Daily News

July 19, 2001

Employees will be able to visit a doctor on campus beginning this September. Student Health Service (SHS) is launching a one-year pilot project that involves dedicating one doctor specifically to dealing with employees' workplace-related injuries, acute care health concerns and health promotion. This is the first time this type of service has been available at McMaster. "In the past employees often asked if they could come to see us if they had a sore throat or headache or needed an allergy shot," said Julie Fairservice, SHS clinic director. "Many people have also asked about a health newsletter similar to Health Talk @McMaster published for students." Dr. Finola Foley will be available to see employees beginning Sept. 17, Fairservice said. The hours of operation will be announced closer to the start date. Services provided during the pilot project include a flu vaccine clinic slated for October, laceration repairs, immunization updates, management of communicable diseases that affect the workplace, allergy shots and referrals to the sports medicine physician and the sport injury clinic. As well, she said a needs assessment will be conducted this summer to determine what employees want in health education. Fairservice said the health care provided by Foley is not intended to replace the use of family doctors for yearly physical exams or manage chronic care situations. SHS submitted a proposal to the McMaster University Futures Fund (MUFF) to fund the service and received $136,000 to run the program for one year. (Under the terms of a pension surplus sharing proposal approved by the Board of Governors in October 2000, MUFF expired April 30, 2001.) Fairservice said other funding avenues will be explored to continue the service if the pilot project is popular. Employees will receive a letter next week explaining the program. (End of story)

July 18, 2001

No. 13 has proved to be completely unlucky for Fireball, McMaster's solar car. The solar car team withdrew from the 4000-kilometre American Solar Challenge race yesterday because a number of obstacles had made it too difficult to proceed. They were in Rolla, Missouri when they withdrew. The team chose No. 13 for their entry hoping it would prove to be a lucky charm but the number lived up to its reputation of signifying bad luck. The team suffered a series of setbacks with Fireball, including a flat tire and the solar panel flipping and needing repairs, since making the qualifier race at Western Michigan University last week and starting the race in Chicago on Sunday. The team wasn't able to make various checkpoints and that meant they were accruing penalties that were insurmountable in terms of being a viable competitor. Communications have been difficult and at one point the car's driver lost contact with the support vehicle. The Daily News has been unable to communicate with the team on the road. The race, which follows historic Route 66 and includes teams from the Universities of Waterloo, Toronto and Alberta, ends July 25 in California. (Photo courtesy of Western Michigan University) (End of story)

July 17, 2001

Ten faculty members have been docked pay for their actions during the five-week strike by the McMaster University Staff Association. There is a negotiated policy between the University and the McMaster University Faculty Association that stipulates faculty do not have to cross picket lines but are required to be available for scheduled duties. Each day they are not available is considered a one-day leave without pay. Faculty members were informed of the decision to deduct pay in letters sent out last month by former provost Harvey Weingarten. Click here to read more.

July 16, 2001

Landscaping work will begin around the McMaster University Student Centre (MUSC) this week. The work includes the installation of planters and walkways and the planting of trees and shrubs. The small trees that were uprooted last spring will be brought back to the site from their temporary locations around campus and the larger trees will be brought back from Aldershot Nurseries where they have been cared for since the site was excavated. In addition to these returning trees, new plants will be introduced including evergreens, deciduous trees and flowering shrubs. The main courtyard between Mills Memorial Library and Titles Bookstore will be centred around four mature pin oak trees. The east side of the building by the round glass wall will boast another cluster of trees that will create a "green view" from the fireside lounge within the building. Along the east entrance to the centre, a line of locust trees will shade three stone chess tables and stools, donated to MUSC by Sheila Smith, the McMaster Association of Part-Time Students representative on the MUSC Board of Management. George Stockton, of Moriyama & Teshima Architects, said that the landscaping around MUSC will make it feel like an outdoor room. The landscaping will "extend the interior of the building out onto site." The outdoor courtyard between Titles Bookstore and Mills Memorial Library is designed to be a pleasant space to walk through from one part of campus to another and also a great space for all kinds of activities including outdoor fairs and rallies. Most of all, this space will be a great place to eat lunch or to hang out between classes or on a coffee break. The landscaping work will change the fencing around the site for the next few weeks. This week, the area to the west of Mills Memorial Library will be closed off and the entrance to the library will change to the north door only (the entrance that faces Council Chambers). Access to the other entrance will be restored on Sept. 3. The work along the north-east side of the building, by the curved wall, will begin mid-August and continue until the end of October.

