Daily News

September 5, 2000

Police officers on bicycles and in patrol cars will spend more time in West Hamilton this week. Although the number of complaints about noisy parties has decreased over the past few years, Regional Police and city noise by-law officers are working together with McMaster to try to ensure students understand that the community expects a certain level of behaviour. "Most students are great," says chief noise control officer Frank Westaway. "But there are times that parties get too big and when you throw in alcohol there are plenty of potential problems." One common misunderstanding students often have is that noisy parties or playing a stereo outside is okay if it's in the middle of the day. Westaway says it's a common myth that noise is fine until 11 p.m. It isn't. "The noise bylaw is in effect 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Everyone who lives in the house can be charged if there's too much noise. My message to students is be part of the solution, not part of the problem."

September 1, 2000

The University's Student Liaison Office is gearing up for what is expected to be one of the largest recruitment fairs ever. Based on the numbers which attended last year, the 2000 Ontario Universities' Fair, which runs from September 22 to 24 at the Toronto Metro Convention Centre, could attract over 40,000 OAC students and their parents. "Our main objective is to provide information and answer questions, with an emphasis on one-to-one personal contact," says Bonnie Crocker, liaison officer. Representatives from over 17 McMaster academic areas and service departments such as housing and student financial aid will be on hand during the three-day event. "We hope to create an interest in McMaster, especially for those students who are still undecided (about their choice of institution)." A total of over 130 McMaster faculty and staff will be helping outat the University's booth. "We really couldn't do this without them," Crocker says.

September 1, 2000

Teaching assistants (TAs) at McMaster University will gear up for a new academic year at TA Day 2000  a series of workshops that help TAs deal with undergraduate teaching issues. The position of teaching assistant can be difficult, especially when TAs are just a couple of years older than their students. Hosted by the Centre for Leadership in Learning, the one-day event begins today at 8:30 a.m. in the Burke Science Building. New and veteran teaching assistants alike will acquire skills that one would typically learn at teacher's college. Workshops will address pre-class jitters, lesson preparation, learning styles, psychology and evaluation, to name a few. Additionally, TAs will learn how to handle the more delicate teaching issues, such as plagiarism and harassment.

September 1, 2000

Welcome Week has already started and organizers have been kept busy greeting over 4,000 new undergraduates. Events, which officially began on Sunday, Sept. 3, continue . . .

August 31, 2000

McMaster's first ever cyberspace career fair is proving to be a popular idea with recruiting companies. So far more than 38 have signed up to take part in the three-week virtual event. Established by the Career Planning and Employment Centre and funded by the McMaster Students Union (MSU), the site will be active from September 11 to 29. It is intended to complement the on-campus Career Day which will be held on September 21 at the Ivor Wynne Centre from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

August 31, 2000

Hi-tech training on campus will have a new place to call home this fall. The Centre for Continuing Education, Computing Information Services (CIS) and Fifth Era Knowledge Inc. have joined together to open the Information Technology Centre on the McMaster campus.

August 31, 2000

McMaster's web site and email services were back to normal after problems on Wednesday. The company that manages domain names across the country incorrectly made some changes to the University's domain name. The problem was corrected Wednesday night. The glitch meant anyone trying to access McMaster's web site from off campus couldn't get through. Email service was also disrupted. Barb Campbell, the departmental manager in Computing and Information Services (CIS) says all email messages to off-campus sites that were delayed yesterday have now been sent. Email messages that were sent to McMaster from off-campus have also been delivered.

August 30, 2000

The Executive Committee of the Board of Governors, acting on behalf of the full Board, is pleased to announce the following appointments as recommended by . . .

August 30, 2000

A newly released report from Statistics Canada shows the average Canadian tuition increase for undergraduate arts students for the upcoming academic year is 3%. Basic tuition at McMaster is up 2% over last year. The average increase in Ontario is 2.7%. McMaster's Board of Governors this past Spring approved a five-year tuition plan which calls for a 2% tuition increase in each of the next five years. The decision brings McMaster's basic tuition fee for the 2000-2001 academic year to $3,830.70, among the lowest in the province.

August 29, 2000

One-time reallocation funding for special equipment purchases will boost the availability of equipment offered by the media production services department. Director Paul Knowles says the $60,000 has been used to lease four laptop computers (as a pilot project) and to purchase three video data projectors for use in classroom presentations. In addition, the department has purchased a video data compression unit (with matching funds from the department's budget), which is used to compress VHS format to MPEG-1 video format, for in-class PowerPoint presentations or for Web-based teaching. The unit will be housed in the Learning Technology Resource Centre in the Thode Library. Providing laptops on loan is a new direction for the University, Knowles says. Previously, the University has not made funds available for laptop computers for classroom teaching. Media services often receives requests for them, but Knowles says he simply couldn't afford to purchase any from his annual budget. "This is the first time the University has provided laptops on loan to faculty."

