Daily News

December 8, 2000

A $750,000 gift from the Jack and Ina Pollock Charitable Foundation will help to fund research at McMaster in the field of childhood disability. The donation, announced on campus yesterday (Thursday, Dec. 7), will benefit three key areas of research at CanChild: * the effectiveness of children's rehabilitation services; * measurement of children's rehabilitation; * the life experiences of children with disabilities and their families; and will help support the creation of a chair in disability research. "Projects funded by this generous support will lead to new discoveries about effective interventions for children and youth with childhood disabilities, and the efficient and timely dissemination and use of research information in health care practice," said Mary Law, associate dean of rehabilitation science.

December 8, 2000

New faculty on campus are being given a helping hand in becoming accustomed to the learning environment at McMaster. Every Friday until the Christmas break, . . .

December 7, 2000

McMaster's quiz bowl champs conquered Cambridge. Now they've set their sights on California and the District of Columbia. The team is hoping to raise money so they can attend two competitions -- at the University of California (Santa Barbara) and George Washington University (Washington, D.C.) -- as a tune up to the Canadian national academic quiz championship in Waterloo in February.

December 7, 2000

A paper outlining six recommendations for handling the amounts of kitchen waste and styrofoam items generated by the new University Student Centre received overwhelming endorsement from the Student Representative Assembly (SRA) at its meeting on Dec. 3. The document, Environmental Recommendations: McMaster University Student Centre, was written by SRA Arts & Science representative Arif Manji. The proposals, which arise from discussions Manji had with a group of concerned students, are aimed at making the centre an environmentally friendly operation from the start. The recommendations include a surcharge on styrofoam containers, use of an industrial-size composter for kitchen refuse, and the purchase of cleaning products that are more environmentally friendly.

December 4, 2000

The hot spots include the Institute for Applied Health Sciences, the Commons and Mills Memorial Library. Others on the list are Gilmour Hall and Togo Salmon Hall. What list have these buildings made? Places on campus where there are large amounts of cigarette butts strewn around the ground or steps leading into the buildings. Physical plant director Bob Carter is puzzled why smokers are littering the campus with cigarette butts. "We know it's an issue," said Carter. "The problem is caused by butts being thrown on the ground even when there may be a container nearby." Photo: Cigarette butts strewn on the ground outside University buildings and not properly disposed of in receptacles sends a negative message to campus visitors, writes a Daily News reader.

December 4, 2000

There's going to be a whole lot of planning going on around campus over the next year. The University has decided it's time to update . . .

December 4, 2000

McMaster's new Steel Research Centre officially opened on Nov. 30. For details, visit The Hamilton Spectator

December 4, 2000

McMaster's Greg Marshall has been named the 2000 CIAU Football Coach of the Year. For Marshall, his fourth year at the helm of the Marauders was his best yet. Leading the Marauders to a first-place finish in the highly competitive Ontario University Athletics(OUA), his team set a new Canadian Interuniverstiy Athletics Union (CIAU) and OUA record for points scored in a season with 325. Success continued through the playoffs as well, as the Marauders won their first ever Yates Cup (OUA) Championship. The Marauders were ranked among the CIAU Top 10 the entire season, peaking at fourth in the nation while finishing with a 7-1 record. Since taking the helm of the Marauders in 1997, Marshall's teams have improved every season.

December 4, 2000

A campaign to help student smokers “leave the pack behind” has been extended to the spring. Six students have been working in conjunction with Student . . .

December 1, 2000

McMaster's proposal for a new entrance on Main St. will be centre stage at a public information session on Monday, Dec. 4. The information session . . .

December 1, 2000

Marauder record-setting running back Kojo Aidoo won the Hec Crighton trophy last night, honouring him as the best university football player in the country. Aidoo, a third year social sciences student, ran for 1,329 yards and 20 touchdowns this year, setting Ontario conference records. During the post-season, Aidoo rushed for 351 yards and a pair of majors. This is the second time Aidoo, 21, has been awarded top honours for his play. He was named CIAU rookie of the year in 1998. Other Marauders honoured at the CIAU awards in Toronto included quarterback Ben Chapdelaine and receiver Ryan Janzen who were named as first team all-Canadian while receiver Mike Linton and guard Ryan Donnelly were named to the second squad. "It's a great accomplishment for our team," said Aidoo. "My goal this year was I wanted to show everyone what we were accomplishing here." This season, the team won the Yates Cup for the first time ever. The Marauders were defeated by the Ottawa Gee Gees in their bid to win the national semi-final Churchill Bowl. For more coverage see: McMaster Varsity Athletics Hamilton Spectator The Toronto Star Photo: Hamilton Spectator

November 30, 2000

Bargaining teams for both the University and the McMaster University Staff Association (MUSA) expect to meet with a conciliator in the coming weeks to move contract talks along. The negotiating team for MUSA informed the University negotiating team on Nov. 24 that it has applied to the Ontario Ministry of Labour for a conciliation officer. Either party can request conciliation. It is expected a conciliator will be appointed within the next few weeks. MUSA president Barry Diacon says the union's bargaining team made the application because "we have reached an impasse with the management (bargaining) team on the most important items in the contract language. We have been talking back and forth for awhile now and are not making any progress, even though our proposals on language are in place and working at other universities." Mark Haley, assistant vice-president human resources, says bringing in a conciliator is premature. "It can be a part of the process and may be very helpful. We haven't yet discussed money and there are still some other matters we haven't discussed. The University (negotiating team) wants to discuss compensation. Compensation is a very important issue to our employees and to the University."