July 13, 2001

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/ABournsBuilding.jpg” caption=”Arthur Bourns Building”]Renovations to the north wing of the Arthur Bourns Building (ABB) began this week. The renovations are part of a . . .

July 13, 2001

The Gilmour Hall time capsule is back behind the date stone. John Farrell, associate director of physical plant, placed the time capsule back behind the date stone yesterday just before bricklayer John Bartolussi from G&A Masonry sealed up the area with a few final bricks. The time capsule was found in May when construction workers took the old stone off the south face of Gilmour Hall. Some Daily News readers believed the time capsule, estimated to be about 42 years old, should have been opened but Farrell said the time capsule should be put back. "One hundred years is a good round number," he said. BACK IN TIME: John Farrell(L), associate director of physical plant, stuffs the Gilmour Hall time capsule back behind the date stone with the help of John Bartolussi from G&A Masonry. Photos: Kelly Curwin

July 12, 2001

The third floor of the General Sciences Building(GS) is getting a fresh look as part of a plan to move several groups into new spaces around campus. Project manager Joe Medeiros of physical plant said renovations to the third floor of GS began this week to receive the geography & geology people that now occupy the north wing of the Arthur Bourns Building. Employees from the Department of Computing & Software, now relocated to T16, the former teacher's college building, previously occupied the third floor of GS. Staff from the School of Geography & Geology have to be relocated to make room for the eight new chemistry lab facilities that will be built in early August. Employees from the geography & geology department should be moved into GS during the first week of August. These renovations are all part of the science and engineering Faculty expansions that began a few years ago. The renovation to the third floor will be on a fast track, with the major part of the renovations being completed by the end of July. The renovations to this floor include minor asbestos abatement, demolition to some interior partitions and floor tile removal, Medeiros said. New partitions, ceilings, lighting, floor tiles, mechanical upgrades and electrical systems will be installed. As well, fresh paint will be added throughout. The replacement of the waste stacks (sanitary drains) for the building will be the most challenging part of this renovation, Medeiros said. Some of the stacks are behind drywall and masonry units that will have to be removed to gain access to the stacks. Some of this work may continue even after most of the renovations have been completed on the third floor. Users in this building may be inconvenienced by some of this work and building occupants may notice extra noise and vibrations. Concerns about the construction should be directed to Medeiros who can be reached by e-mail at medeiro@mcmaster.ca or by phone at 905-525-9140 ext. 27789. Bestco Construction Corp. is the general contractor for this project and will work with all the users to ensure this project runs smoothly, Medeiros said. Bestco is already on campus working on two other projects and is familiar with the University's protocol.

July 11, 2001

Three McMaster researchers have been awarded grants totalling more than $618,000 from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) for facilities required for their research. The awards are part of an announcement yesterday by CFI president David Strangway that 29 universities, including McMaster, received $14.6 million for the latest round of projects eligible under the New Opportunities Fund and the University Research Development Fund. (The three McMaster projects came under the New Opportunities Fund.) CFI has funded a total of $4,109,294 to McMaster to date under the New Opportunities Fund and under the Innovation Fund program, CFI has given McMaster a total of $29,719,389 to date. Samir Chidiac, an associate professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, was awarded $60,000 from CFI for a project called Acquisition of Automated Cementitious Materials Characterization System for Workability and Durability. Kari Dalnoki-Veress, an assistant professor in the Department of Physics & Astronomy, received $304,929 for facilities related to his research on a project titled Mechanical properties and morphology of thin polymer films. Bernardo Trigatti, an assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry, received $254,043 for his work on a project titled Molecular mechanisms of receptor mediated lipid uptake in atherosclerosis. The CFI is an independent, not-for-profit corporation set up by the federal government in 1997 to help the national research community build state-of-the-art facilities where researchers and scientists can conduct their research. The foundation covers 40 per cent of the eligible costs of projects, with the research institutions such as universities and hospitals contributing 60 per cent of the costs.

