: 10 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Conference Room "A" (Cafeteria), Henderson Hospital 12:30 p.m.-1:30 p.m. Conference Room F134, Fontbonne Building, St. Joseph's Hospital 2:15 p.m.-3:15 p.m. Pillar's Room (Cafeteria), Hamilton General Hospital 4 p.m.-5:15 p.m.Patterson Boardroom, Chedoke Hospital Voting will also take place at McMaster sites in Sioux Lookout, Thunder Bay, Collingwood and Chalk River.

April 19, 2001

April 19, 2001

The Board of Governors has approved the design and tendering work for two campus renovation projects, totalling about $7.9 million. Renovations and upgrades will be . . .

April 18, 2001

The new McMaster University Student Centre (MUSC) will now likely open in January 2002. The $34 million building — funded mainly by past, present and . . .

April 18, 2001

We wish to inform MUSA employees who returned to work on April 9 that a special pay for the period April 9 to 15 will be deposited into your bank accounts on Thursday, April 19. This deposit is an estimate of your net pay for the five working days included in this period. Your May 15 pay deposit and statement of earnings will be adjusted to reflect this special pay as well as, for those who receive a mid-month advance, the April 30 mid-month advance. (END OF STORY)

April 17, 2001

Two students in the Arts & Science Program are leading the call for McMaster to adopt a comprehensive environmental policy. Kate Parizeau and Michael Law, . . .

April 17, 2001

Two McMaster students are helping distribute a survey produced by the Harvard Centre for Cancer Prevention that aims to educate students about cancer. Nada Albatish . . .

April 17, 2001

The goal for McMaster's new Software Quality Research Lab (SQRL) is to become a leading source of expertise on software quality assurance. A team of researchers, software professionals and graduate students will work together to: 7 conduct academic research related to software quality 7 provide courses for developers on how to inspect and test software 7 cultivate personnel who are highly trained by supporting graduate theses on software quality assurance 7 provide software quality assessment with and for industry on a contract basis 7 perform joint research with developers. SQRL will include testing experts who will make their expertise available to the quality assurance projects and conduct research on new testing methods and tools, says David Parnas, director of the software engineering program. Security will be a high priority for research, Parnas said. "One only has to follow the TV news to recognize that high quality software must be secure against attempt to misuse a system, deny service to legitimate users, or steal information from a system," he said. "Research in this area has been extensive but, except for work in cryptography, little of it has helped industry."

April 16, 2001

Senate approved two new fields of study for the Department of Civil Engineering's master's and PhD programs and two new graduate diplomas in electronic commerce at its meeting on Wednesday, April 11 . The Senate approved: the Department of Civil Engineering's decision to offer master's and PhD program degrees in computational mechanics and water resources/environmental engineering. These two fields of study, in addition to structural engineering, represent the Faculty's main research areas. The Department of Civil Engineering has four faculty members with expertise in computational mechanics and most of the faculty use computer applications in their research, the majority using computational mechanics. The decision to offer graduate degrees in water resources/environmental engineering was made after the department received permission to hire an additional 1.5 faculty members in the water resources area. According to Graduate Council's report to Senate, this field of study has a long history at McMaster and was previously offered as a graduate program in 1993. two new graduate diplomas in e-commerce. The diplomas will give students the opportunity to study the technology and management of e-commerce. They will be open to students who have completed at least their first year of an MBA program and have some computer programming experience. The two graduate diplomas will build on each other. changes to the way the Faculty of Engineering designates its master's degrees. Starting November 2001, master's degrees requiring a thesis will be changed from Master of Engineering (M.Eng.) to Master of Applied Science (M.A.Sc.). Non-thesis master's degrees in the Faculty of Engineering will retain the M.Eng. designation. (END OF STORY)

April 16, 2001

The following items are highlights from the April 11 Senate meeting: President's Report on Labour Dispute University President Peter George gave Senate an update on . . .

April 11, 2001

Payroll services will be providing, as soon as possible, a special advance to MUSA members who returned to work on April 9. "We understand that many of our employees who came back to work on Monday may be experiencing financial hardship and we are working hard to ensure that they can be compensated in advance of our normal payroll dates," says Bob West, director, financial services. The special advance will be based on an estimate of what each employee would net in five days' pay (representing the work period April 9-15). Staff will be notified next week of the exact date that this pay will be deposited into their bank accounts. In addition to the special advance, the regular mid-month advance will be deposited on Monday, April 30 into the bank accounts of all MUSA employees who normally receive this advance. MUSA staff who returned to work on Monday were not included in the April 12 payroll deposit. "There are two reasons we just couldn't do this," says West. "First, we had to transfer the deposit early due to the Good Friday holiday so we could meet the bank's deadline. Second, significant and highly specialized programming changes were required to include these staff. Our system is not built in a way that allows us to make significant modifications on such short notice." West says programming changes must also be made to implement the special advance and as soon as this is done staff will be advised of when they will receive the advance. Payroll considered issuing manual cheques but determined it was unable to do so under the current configuration of the system.