posted on Feb. 14: The Olympics: Championing McMaster

McMaster University has won some gold, silver and been disqualified at the Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah.

CBC commentator Brian Williams gave the University a gold-medal boost during last Friday's opening ceremonies when he linked singer Sadie Buck with “McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.”

Buck was part of the backup group that accompanied singer Robbie Robertson during the native American welcome segment of the ceremonies.

Buck is an accomplished singer and lecturer who was recently given the Keeper of Traditions award at the third annual Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards.

She has taught in the indigenous studies program at McMaster, lecturing on an introduction to indigenous people's spirituality, indigenous approaches to healing and wellness and traditional ecological knowledge.

McMaster's Synergy Award winners, biology professor Chris Wood, Canada Research Chair in Environment and Health, and professors emeriti Russell Bell and James Kramer have their trophy on display at the Kodak Image Centre at the Olympics.

The trio were given the award last fall for their multidisciplinary partnership with researchers from Universiti du Quibec and Wilfrid Laurier University and Kodak Canada Inc. for the development of improved water quality guidelines for silver in the environment and for using sound science to guide responsible environmental decisions.

The award is on display in the 1890-sq. metre (21,000-sq. ft.) Kodak Image Centre, which provides photo processing and digital services to more than 600 accredited photojournalists from more than 40 countries. The centre is located in the main media centre and is used to develop more than 50,000 rolls of film and provide the latest in digital imaging technology and services to professional photographers.

And decades-old research testing lime Jell-O gelatin with an electroencephalographic machine is highlighted in a fact sheet displayed at the Olympics.

The fact sheet refers to Adrian Upton, then an associate professor of medicine and neurology, and his research showing that the brain waves recorded from the gelatin were identical in microvoltage, frequency and amplitude to those found in healthy adults.

In the fact sheet, Upton is described as being a professor at “McMaxter University in Hamilton, Ontario.”