July 10, 2001

July 10, 2001

The University's 2001-02 operating budget reflects an investment in institutional priorities that fit with McMaster's academic mission. The University is expecting to receive $13 million more in revenue this year and almost half of this new funding will go to support scholarships for both graduate and undergraduate students and Faculty priorities and recruitment needs. The funds will also be used to prepare the campus facilities for an expected growth in enrolment. At its June 15 meeting, the Board of Governors approved an operating budget of nearly $200 million for 2001-02. The University anticipates income from research overhead, grants and tuition will total $196,796 million for the operating year, enabling McMaster to meet its expenses with a projected surplus of $88,000. (Click here to view the 2001-02 budget framework.) The budget also reflects the increased costs of doing business -- the University expects its utility bill to increase by $2.3 million this year. That's due in part to the costs of heating, lighting and cooling a campus that is growing both demographically and geographically and, like businesses and institutions everywhere today, is facing rising utility costs. Expenses totalling $196,708 million are outlined in the Budget Committee document presented to the Board for approval. In a letter to President Peter George, committee chair Brian McCarry discusses the challenges for the committee in determining budget priorities and allocations, and explains the increases in expenditures as follows: graduate and undergraduate scholarships (up by about $2 million over last year); increases to Faculty envelopes (up almost $4 million); facilities maintenance (an increase of $2.3 million); and establishment of a Capital Reserve Fund ($2.4 million)for campus expansion projects to meet the University's commitment to programs such as Superbuild and the Canada Research Chairs.

July 10, 2001

The famous Pulse Olympics are back for the second year in a row! Spend a couple of hours with some of your co-workers, get moving . . .

July 10, 2001

July 9, 2001

McMaster is restructuring its computing support services to provide increased support for and dedicated resources to the academic computing needs of the institution. McMaster's Board of Governors approved a plan for the Organization of Academic Computing at McMaster at its June 15 meeting. (The plan was approved by Senate earlier last month.) John Platt, special adviser to the provost and vice-president academic, developed the plan following a survey of the resources and activities involving academic computing at the University. (His Initial Report on Academic Computing came out in January 2001.) "While not being an extremely unique organization, implementation of (this) plan would be a giant step forward for academic computing and teaching support systems at McMaster," writes Platt in his final report. He outlines the many reasons why an increased focus on and reorganization of resources dedicated to academic computing is needed: there is no organized strategic planning for academic computing above the Faculty level; an impressive amount of activity is going on in several pockets of the University but these activities receive woefully inadequate institutional support; McMaster lags behind other institutions in its support for academic computing; McMaster will be unable to sustain its current level of academic computing without serious investment; faculty are not aware of the technological tools available to them. McMaster has fallen three to five years behind many institutions in applying technological tools to the pedagogical mission, Platt writes. With the university facing an increase in student numbers and recruiting new faculty, more support and resources for academic computing will be needed. The plan approved by Board calls for McMaster's Learning Technologies Resource Centre (LTRC), which operates out of the Centre for Leadership in Learning (CLL), to be expanded into a "one-stop shopping centre" to provide academic computing support to faculty. Platt would like it to become a spot where academics could go to get all the information they need about academic computing in addition to providing the necessary technical support. He also sees the resource centre as helping faculty to connect with other resources available through Computing & Information Services (CIS) and Media Production Services (MPS). As part of the new organization, an academic committee will be established to oversee and provide strategic planning for computing issues. The Advisory Committee for Academic Computing (ACAC) will consist of representatives from the various Faculty computing committees and will be chaired by Platt.

July 5, 2001

The verdict is in on McMaster's mystery time capsule. The copper tube found behind the Gilmour Hall date stone should be opened according to a . . .

