Daily News

Posted on July 23: New McMaster students participate in special prelude to first-year University

New students at McMaster University will receive a special introduction to the 2004-05 academic year through a new online orientation program called Prelude to Mac. Launched Monday, July 19, Prelude to Mac is designed to help ease the transition from high school to University for first-year students before they arrive for classes in September. The Web site, which is organized around seven weekly themes such as Introduction to Mac, campus resources and academic success, comes complete with videos, information, weekly quizzes and message boards. Michele Corbeil of the First-Year Experience Office is one of the founders of the project. "Prelude to Mac will help new students become familiar and comfortable with the campus and university life. It allows new students to meet upper-year students online and assist them in achieving success while they are here," Corbeil explains. Offering online services, including streaming video and message boards, Prelude is an innovative and emerging trend in welcoming and orienting first-year students to the University says Corbeil.

McMaster announces men’s and women’s basketball recruits

McMaster has announced the 2004 men's and women's basketball recruiting class. The recruits include two National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) transfers, one Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) transfer, one CCAA (Canadian College Athletic Association (CCAA) transfer, four local recruits, and an Ottawa native. The McMaster men's basketball recruiting class includes Mohawk College transfer, Martin Ajayi, a 2003 OUA all-star, local recruits Nathan Histed, Andrew Losier and Joe Polizzi and Ottawa native Andrew Capern. The McMaster women's basketball recruiting class includes NCAA transfers Julie Burr and Lindsay DeGroot, CIS transfer Julie Critchley and local recruit Cari Teboekhorst. Lindsay Degroot will have to sit out the 2004/2005 season in accordance with CIS transfer policies.

Posted on July 20: McMaster Summer Drama Festival brings outdoor theatre to Hamilton

A classic comedic farce, an edgy comic drama, and a romantic Shakespearean comedy will take to the stage when the curtain rises on the fourteenth season of the McMaster Summer Drama Festival July 26-31, 2004. For the 2004 season, the Mac Drama Club and the McMaster Thespian Club in association with the McMaster School of the Arts will bring the week-long festival back to the outdoors of scenic McMaster Universityunder sunlight, sunset, and moonlight. Productions this year include William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, Molihre's Two Precious Maidens Ridiculed, and Irish playwright Frank McGuinness' Someone Who'll Watch Over Me. Twelfth Night and Two Precious Maidens will both be playing in Faculty Hollow, while Someone will be at the Refectory patio. Admission is by a suggested donation of $5 per performance.

Posted on July 19: Biochemistry upgrades its name

McMaster's Department of Biochemistry has undergone a name change, to better reflect the unit's mission and vision. Now called the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, it encompasses a wide range of research from structural biology to leading edge cell biology and from molecular mechanisms of diseases to the development of therapeutics. "Our vision for the department is bold and innovative and places us here at McMaster well ahead of the curve in comparison to other departments across the North America and the world," says Gerry Wright, chair of the department. "Our goal is to become the most innovative and respected biochemistry department in the country and the changes we have made over the past couple of years, including the change in name, will make us a magnet for the best and brightest graduate and undergraduate students, post docs, and faculty."