August 29, 2000

Thirty-nine McMaster staff members will receive their certificate of completion in InfoTech Coach Level – the first of three levels in the InfoTech Leader Program. . . .

August 25, 2000

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/humanities1.jpg” caption=”L.Burnard (centre) with workshop participants”]The Faculty of Humanities recently played host to Oxford University's Lou Burnard, whose work with the Text Encoding . . .

August 25, 2000

Another McMaster Who Wants to be a Millionaire? hopeful has been revealed! John Norquay, a recent McMaster graduate, thinks it is pretty cool that at least three individuals from the University community were successful at the telephone qualification level. A trivia buff since age 10, Norquay, who is returning to McMaster to continue his education, says he tried every day until he succeeded in answering the five questions. "It's a bit embarrassing because I didn't get it until my ninth call," he laughs. At $2 per try, he still thinks it was a wise investment!

August 24, 2000

On July 1, the new Office of Interdisciplinary Studies opened on the seventh floor of Togo Salmon Hall (TSH). The office, located in TSH-726, functions . . .

August 24, 2000

Fine weather, good company, new programs and free food created the perfect atmosphere for the launch of a new staff learning and development series. More than 600 staff turned out yesterday for a lunch-hour launch of Doorways, a series of learning programs for staff organized by Human Resources. "We're very pleased with the turnout; frankly, it was more than we were expecting," says Cathy Emick, acting human resources officer. The large number meant extra trips to the kitchen for food services staff to fill the barbecues with enough hotdogs and hamburgers to feed a long line of staff gathered in front of Burke Science.

August 23, 2000

Local author Robert Nielsen is on campus today (Wednesday, Aug. 23) signing copies of his new book, Total Encounters: The Life and Times of the . . .

August 23, 2000

The Ontario government is investing almost $1 million to expand medical school enrolment this September, health and long-term care minister Elizabeth Witmer announced today. "We are expanding enrolment immediately to ensure that all Ontarians have better access to physician services in the future," Witmer said. "An appropriate supply of physicians is crucial to maintaining a high standard of patient care throughout the province." A total of 40 new undergraduate positions will be added at the province's five medical schools this fall with 13 positions going to the University of Toronto, eight to McMaster University in Hamilton, seven each to the University of Ottawa and the University of Western Ontario in London, and five to Queen's University in Kingston. The announcement is based on a recommendation from the Expert Panel on Health Professional Human Resources, chaired by McMaster University President Peter George. To view the full release, visit the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care Web site

August 22, 2000

McMaster geology professors Bill Morris and Joe Boyce are "thinking dirty" these days  dirty sediment that is. "Strong magnetic sediments are sitting on the bottom of Hamilton Harbour," says Morris. "Development of a remediation strategy requires a solid understanding of the depth and distribution of these contaminants." For years, Ontario's Great Lakes have been treated as a convenient dumping site for waste materials. With a long history of industrial activity and urban development, the harbour is considered a pollution "hot spot." Morris and Boyce, along with graduate student Matt Pozza, will be heading out on the lake on Aug. 22-24 to make the not so apparent, much more visible. They will be measuring the magnetic intensity across the harbour bed to determine the thickness and extent of the pollution particles that make up the core of the lake bed.

August 22, 2000

When Marauder football training camp opens this week, head coach Greg Marshall will be happy to have two familiar faces report to camp. Ryan Janzen . . .

August 21, 2000

A University staff member has qualified as one of the pool of contestant hopefuls for a chance to appear on the popular TV show Who Wants to be a Millionaire? Jennifer Wesson-Howes, a part-time employee with physical plant and a Level III McMaster student, correctly answered the five telephone-qualifying questions on her third try. "I was really lucky," she says, adding that she did no research in preparation for the contest. Editor's note: When we posted this story this morning we wondered whether we would get calls from others on campus who have qualified for the show. We've since learned that Dale Stevens, research grants accountant in the Faculty of Health Sciences, has also qualified. Dale, a big trivia buff, succeeded on his fifth try. The sports trivia enthusiast says he was initially disappointed that none of the questions he had to answer were about sports. Then came the fifth question on his fifth try. And, as luck would have it, it was a sports question. He was asked to put the names of the following NHL players in the order in which they won the Hart Trophy. The answers, which Stevens knew and got correct, were 1. Gordie Howe 2. Bobby Orr 3. Wayne Gretzky and 4. Eric Lindros. "I got kind of lucky with that one; it was relatively easy to answer. They could have made it more difficult by asking for consecutive Hart trophy winners." Stevens plans to be at home next Monday, waiting by the telephone between 12 and 3 p.m., when contestants who make the final selection are notified. It's a call he doesn't want to miss, given how tough it has been to qualify. "I'm hopeful, but not optimistic. If it happens, it happens," says Stevens who, with his wife, watches the show every night.