July 5, 2001

Fifty-two outstanding senior high school students arrived at McMaster University this week -- some from as far away as Scotland -- for a month-long immersion into university life. The program, known as Shad Valley -- or lovingly by McMaster students and staff as "MacShad" -- provides senior high school students that have demonstrated excellence in academics, recreation, leadership, and community involvement with the opportunity to expand their minds in the disciplines of engineering, science and entrepreneurship at the university level. A typical day at MacShad starts at 8:30 a.m. with a university-style lecture and an intensive academic workshop followed by an afternoon of academic sessions and a recreational activity. Evening events feature guest speakers from the community, opportunities for artistic expression and time to work on a collaborative team business project. The goal for this year's teams will be to design, build, market and present a product or service that will assist individuals with disabilities. In October, the winning team from each campus will compete at the Royal Bank Shad Entrepreneurship Competition held in Toronto. On Saturday, July 14, MacShad will host a MiniShad day for about 140 local high school students that will give them a chance to learn more about the program and McMaster University. This event will feature team-building activities, workshops, and guest speakers simulating a typical day at Shad. Established in 1981, the Shad Valley program combines a university-based academic and recreational portion with a challenging August work term for about 60 per cent of participants. For the past three years, McMaster has served as one of the host universities for the Shad Valley program, organized through the Shad International central headquarters in Waterloo. Each year, about 800 students compete for about 450 spots available at campuses spanning the country. Shad Valley's primary goal is motivational, to give participants an appreciation of their true potential and to encourage them to strive for the highest levels of achievement. (End of story)

July 4, 2001

Still missing that lounge you liked in the basement of the Arthur Bourns Building or, years ago, on the second floor? Well, here's some good news for employees who once enjoyed these facilities -- the large room on the second floor (Room 273) will be converted back into an employee lounge. Karen Belaire, vice-president administration, says the Leadership Committee for the Staff Survey implementation has fully endorsed a proposal from the Employee Lounges Implementation Team to restore lounge space in the Arthur Bourns Building and to create new, dedicated lounge space for employees in the Burke Science Building. "As everyone knows, space on campus is at a premium, so finding adequate lounge space is not easy. But we understand that it is important for employees to have areas dedicated for their use and enjoyment. Restoring and creating this lounge space in Bourns and Burke Science will, we are certain, help to strengthen our community by creating an environment for increased communication and by addressing important concerns expressed by employees," says Belaire. The lounges in ABB were popular gathering places for faculty and staff alike. They were lost a few years ago, to the disappointment of many, with the conversion of one space to a testing centre and the other to accommodate the expansion of the Faculty of Engineering's computing & software engineering programs. The relocation this year of the engineering programs to the newly restored T-16 Building means at least some of this space will be restored as a staff lounge.

July 3, 2001

Highlights from the June 15 Board of Governors meeting: 2001-02 operating budget approved The Board of Governors approved an operating budget of nearly $200 million . . .

July 3, 2001

Dean of Science Peter Sutherland has been named acting provost and vice-president academic. The appointment was approved last month by Board and the Senate Committee on Appointments and was effective July 1. His appointment could be for a few months or up to one year depending on how soon a new provost is in place. "Peter brings a wide range of experience to the position and his understanding of the University's success and current priorities will be important to McMaster's ongoing operations," said University President Peter George. Sutherland has informed the Board and Senate that he would not be a candidate for the position. A search is currently under way for a new provost to take up the post. See Search for new provost underway in the Worth Mentioning section of the Daily News for more details. John Drake, director of the School of Geography & Geology, is acting dean of science. (End of story)

