Daily News

Posted on April 23: Tuberculosis health notice

The McMaster community is advised that a McMaster student was recently diagnosed with active tuberculosis (TB). The part-time student is now receiving medical attention. The student does not live on campus. TB is not easily spread and those at greater risk must have had close, day-to-day contact with the student. Hamilton's Public Health and Community Services Department will be sending a letter to anyone who may have had possible direct contact with the student and will advise them to visit their family doctor for a tuberculin skin test now and in three months to determine if infection occurred. The testing procedure is a precaution as there is a low risk that others have contracted the disease.

Posted on April 22: McMaster launches action plan to protect the environment

McMaster's Environmental Steering Committee has set in action an environmental plan that will examine ecological issues at McMaster, such as solid waste, air quality and energy use. "The Environmental Steering Committee's work over the past year has largely focused on the establishment of an appropriate framework to assess current performance and measure future development in various environmental issues," says Linda Axford, university planner and member of the committee. In developing an Environmental Action Plan, the committee explored a Campus Sustainability Assessment Framework (CSAF) -- a model that has been implemented at other university campuses to set specific targets for continuous improvement. "While the CSAF defines very specific indicators to measure sustainable development, such indicators require research and adjustment to suit McMaster's needs," Axford says.

Posted on April 21: Students, residents reuse items and reduce waste

As spring approaches the buds will bloom, the sun will get warmer, and inevitably students will move out. With move-out comes unwanted, yet reusable, household goods. In 2001, the McMaster Students Union Environment Committee organized an event called Dump & Run to decrease the number of reusable items that are sent to the dump by the campus community during the student move-out in April and May. In 2004, the Environmental Committee has been renamed to MACgreen, and the Dump & Run has become Swap-O-Rama. During Swap-O-Rama, which runs from Friday, April 23 to Sunday, April 25, students and residents in the areas surrounding McMaster University are encouraged to put out reusable items that they no longer use that could benefit someone else. Other students and residents are then encouraged to prowl the streets of West Hamilton, taking items that they need. "The Swap-O-Rama provides a method of exchanging and passing on potentially useful old things that students and residents no longer want," explains Justin Grenier, events co-ordinator for MACgreen. "People can put out everything from furniture to utensils. The only requirement is that items have to be able to be used again."