November 28, 2000

From the outside, the building known as T-16 doesn't look much different. There are new shiny windows, but the stone work has been preserved; the friezes above the doors are there. Step inside next May and you won't recognize it. The former teachers' college, tucked behind the new Institute for Applied Health Sciences, has been gutted and is now undergoing extensive renovations that when completed, will make it a state-of-the-art facility for the Faculty of Engineering's expanded engineering software and electrical & computer engineering programs.

November 28, 2000

Mark your date books to come out and cheer this Friday. The 2000 National University Cheerleading Championships are being held on campus and McMaster's cheerleaders . . .

November 27, 2000

The votes have been cast and the winner is. . .The McMaster University Student Centre. The Student Representative Assembly of the McMaster Students Union voted 17-14 yesterday in favour of naming the building that is now under construction the McMaster University Student Centre. The list of possibilities had been narrowed to three finalists by the Ad Hoc Committee on University Centre Naming. They were: the B.F. Trotter Student Centre, the (McMaster) Student Legacy Centre and the eventual winner, the McMaster University Student Centre. Members of the SRA, which represents undergraduate students, solicited feedback from students across campus prior to the vote.

November 27, 2000

Writing tests, mid-terms and examinations will be a more comfortable experience for McMaster students this year with the completion of a new 135-seat testing centre. The much-needed facility opened last month in the basement of Arthur Bourns, in what was formerly the building's cafeteria. The University has been without a large testing centre for three years. The need for large classroom space to accommodate growing enrolment necessitated the conversion of the former testing room (located in CNH-104) into a large classroom (which now seats more than 400 students). McMaster continues to use a smaller testing centre located in BSB-B154, which seats 64 students. "This new testing centre will help the educational experience of our students. It represents the first of several renovation and expansion projects on campus which will help us to address both the current and future needs of this institution in the face of growing student enrolment," says University provost and vice-president academic Harvey Weingarten.

November 24, 2000

The dream to have a McMaster presence in the downtown core will be realized now that the Hamilton Transition Board has approved a proposal for the University to lease the old Wentworth County courthouse. The board voted 5-1 in favour of the plan on Tuesday (Nov. 21), which will mean some groups on the main campus will move to the Main St. West site in the coming months. McMaster business professor and assistant vice-president information services & technology Marvin Ryder, who chairs the board, abstained from voting. "It's very exciting," said Karen Belaire, vice-president administration. "It's a great building and we will have a fabulous location. We're right on the 50-yard line with the best seat in the stadium." Belaire said she will be working with city staff to finalize the financial aspects of the deal.

November 24, 2000

Student Health Services and Athletics & Recreation were thrown a lifeline by students who voted "Yes" to fee increases this week. "We're thrilled and very relieved," said Julie Fairservice, Student Health Services clinic director. "We will be able to maintain our current programs." In a MSU referendum held Tuesday and Wednesday, students were asked to approve an $8.75 health services fee increase and an $11.88 increase for athletics & recreation services. Fairservice said if the fee increase -- the first in 11 years -- hadn't been approved, the clinic would have had to cut more programs, services and hours. Two years ago health services cut the registered dietician and reduced physician and nurses' hours, she said. Last year, health services started to charge fees for some services and this year weekend and evening hours were eliminated. Athletics & recreation director Therese Quigley said the vote means the hours of operation and existing programs now offered will be maintained. If students had vetoed the increase, "the impact for next year would have resulted in further significant cuts," she added.

November 24, 2000

Every child eagerly awaits the arrival of Santa Claus with his sack full of presents. To ensure that children from families in need of assistance . . .

November 22, 2000

The new knowledge-based economy will shift the role of a post-secondary education from imparting new knowledge to a focus on teaching, the chair of the University's Board of Governors says. Douglas Barber believes the "knowledgeable society" of the future will look to academics less for new knowledge and much more for teaching. "That teaching will not only be about what is known, but it will also be teaching young people to discover what isn't yet known -- the skills of research," he said. "That teaching will also have to be broader and more liberal while still providing excellence of specialization." Society will continue to look to academics, Barber added, "for the radical new thinking and discovery that comes from those exceptional, broad-minded, widely learned young people of uncommon genius."