June 29, 2001

As one observer noted, it looks like something out of the Jetsons. A group of McMaster students and graduates are feverishly putting the finishing touches on the University's first solar car. Some of the team who've worked on the car that looks like a miniature blue-paneled spacecraft unveiled it Wednesday at the Faculty of Engineering's second annual summer barbecue. A team of about 10 plan to race the No. 13 Fireball in this summer's American Solar Challenge, a race that will follow historic Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles. The first test will come July 8 when the car is entered in a qualifier event held at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Mich. If it meets the requirements there, then the team will head to the Museum of Science & Industry in Chicago for the July 15 kickoff. The solar car race is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and will feature about 40 solar-powered cars built by university teams -- including at least eight Canadian university teams -- and companies and clubs from around the world. The McMaster solar car has been in development for the last four years and made its inaugural debut in the annual solar car race in 1999. That time the car wasn't ready. Team drivers and contributors include Jeff Winter, Tom Rodinger, Ben Zimmermann, Andrew Baerg and Bob Maharaj. They're convinced this summer their pet project -- built with many in-kind donations that would total about $400,000 -- is going to fly. They have spent days without sleep and hundreds of hours assembling the car's components and meticulously placing about 800 small solar cells on the car's body. "We think the top speed could be about 100 kilometres an hour but the average speed for the race will be about 60 kilometres," said Rodinger, a biochemistry graduate and one of the team's three drivers. The team will use the engineering Fireball van to haul the car to the race but they still need two other vehicles to travel with the car on the race route. And they could use some sponsorship so they can eat along the way. And what if the race route through the desert isn't sunny? "We'll go slow and conserve energy," said Rodinger. The car is equipped with a battery that can also juice up the blue machine. SOLAR CAR TEAM: (L) Bob Maharaj, Andrew Baerg, Ben Zimmermann, Tom Rodinger, Jeff Winter UNDER THE HOOD: (L) Jeff Winter, Tom Rodinger Photo: Shelly Easton

June 28, 2001

McMaster will soon have a "town square." That's the term used by physical plant staff to describe one of the campus beautification projects under way this summer. "Everything's coming out," says grounds co-ordinator Len Van Hoffen, referring to grounds area around the University flags. "All the asphalt will be ripped out from the Burke Science Building to the sidewalk, the flower beds, everything except for the flag poles." The plan is to replace the asphalt with grey-patterned concrete that will be set off with lines of white concrete. The raised bed in the Gwen George Garden that often shows the McMaster "M" in flowers will be three times as large and the overgrown junipers behind the raised bed will be replaced with perennials. The garden, which lies empty now following the removal this spring of the shrubs and plants that were there, will be 2.4 metres (eight feet) wider. Van Hoffen says eventually tall fountain grasses, hostas and day lilies will be planted with annuals along the side. Mums will probably be put in first so there will be flowers by early fall. The memorial rock for Gwen George has been removed temporarily while the work is being done and it will be replaced once the garden is refurbished, says Van Hoffen. Eight ironwood trees have already been moved from Hedden Hall and are now on either side of the garden. The large concrete rectangular space between the garden and the Burke Science Building will have new benches. "It will be like a town square where people could make announcements with the garden behind them," says Van Hoffen. The funding for this project is coming from the McMaster University Futures Fund (MUFF). Tenders are being prepared and work will likely begin by early July, Van Hoffen says. Elsewhere on campus trees are being planted thanks to MUFF funding. Van Hoffen says he would like to establish an arboretum walk where people could stroll around campus to look at a variety of different trees. This season he's planning on putting in Amur cork trees, European walnuts, many different varieties of oak, service berries, tulip trees, sycamore and red buds. In addition to the planting of new trees, already established trees are being moved around. A Japanese lilac was moved from behind Matthews Hall to the front of the engineering building. And the Nootka tree in front of Burke Science was moved a bit to the south to make room for the ironwoods. "We take them out with a 10-foot high tree spade," says Van Hoffen. "The 101-inch root ball helps the tree to establish itself and then we give it over 100 litres of water per week and special shock fertilizer." Twenty-five McMaster students are working this summer to keep the campus beautiful. Van Hoffen has divided them into three different crews: mowing, gardening and tree-planting. "We couldn't run without them," says Van Hoffen. Other projects planned to make the campus more beautiful include the hanging of flower baskets along University Avenue and the planting of a variety of different types of day lilies around Thode Library so there will be blooms all summer long. GREEN THUMBS: Fourth-year kinesiology student Jennifer Viveiros (L) and fourth-year chemical engineering student Jessica Pigeon are part of the campus landscaping crews this summer. Photo: Shelly Easton