Daily News

Posted on July 14: Researchers explore ‘ringing in the ears’

McMaster researchers have received a two-year $130,000 grant (USD) from the American Tinnitus Association to try to better understand tinnitus, or "ringing in the ears." "This funding will support research on the development of new procedures to ameliorate tinnitus, a medical condition that causes millions of people to hear disturbing noise when no external source is present," says Larry Roberts, McMaster psychology professor. "The research will also help us to understand how tinnitus is generated by the brain." Roberts will oversee the two projects related to this study. The first study will establish a procedure for measuring "residual inhibition", which is a temporary suppression of tinnitus produced by masking sounds. The sounds will be customized for each subject in order to maximize residual inhibition and assess clinical benefits. Researchers will also assess whether sounds that induce residual inhibition span regions of hearing loss, as predicted by some brain models of tinnitus. Lawrence Ward of the University of British Columbia will collaborate with the McMaster group on this study.

Posted on July 13: McMaster welcomes new dean of business

Paul K. Bates, McMaster's new dean of business, was welcomed to the University and Hamilton community at a wine and cheese reception last week, hosted by the DeGroote School of Business. Mayor Larry Di Ianni welcomed Bates to Hamilton, while John Dolbec and Rebecca Wissenz brought best wishes on behalf of the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce. Former business dean David Conrath and his wife Diane also stopped by to offer their congratulations. McMaster President Peter George and provost Ken Norrie again welcomed Bates to McMaster and affirmed their confidence in his ability to bring DeGroote to the forefront of Canadian business schools.

Posted on July 12: Competition heats up for summer jobs

For many of the McMaster students you see working on and around campus, this summer will build the foundation of a work history that will impact the rest of their lives. Students such as Cara Sweeny have been fortunate enough to find great jobs through the University's Work-Study Program and McWork Program during the school year and through the summer. Sweeny found her ideal job as science career assistant in Science Career Services. The faculty-specific career centre serves 3,000 undergraduate science students. Sweeny's job was provided through the University's Work-Study Program where she worked up to 10 hours a week while attending classes, and then full-time through the summer through the McWork Program.

Posted on July 9: Creative writing student invents magnificent mouth adventure

A little girl loves the older boy who lives across the street because he has "train tracks" on his teeth. She believes there's a train in there somewhere, and she is determined to ride it. When it finally appears, it escapes from James' mouth and takes her on an exciting journey right through the centre of the earth. . .to China. This imaginative story is the brainchild of McMaster creative writing student Amy Dennis, whose children's book James Parsons and His Magnificent Mouth of Adventure was just released by Potlatch Publications. "This is a story about celebrating people who are 'different'," says Dennis, 27, who will graduate this fall with a certificate in creative writing from McMaster. She says the story comes from a personal experience which she uses to develop the theme of how children view differences in others. "I wanted to explore some of the things kids are typically embarrassed about and turn them into positives," says Dennis. "The narrator accepts James' dental braces and sees them in a different light."